Tools. They really can make accomplishing a task enjoyable, more efficient. However, they can easily get in the way of accomplishing the simplest of tasks. For example, I came into my office this evening around 11PM to write and now, at 12:20AM, I am just now writing these first few sentences.
I had gotten it in my head that before I could start writing, it was
essential for me to find the best platform for starting a blog - cue the following Google searches:
- What is the best blogging platform for 2019?
- Up an coming blogging platforms (why would I settle for tried and true)
- Markdown blogging
- Markdown blogging platforms
- …
Searching, clicking, reading; nothing presented results that I found worthy and so I started writing sample blog posts or site designs at all of the following:
- blogger.com
- sites.google.com
- wix.com
Almost an hour and a half later in the process and I find myself not liking a single thing and not one word written. I finally reached a point of realizing - just write - and it goes hand-in-hand with advice from Seth Godin in his recent interview on the Tim Ferriss Show. Tim asks Seth what his favorite tools are for writing. Seth’s response -
I’m not going to even go there. Just write. And Seth’s advice is really helpful. In a world of fancy new apps and tools it’s easy for me to get caught up in endlessly researching what could work best for me or what does work best for Tim or Seth, but it all means nothing if it gets in the way of the task. Tools don’t help me write better - writing helps me write better.
The take away? Action propels and tools support. I want to live a life of action! What can you do right now to act on something you’ve wanted to start?
