In his book, the War of Art, Steven Pressfield tells the story of British playwright, Somerset Maugham (1874-1965). Pressfield recalls someone once asking Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”
Pressfield’s book is about the power of showing up every day and doing your work. For me, inspiration, when it comes, strikes around 9:00 every night. Truthfully, most nights it would be easier for me to skip the writing. There is a resistance, and it scares me to no end.What if I can’t think of anything to write about? What if they don’t like it? What if no one comments? What if? What if? What if?
Leaders resist the resistance. They show up and do the work.
Like me, there will be places today where you are tempted to quit.
Don’t! We need you. Your team needs you. Your family needs you. There is work to be done … Terrifying work.
I say, resist the resistance and do that work.
You might even find yourself inspired.
>I hate the word actually. Recently I received a compliment from someone that left me feeling deflated. All because of an actually.
I believe the exact words were, “You actually did a good job on that project.” Translation …. “I’m surprised, because you usually don’t do that well.
Your team members want me to remind you … Leave off the Actually.
“You actually look nice today.” ”That’s actually pretty good.” “You actually came through this time.”
Not cool!
If you want to be a better coach and motivator for your team, Leave off the Actually.
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