Dive into Discipline: What’s Your 90-Day Challenge
84 days ago or so I decided to write a blog post a day, every day, for 90 days. It’s been quite a journey and while I’m still ruminating over what I’ve learned from the process, I have a couple of initial thoughts.
1. Discipline brings desire.
Some days, I didn’t want to write. I wrote anyway. Some days, I didn’t have time. I wrote anyway. Some days, I didn’t feel I had a good enough idea to write about. I wrote anyway. Over time, I started to feel a responsibility then a longing to write. Yes, a longing. Weird, huh? I was used to the rhythm of my fingers on the keyboard; I was used to the forming and shaping of language; I was used to the small satisfaction when my one or two consistent friends would like my post. I experienced the sensation that I “missed blogging” or “missed writing” if I didn’t get my morning post out.
2. Discipline drives opportunity.
I think I wrote for 45 days straight before I had a significant reaction to a post — like multiple shares on Twitter or several people recommending a post on Medium. I set a goal — writing daily for 90 days — and I didn’t let other data get in the way of my commitment. Zero likes? No problem. Keep going. “Likes” are not the goal. Zero shares. No problem. “Shares” are not the goal. In the last two weeks, I’ve been invited to write for two blogs that have national audiences. The discipline of daily writing produced those opportunities. I’m deeply honored by these invitations, and the truth is that whatever writing I do for these educational blogs, won’t be easy or perfect. I won’t somehow have “arrived.”
3. Discipline, Clarity, Focus.
I need to work through these ideas, but there’s a lesson I’m sensing develop that has to do with clarity that comes from writing. I set out to write for 90 days to achieve mental clarity about my thoughts on education, leadership, and team building. I was in a very painful emotional — and real — transition in my work, and I needed — I wanted — to have clarity about what I valued, so I chose to write about it. Because I wanted clarity, I needed discipline. It’s been a distilling process, a purifying process, for me. I needed time — one day wouldn’t do. 90 days — maybe too much!?! But I also needed clarity — a focused attention on “why am I doing this” — so that the discipline would pay off.
I’m still thinking through the lessons, and I know that three months from now, or six months from now, or a year from now, this journey will still be producing results. I’m a better person because I chose the discipline of writing daily for 90 days.
