Don't think about it. Start

// The Moment

I'm a huge fan of Peter McKinnons work - he's a 'Youtuber' who creates content around photography and videography and this weekend, I watched one of his videos and it had something in it that I haven’t really been able to shake.

The video itself wasn’t polished, it was pretty much just Pete sat at his desk delivering a monologue to camera It wasn’t even particularly profound on the surface but there was a section in it where he starts talking about why he wasn't active last year with his channel and why, this year, he's in a flow and he's posting a ton - it just clicked..

The idea was simple: when there’s no choice, things get easier.

Not easier in the sense that the work itself becomes effortless, but easier in the sense that you remove the part that usually drains you the most - the constant negotiation with yourself - whether it's the right thing to post, whether it's creative enough or whether it's going to land in the right way and I realised, sitting there and watching that video, that this is exactly how I’ve been writing this newsletter without ever properly articulating it.

I could brag about being ultra disciplined, full of motivation and I'm using a 'newsletter system' to engineer these posts each week but I can't do any of that because it's not true. It's because, simply, I decided I don’t have a choice.

// The Hidden Weight of Choice

There is a huge amount of talk about freedom in creativity - the ability to choose when to show up, what to make, how to say it - all from your own brain - it's a wonderful privilege to have when you're in the 'creative' space.

It reminds me of the archetype of an author or a painter - those types that you see at the movies that can only create and a be 'an artist' on their terms because they need the time and space to create

It sounds right. It sounds like the kind of thing we should want to have as artist but I think that freedom is doing more damage than we probably realise because every time you leave something as a choice, you reopen the eternal loop between reality and expectation and the constant loop of questions is exhausting...

Should I write today?
Is this idea good enough?
Would it be better if I waited until I had something stronger?
Is this even worth putting out?
What if no-one reads it?

The stupid thing is that not one of those questions actually move anything forward, they just create friction and indecision - and if you ask them enough times, you start to mistake that friction for thoughtfulness, when really it’s just avoidance which you're dressing up as something else.

I’ve spent years doing that - I've done it with videos, digital products, ideas that never leave my head but it's also the reason why things NEVER get going.

// The Decision

What’s been different with this newsletter is that the decision isn’t made on a Tuesday morning every week - the decision was made a long time ago and Tuesday is just the day it shows up - it's what I do.

There’s no version of the week where I don’t write it something and I can never take a week off because that option doesn’t exist anymore, which means I don’t spend any time considering it. I don’t sit there weighing up whether this is the right moment or whether I’m in the right headspace or whether the idea is strong enough to justify it - I just do it.

It’s already happening.

And because that decision is made, everything else becomes simpler - it's not easy - just simpler because all of the energy that would have gone into deciding is now available for doing - there is no negotiation.

// The Resistance

I think this is the part people misunderstand - it sounds all Justin Welsh or Gary Vee to say that you've just got to 'get started' and not negotiate with yourself - as if removing the choice suddenly makes you feel ready - it doesn't.

If anything, it makes you more aware of the resistance, because you can’t avoid it anymore - you have to deal with it.

There are still weeks where I sit down and nothing feels particularly clear - last weeks article was a bit of a mess if I'm honest because I wasn't clear on my thinking and it kind of meandered across the page. I'm also fully aware of how many times I’ve written something before - I start to question whether I’m just circling the same ideas in slightly different language - but that's what we do all the time anyway isn't it?

But these thoughts don't go anywhere now - it also doesn’t matter in the same way it used to, because it’s no longer a deciding factor - it's just something I have to accept. It’s something that shows up while I do the work - ever. single. time.

And I think that’s the shift - you stop trying to eliminate the resistance, and instead you remove its authority over you making any form of decision and just get on with it.

// The Identity Shift

At some point - and I don’t know exactly when this happened - writing this newsletter every week stopped being something I try to stay consistent with, and became something I just do - I remember when I first started and all I really wanted was to stay the course, I wanted to maintain the schedule of just showing up every single week - I've missed one (yep, just one) newsletter and that was when I broke my leg.

It’s a small difference in wording when you go from 'stay consistent' to 'just do' but it changes everything because “trying to be consistent” still implies that there’s a version of you that might not be where as “This is what I do” doesn’t.

There’s no negotiation in that, no performance or implied effort to 'stay the course' and there is no reliance on how you feel about it that day because you're already decided and that decision, once it’s made properly, is surprisingly easy and light to make.

I think the uncomfortable part of this is that it removes a lot of the stories we like to tell ourselves - those stories that we hear EVERYWHERE.

The idea that we’re waiting for the right time, that we’re building towards something better once 'this bit' is ready or we’re being selective with our output because we care about quality - sometimes that’s true but a lot of the time, it’s just a way of protecting ourselves from the vulnerability of actually showing up consistently and being seen in the process - letting the 'quality' drop or just working it out in public.

// The Invitation

I’ve been thinking about this more than I expected to and it's all Peter McKinnon's fault but I've been thinking of it in a wider context - what are the things in your life that you keep leaving open to choice?

The things you say matter, but still treat as optional - I know my diet and fitness would be up there - the 'choice' to go to the gym or go for a run shouldn't be optional - Imagine what I could actually change if I decided (and I mean properly decided) that they weren’t?

I'm not expecting declarations on Linkedin that you're going sober for a year (imagine the Linkedin glory when you did though)... not wild social media signalling but a quiet line in the sand that you draw for yourself.

“This is what I do now.”

No negotiation with yourself, no daily decisions - just doing the work, showing up again and again because maybe the thing that feels hard isn’t the work itself, maybe it’s the fact you keep giving yourself a way out - oh, and just because you're smashing it in one area (like this newsletter) it doesn't mean that you can be religiously dedicated in all areas.

I don't think it translates across disciplines - remember, I did 365 ice baths last year - one every single day and not once did I remain consistent with my fitness but maybe - in a way that feels slightly counterintuitive - removing the options to do something else is the thing that finally makes it easier because that's what made those ice baths easier.

Zero choice.

That's the message of the week.