In other words, quit shining the tires rims and put the key in the ignition.  Quit formatting Word from one font to another and changing the margins, and change the view to full screen and start writing.

Or, instead of downloading a book on how to be more productive, you become so immersed in your creative pursuit that the idea of productivity doesn’t even come up.

Or, instead of wondering if I know what I’m talking about, close this window and go do the one thing that – at the end of today – will make you fist pump and go “Yeah! Nailed it!”

Go fire it up…

J

So true for most of us.  Overthinking such things as why it works, or why it doesn’t, or how to change it…in reality it’s the doing that shows you what needs to be done.  Looking for an app or a new method of whatever it is you’re trying to do will only get you so far.

Pen to paper, fingers to keyboard or key in the ignition – do those things…now we’re talking action, progress, forward motion.  The rest is just a preamble –

Now go fire it up.

J

You have everything you need right now to do what you want to do.  You know what it takes and have acquired the knowledge to live the life you keep telling yourself you want to live.  There is only one thing stopping you.

You.

The winners in this life just get up and do it regardless, while the rest look at them and come up with reasons why it’s different for them or it won’t work for us… whatever.  Stop looking, searching and tweaking…and start doing.  It’s the only thing that moves you forward.

Start now, baby steps, just a couple of sentences in that book you want to write, just a couple of push-ups, just a 10 minute burst of de-cluttering, just anything and you’ll feel better and go farther than you originally thought.

Now go fire it up, and see how much farther you can get.

J

Don’t know who said it, it’s sort of along the same lines as being too busy creating that you don’t have time to worry about how to get more creative, or what people might think, or what that person meant about what they said…and so on.

You are the judge of yourself, do what you would approve of, not what you think would please whoever.

Just start, move forward, make changes as necessary…then look back and wonder what you were so worried about.

Now go fire it up.     J

Here’s one solution.  See a cool movie.  Embrace the fact that sometimes you need to get out of your own head and into somebody else’s.  Somebody who makes the kind of movies you wish you could write.  Somebody who comes up with the coolest plot twists and devices, somebody who makes an art form out of dialogue and action.

Make some notes, key in on a line or scene and see how it could fit into your project.  After the movie you’ll get a new appreciation for the art form and do something to become a part of that world.

As for me, I’m going to see the new Mission Impossible movie right now, should be plenty of wild stuff in there to get the juices flowing.

Now go fire it up.    J

Something.

You can be a procrastinator, a lazy slacker, incompetent or lost.  But there is one thing that will get you where you want to go regardless:  action.

Right?  We know this but then we try to find some plan that will make us happy or productive or whatever…and it works for a while then we’re back to the routine.

Instead of looking for the one perfect  plan that will spur you on to action… just take the action.

That is the plan.  Action is the only thing that gets you moving forward – so go do that thing and when you’re done you’ll realize we all look at this backwards: motivation comes after action.

Now go fire it up.

J

If you sit and stare at a lump of clay nothing will happen.  But if you start molding it, shaping it, twisting it around, making changes, something develops.

It is the only way.  If you knew someone who liked the idea of clay sculpting but was “blocked” or couldn’t think of anything what would you tell them?  Something like, “Well, why don’t you play around with some clay and see what it wants you to make?”  Sounds so simple right?  However, we as writers find it so easy to come up with reasons we don’t write.  We all have used all of them… not enough time, blocked, more research, yada yada.

Answer, go play around with it and see what comes out of your head.  Anything else is a fantasy. And, no matter how long you’ve been at this, your first draft will be terrible.  That’s when you mold it, shape it, twist it and make changes.  Then…you will have something you can get your arms around.

Now, go find some clay and fire it up.

J

it’s supposed to be, at least for the first draft.  Think about any writing you’ve done and looked back at, some good, some mediocre and some awful.  Welcome to the club…that’s the game we play here and those situations are as rudimentary to it as fumbles in football or errors in baseball.

Need more?  How about when they show those goofs at the end of a funny movie during the credits.  Did they chuck it all in and decide they’re terrible at movie making?  No, they laughed about it, redid it – and still had the gumption to leave it in the movie.

Let’s think that way in our writing – garbage is inevitable, fix it, laugh and learn, onto the next chapter.

Now go fire it up.

J

whether or not you write today.  Your editor? Nope.  Your agent? Wrong.  Your spouse? Maybe.

They are important, sure.  But you can mislead them, make reasons and rationales as to why nothing was put on the page today, and maybe they’ll believe you, maybe they won’t.

It’s you buddy.  When you can rationalize your way to believing it’s okay not to do something that moves your goal forward- well, that’s when it gets dangerous.

Be your strongest coach.  These others may have your best interest at heart, and you may find some temporary motivation in some book or article – but in the end, you and what’s inside you already have what it takes, stop delaying and fire it up.

Once you start you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

J

Isn’t that the crux of it?  Just as you can tell when someone is sandbagging or BS’ing you by using jargon, changing subjects, talking slower, etc…you can fool yourself to the point that you actually have rationalized away a perfectly good action plan.

Your biggest obstacle in life is yourself.  You can make the obstacle more formidable by setting it up as an intricate web of reasons and trapdoors that would hinder your progress..

Or.. You can just go do the thing.

Sure, think ahead, plan, be prudent…but stay out of your own way.

Now go fire it up and do that thing.  Think later why it wouldn’t work, you just might surprise yourself.

J