In no particular order:
*** Procrastination. I’m easily tempted by the reams of books lining my bookshelves, the steady flow of Whatsapp messages, a batch of Lauren's freshly cooked brownies, various poker, magic and Rupert Spira videos on Youtube….you name it, the list goes on. But committing to a daily email meant I had to drop
all these fun but ultimately fruitless detours and just get the damn emails written each day
*** Excuses. I mean excuses like “I’m not a writer”, “I’m not creative”, “I don’t really know what I’m doing”, “what if I run out of ideas” and so on. I spent over a decade of my life making excuses about why I should focus on my career instead of the stuff that
brings me alive. No longer!
*** Worrying what other people think. I “seeded” this newsletter with 7 close friends and family. Actually, that might’ve been a mistake. Writing to people who knew me led to an expectation (in me, not them) about what and how I’d write. It meant I was writing what I thought they wanted to read. But at some point I just said “To
hell with it. I’m going to write what I want to write”. Based on the feedback I get now, following MY nose is what my readers enjoy. So it’s turned out well in the end
*** Waiting for the right moment to begin. At various times I waited for inspiration to strike, for my new laptop to arrive, to finish reading one last book on writing, until I’d
retired, when I was back from holiday and after I’d taken the bins out. But I realised there’s no “right” moment to do anything. There’s only now
*** Having it all figured out. I never had a step by step plan to go from zero to hero via daily emails. Good thing too. The pressure of needing to know exactly where this newsletter was going (what to write, when
to write, how to grow it, what it would become etc) would’ve paralysed me and killed the joy of just writing. Hence the Miles Davis quote which I love and I’ve shared in this newsletter before: “I’ll play it first, and tell you what it is after”
*** Perfectionism. This still creeps in. Am I being consistent? Have I worded that sentence the best way? Have I
really got my point across? Luckily, I’ve come to see there’s no such thing as perfect. Which means I can relax. My emails are perfectly imperfect and that’s just perfect for me
*** Comparison. These were sneaky, unsettling thoughts that whispered “but what do YOU have to add the party Tom? Why would anyone read YOUR newsletter?” Truth is, no-one has my mix
of experience, mistakes, perspective, personality and humour (if you can call it that). And there’s definitely no-one else writing about separating the raisins from the rice pudding like I do
*** Writer’s block. This was lower down the issues list, but there were definitely days when I’d stare blankly at my screen, fingers poised diligently over my keyboard,
ready to tap the keys and watch the magic pour forth. And then….nothing! Luckily, this didn’t last long. Why? I can’t remember who said it, but I’ve always liked the idea that “there’s no such thing as runner’s block. You just put one foot in front of the other and keep running”. Same thing with writing
The real juice behind all this?
It’s not adding new tricks that gets us moving.
It’s subtracting all the beliefs, stories, actions, habits, excuses and procrastination which, if left to roam free, stop us from EVER doing the stuff that really matters to
us.
My new program, The Music Inside You, is the antidote to this mental clutter.
And that’s all it is.
Clutter, fog and noise.
When you strip back the clutter, drop your stories and let go of trying to get everything right, the music inside you is what’s left behind.
If you’d like to find this
music for yourself, here’s the link to my new program:
The Music Inside You
You can book a discovery call with me using the link above too.
To fulfilment,
Tom