I broke it many times, in fact.

 

I stopped writing every day and skipped some blog posts. Big deal, I don’t get much traffic, right? Wrong. Writing isn’t really about other people– it’s about me. It’s about sharpening my skills and perspective so that I can raise my own level of effectiveness. I’m at my best when I start the day creating something.

 

For several days, I neglected to do that. I opted out of being the type of person who I wanted to be– one who leads by example, for example– and fell into being the type of person I don’t want to be, but whose default habits make it true.

 

As a, um, rule, I try not to make a lot of rules for myself. I don’t like prescriptions for how things should go. I like frameworks, habits and reminding myself of the vital why in what I do, because those help me focus on what is necessary.

 

If you want a certain outcome, it follows that some behaviors are necessary to achieve it, and some are not. That’s the crux of a good habit– repeating it helps you over time. Simple logic.

 

What you should do, stems from an appeal to authority– moralizing a choice– as if God, or your mom or your piano instructor prescribed it. That’s just opening the guilt gates. No time for that.

 

So I’m getting back on the horse. My routine is necessary to creating the future I see. I’m choosing it.