Today is the first day of February 2019. I am going to write a blog post every day this month.
As Daniel Pink states in When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, we view “start dates” as opportunities to reset. That’s why so many people join a gym on January 1st. Pink suggests that to begin a new habit, align it with the beginning of something. Not only does the beginning of February give me an easy start date, it also leads to an easy description of my undertaking. I will write something every day for a month. Yes it is the shortest month, but lets not think about that.
This post marks the first post… and is definitely a cop-out. I write about what I know, and I know that I’m starting this self imposed, completely made up, zero reward, why am I doing this, challenge.
Earlier today I reviewed a litany of blog posts that I wrote in the summer of 2015. Most of them made me cringe. Only one, Find the Silver Lining, merited a transfer to my current blog. This is a good thing. It means that I have grown as a wordsmith because my old writing does not pass muster in 2019. Hopefully in 2020 I can look back with 2020 vision and cringe at this post.
This was the entire point of this blog. To quote my first article ever written:
I don’t think I’m a particularly good writer. My biggest problem with writing is that I find myself without things to write about. My lack of practice leads to a lack of quality which loops around to the conclusion that I am a poor writer. Yet here we are. I expect to look back at the first post and cringe. Yet here we are. Undertaking things that are difficult is the only way to grow as a person.
I am proud that I put that online on May 22, 2015. This February Challenge is designed to push me to write more. Write more and publish often. Every marathon begins as a single step: this is mine.