Since 2018, I have placed these short quotes on our refrigerator at home to provide subtle hints for successful, thoughtful, and purposeful practices in hopes my teens would internalize them. Along the way, I found them helpful in my own life.
A bit of a disclaimer here: In the past couple of years, Pablo Picasso’s personal life and his relationships with women have undergone deserved scrutiny. This is not to discuss his flawed humanity, but to share this quote about process.
“Organized spontaneity is the key to success,” was a favorite quote my best friend Scott and I batted around in high school.
For twenty years that philosophy served me quite well. When I saw a fork in the road, I took it (thanks Yogi Bera). In my 20s and 30s, the plan was to focus on the task at hand. There was no deep thought into long-term goals or direction. Just take what’s given, do the best I could, and go to sleep. Rinse and Repeat.
What kind of plan is that? Sometimes, when our lives are full of triage, just surviving is the plan and I get that. But what if we can look beyond the day toward a vision for the future? Then our daily plan isn’t just about survival but living with an eye toward thriving.
The Self-Help Industry repackages the same principles because they work. Whether you have read Seven Habits or Atomic Habits, a devotee to Tony Robbins or Mel Robbins, adhere to the Four-Hour Work Week, or the 12-Week Year, they all adhere to these principles.
Oscar-winning Denzel Washington said, “Dreams without goals are just dreams.” Understanding what we want is the first step. Is it a strong family life? Is it an ocean-front house? Is it having a self-sustaining side hustle to indulge the creative impulses (Ding Ding! That’s Me). Whereever we aspire to be, we need to envision ourselves realistically in that space. I can dream about writing with a cup of coffee with the Pacific Ocean in my front view. But setting it as a goal is putting earth and root to the dream. It’s real and can’t pass by in the middle of the night.
For me, the first goal was to write a novel. It was a dream until 2018. Twice before, I wrote about 100 pages, but the idea never took root because my priorities were tied to the immediate care and feeding of my family. But as the kids grew older and gained more independence, I could shift those priorities. And in 2018, Friends In Low Places took hold of me. I knew what it was. I knew what it could be. It took root as a goal and I coudn’t stop until I finished.
Have a controllable process that drives toward the goal
Process is everything. Process doesn’t wait for inspiration or motivation. Process is the engine that drives the work toward the goal. And the engine is only as efficient as it is designed and is only as reliable as it is fueled and maintained. Poorly designed process will be distracted. No fuel and the process will just stop. No maintenance, and the project is destined to be put aside and never to be looked again.
Here’s what I’ve learned about process. A good process doesn’t expect individual excellent production. A good-to-great process will generate some non-optimal products. It will produce some real clunkers. But overall, it won’t matter, because process is all about production and if improvement is built into the process, then incremental progress will be produced.
Goals are great. Process drives. But if the process is employed every once in a while, nothing will ever happen. Consistency brings those results. Keep walking and the destination will get closer. Focus on the tasks that are priorities and achievement will follow.
This is where the self-help folks make their money. In various ways, they talk about doing the work, about grinding, about making the effort every day. Whether it is in business, a trade, or at home, nothing beats consistency in terms of moving forward. In a typical job, waiting for inspiration to act can be a one-way ticket to unemployment. Is creative work any different? I came across this piece regarding Picasso’s process. The top artitsts and writers talk about working every day, honing their crafts, and showing up. Waiting for inspiration wastes time and talent. Instead, embrace the work and learn to love the process.
I’m now less than two months away from the release of Lose Yoursself. In the midst of implementing my marketing plan, the doubt is starting to creep in.
I have my goals. I have a plan. I have what I can control, but now I’m entering a phase when I begin to evaluate the success of this endeavor by uncontrollable measures. I don’t control if the blogs, publications, reviewers will help promote the book. I don’t control if people will make the purchase. I don’t control the reactions, reviews and ratings it will receive.
I’m nervous. On a first novel, a lot of friends will support the effort and buy a copy. But a second book needs to broaden its audience. The reach needs to expand beyond those who support me. That’s the challenge. And to be honest, I’m scared as heck. My commercial benchmark, making back the money I invested, is a crapshoot. Will the book be commercially viable? The genre, baseball novel, is so niche. Will people who like general storytelling pick it up with a baseball on the cover? Will baseball fans see “A Novel” and put it back? What if I totally whiff on the marketing? Or baseball fans don’t respond? Or the obligation of blind support from friends and family has already been met with Book 1?
I try to go back to goals, execution and control the controllables. At the end of the day, I wrote a second book and that’s a success regardless of the number of books sold. How awesome is that? I wrote a completely different story than Friends In Low Places. I have this newsletter and I’m working on Book 3. And I’m using my brain in different ways that feels productive and gives me energy. The key is to harness that energy for positive thought and production instead of going down a rabbit hole of doubt.
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ORGANIZED SPONTANEITY!!! Half-credit to Bryan Siiiiiiiides ...