Learning On Your Own

Sometimes I think that I learned all the big lessons on my own. I learned how to see patterns and to pick up what people say and how to at with words and tell good jokes and all that jazz. 

Except that I didn't. 

I may have been alone when certain realizations sank in, but I didn't magically think them up. Other people planted seeds in my mind. Conversations and experience were the water and sunshine. And by the time the idea blossomed in my head, it didn't matter that I was thinking about it on my own at the time. 

I have truly learned little to nothing on my own. Sure, my energy was in the equation, but it wasn't 100%. 

With all that said, I do recommend "learning on your own." Seek knowledge. Seek understanding. Seek tools. Such motivation is more valuable than any one thing you may achieve. And do seek people who can help you. They will give you more than your mind might ever come up with on its own. 

Attitude Isn't Everything

As lovely as a positive attitude can be, it is not a magic spell. Some things are truly terrible. 

Where a positive attitude may be like a mental shield, keeping bad vibes out, being placed in a constant, unendingly miserable environment, this shield will eventually crack. 

That said, a negative attitude is also like a barrier, keeping positivity out. And quite similarly, an overwhelmingly positive environment can crack a bad mood. 

Attitude matters. It matters a lot. But attitude isn't everything.

Attitude Matters

The attitude with which you approach a situation determines how you will treat and react to it. When you are excited about starting a new project, ideas and energy will pour out; you'll hardly be able to keep with it. But when you have a negative outlook, then you get writer's block and procrastination and all that other nastiness we hear about.

Now, I recognize that we can't magically change our outlooks. People who are unhappy or unenthused are that way with good reason. But I also recognize that our outlooks can be changed, and that certain experiences can do just that.

Try doing new things when your attitude sucks. Look around, go to new places (even ones in your own back yard), have new conversations with new people. You never know which thing might be the catalyst that changes your outlook, but keep trying and one will be the charm.

Attitude matters. You will always be happier, healthier, and more productive with a positive attitude. So make sure you have one; otherwise, regaining it should be top priority.

Doing To Do Lists

I realized recently that my to do lists are not the same depending on their medium. My lists on paper work one way and my lists in my computer are another.

When I make a list on paper, every time I complete a task, I cross it out. When a new task comes up, I write it down. This doesn't seem too shocking because that's how everybody thinks a list looks like. And on paper, that's pretty much it.

When I make a to do list on my computer, I write down the task as usual, but when I complete it, I delete it. This is a huge change (at least, to me). With a cross-out list, it keeps getting bigger. With a deletion list, it keeps getting smaller.

This is so big to me because when you have a paper list, it looks like you are quite accomplished to see all that you've done, whereas a digital list loses that record. Also, when I work at a digital list, I keep doing things that I haven't written down, but still need to do, so I can be productive all day, but my list hasn't changed size. On a paper list, I would add those items just to cross them out, but here they are already pre-deleted (by having never been written).

I don't really think one list is better than the other. I tend to just do whichever is more convenient at the time. But with experience in both ways, I do recognize that they are not the same, and I should investigate whether one or the other is better depending on a given situation. You should, too.

Those Who Bloom Later Bloom More Gloriously

Being talented is awesome. It allows you to pick up a particular subject or activity with great ease. (In this case, let's say it's about writing.) This, in turn, gives you a tremendous leg up on everyone else who wants to be a writer. Anyone who cares about writing wishes they had talent.

But talent is also its own curse. Talent means that your only experience with writing is that it's easy. When you eventually come to a wall, and it's actually hard, you panic. Why isn't it working right? How come I'm not awesome anymore? It's because you only had people with no ability to compare to. Eventually, those who put in the time and keep trying learn all the skills and abilities your talent naturally gave you.

Talented people generally burn out. Child prodigies tend to become adult nobodies. But those without talent but much determination reach great heights. It is because they had no talent, because they had to learn every single aspect with no innate bonuses that they so thoroughly understand the subject. They had to drill and practice and memorize all those things that you know how to use but don't really know how to explain (which means you have a limited ability to use it well).

Without talent, it takes so much longer to achieve what prodigies achieve so quickly. But do not worry too much about it. What matters more is not how quickly you sprout, but how well you bloom. And those who bloom later bloom more gloriously.

Write To One Person

All writing has an intended audience. Sometimes it is just you. Other times it might be 100,000 people. It could even be 100,000,000 people. When your intended audience is anyone other than you, you usually have to make some concessions. You have to shape your writing to appeal to that demographic. But how do you write to appease so many people?

Try writing to one person. Go seek out a target audience member and learn about him or her. What intrigues them? What satiates them? What makes them want to pick up a story at all? And What makes them want to keep turning the page.

Write to that one person. Make a story that makes that one person excited. It seems counterintuitive, but people are quite similar overall, so making a story that one person in your intended audience will love means that many people in your intended audience will also love it. (You may also score many readers outside the intended audience.)

On Milestones

This is post #1600. I consider this an excellent milestone and I am quite happy to have achieved it. As usual, it makes me think about milestones in general.

The last time I made a post about a milestone was two years ago on my thousandth post. But I think about how amazing it is every time I reach a new hundred. The crazy thing is that I reach that milestone three times a year. Because I post every day, it adds up very quickly.

That thought makes me wonder what we should consider milestones. Since I post every day, should a new hundred be a milestone? In the grand scheme, maybe not. It's somewhat arbitrary, and the sixteenth hundred seems somehow less exciting than the original hundred. And yet, I am just as proud to have reached this achievement, maybe more.

The 1600th post may not be a major number, but it is the strongest evidence that I remain committed to my daily posting and that I am just as happy and proud to be doing it now as I was in the beginning. Milestone or not, this is true.

Milestones need not always be a way to record new achievements. Sometimes they are simply points to look back and think about where we started and where we want to go. The waiting between milestones gives us time to have more thoughts and experiences, and gives our minds time to grow and change. That's what makes milestones so great to take a break and look back on. They are the checkpoints on our journey.