Steps back are also steps, right?

After 6 years of consistent online writing, I have to go all the way back to the beginning. It feels almost like resetting the journey.

I’m someone who’s built everything that’s good in his life, and rebuilt his life as a whole, on small, unimpressive, but consistent effort. Naturally, I guess, I’ve been sharing this message with others. The story about the value of small actions.

But, as it usually happens, I’ve been forgetting, or rather ignoring, my own advice.

I’ve been noticing myself falling into a particular trap. It’s the trap of not appreciating your small actions.

Thinking that a 10-minute writing session on a busy day doesn’t mean anything. Or thinking that a 500-word session has been a waste of time if none of that writing is going to be used and published. Or thinking that a 5-minute language learning session doesn’t count. Or thinking that 2 minutes of breathwork means nothing.

The point isn’t to appreciate and acknowledge the value of small actions just for the sake of being a cheerful or grateful person. The point is that dismissing their value inevitably leads to not wanting to bother doing them.

Funnily enough, this confirms something I’ve been telling people all along: self-sabotage never fully goes away. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been on your journey for 2 months, 5 years, or 15 years. All the different forms of inner resistance keep showing up.

There is no reaching some glorious point where all the self-doubt and friction are gone once and for all. You don’t reach a level where engaging in your creative pursuit is effortless every time.

The real progress is in our self-awareness and persistence. More precisely, it’s in our ability to notice the self-defeating thought pattern when it comes up, acknowledge it, and proceed to do the work despite it.

Of course, there are different approaches to take between acknowledging and putting in the work. Which one is helpful or even necessary will depend on the circumstances and the intensity of inner resistance. The mentality of “just doing it” doesn’t always work. I recently wrote about this in “Why Creative People Don’t Get Things Done.”

But whatever methods we use, one thing stays the same: resistance, self-doubt, procrastination, and all forms of self-sabotage will always be part of the journey.

So I’m going back to my beginnings. For the foreseeable future, my main goal is to show myself that I can keep putting in the reps and trusting the process, regardless of how unimpressive it might seem.

I will do this by tracking, acknowledging, and celebrating daily effort. More importantly, I won’t make any distinctions based on the volume, intensity, or outcomes of different bouts of effort. The only criterion will be, “zero work done or some work done?”

I actually made a video about this consistency and momentum-building technique earlier this month. You can watch it here.

And so the journey continues.

Wherever you are on your journey, please remember to take it one step, one word, one note, one brushstroke, one line of code, one rep at a time.

And, if you find yourself taking what looks like steps back, just like I am now, remember that those are also steps.

Thank you for reading.

P.S. My intention is not to sell people on the illusion that small actions will be enough on their own. The message has always been to recognize that small, consistent effort builds momentum, which eventually leads to greater capacity to put in more effort. Massive effort. Because massive effort is necessary for the achievement of any worthy goal.

P.S.S. If you have a creative project that you’re struggling to get off the ground because of being overwhelmed and not knowing how to structure and organize your effort, book a discovery call with me to see how I can help.