My dirty little secret of challenge commitment

Four issues ago, I invited all of you to join me in committing to a new practice as part of #the100dayproject. I had decided to track 10 habits, which is frankly way too many. But, there were only a few that I cared about. And those are going very well.

One important challenge for me was daily writing. I set a benchmark to write 750 words each day. I committed to this habit because of this newsletter, because of my book writing project, and because there's no real way around it: writing is the way forward for me for much of what I want to do as a speaker and coach. So, I needed to get the writing muscle in shape, anyway that I could.

Today, we're one quarter of the way there. I'm happy to report that my daily writing challenge, along with posting a drawing to my other IG account and taking a daily vitamin, are the three I've stuck to everyday -- a 100% success rate. Others, like drinking 64oz of water or playing music on guitar/piano have been less common. Why is that? Why do some hold while others don't?

I have a few theories:

I tracked them on the HabitShare app. I'm not "measuring" them, just giving myself the visual cue that they've been done.
I've attached meaning to each and the ones that are most meaningful are the ones I've prioritized. Vitamin D is for my health because I'm stuck inside most of these cold days. Drawing is for my daughter. Writing is for my business. The third one wasn't good enough. So, I adjusted.
After trying to write 750 words that I could potentially use for this newsletter, I was ready to give up after 3 days. So, what could I do? I decided to invent two characters, give them a situation (ie. why they know each other) and, every night, write about what I thought would happen to them. No research, no trying to say something important, no worrying if another speaker/coach had said something similar. Just helping these two do or say something unexpected in every seen.
"Is this worth your time?" you might ask. "Shouldn't you be writing articles or a keynote?" Good questions. In this case, I made a conscious, temporary choice to choose the act over the use.
The result is, I've written 30,000 words in over 3 weeks, which is almost equal to what it took me four months to produce for my book. More importantly, I'm doing this to establish the expectation that I write everyday. Eventually, I'll get tired of the story and move on to something else. The writing muscle should be in good shape by then, which is more essential to me at this point. Conditioning over production.
Some days, I've written as many as 2000 words. Not because I'll be able to use them; I just wanted to see what would happen to them. Ideally, we write to discover as much as we do to impress. I think this is an approach I can take back to my business writing, eventually.

If you're struggling to maintain a habit or practice or challenge that you want to stay committed to, try finding the true meaning of why you would wake up early, set aside daytime, or stay up late to make sure you get it done. Not why you should do it, but what it means to you each time you do it.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

THIS WEEK'S READS

Mt. Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas

CHALLENGE MINDSET

The three qualities you need to turn tough situations into opportunities
Author of Peak Performance Brad Stulberg writes about a team of climbers who became the first to scale Mount Meru in India’s Himalayas. Based on that story of adversity, Stulberg feels there are three qualities that define "hardiness", which is essentially resilience. One of those qualities is a "challenge mindset", which he defines as "viewing life as an ongoing and ever changing exercise with no fixed outcome." That's one way to look at it, although I would quibble with that definition. Life doesn't have to be one big endless challenge. I think it's healthier to think about challenges themselves as well-defined efforts with a beginning and, at least initially, an end. The mindset part is being able to convert anything into a concerted effort you find meaningful. But, hey, here we are talking about someone other than me citing the challenge mindset, so that's nice. I'm not imagining it's a thing.
[Outside magazine]

Meet Tom Davies, who walks across entire countries in a straight line
On one hand, his efforts are impressive. He sets a plan and sticks to it, regardless of what terrain (or whose yard) he has to cross. On the other hand, in this interview, he explains that in order to do this, he needs to constantly look at his GPS on his phone. So, this is perhaps a good example of NOT being adaptable in pursuit of a goal or destination. It's hard to see how the journey matters when the entire effort seems to be about the rigid pursuit of a destination. An allegory for so many things the challenge mindset is NOT supposed to be about.
[Atlas Obscura]

CREATIVE HABITS + SKILLS

The 3 ways to relax after a stressful day
There are many different ways to think about how you relax and de-stress after work. The three ways come down to rest for your body, your mind, and your expectations. Advice on pursuing each.
[Rescue Time blog]

LEADING TEAMS

How biases influence CEOs through their career
A new research paper from a Wharton professor looks at the CEO life cycle, or the recurring factors in the decision making of the person in charge. One finding: biased decision-makers — those who operate through sometimes dangerous overconfidence — are more likely to be appointed to the CEO position. So, that's bad news.
[Knowledge @ Wharton]

ON MY MIND

The future of media is being written at college newspapers
College newspaper staffers occupy an interesting in-between in the media: they're doing reporting and, in the case of Northwestern U, can approach what you'd expect at a "professional" newspaper, although it seems problematic to hold them to the same standards that established reporters should be held to. As a former college newspaper editor, I found this piece fascinating. It doesn't exactly fit into what I normally include in this newsletter, but I do love a good industry reinvention story.
[GEN @ Medium]

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My dirty little secret of challenge commitment

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

What was the last big risk you took? How did it go and what did you get out of it?

THIS WEEK'S READS