This is my first blog post in a month.
Yep, after 43 weekly blog posts in a row, ya boy went AWOL.
And let me tell you, I’m so glad I did.
Quitting, taking a break, going into hiding, whatever you want to call it, there’s an art to that.
I’m starting to learn that quitting something that isn’t working for you can be one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself (when done right).
Reassessing your path and stepping away is a vital aspect of a growth mindset, but it’s often misunderstood or judged because many people view it through the lens of a fixed mindset.
Pushing through hard sh*t is important, there’s no denying that.
But you need a reason to do it, and quitting, even just for a little bit, can help you re-define and re-discover that reason.
I feel damn good now, and I want to tell you about it.
Quitting vs Losing Passion
I’m not going to lie guys, a few weeks ago I thought I probably wouldn’t post another blog.
I would sit down to write and literally nothing would come to mind, no matter how many shots of coffee were pulsing through my veins.
I felt like I’d said everything I needed to say (signs of a fixed mindset), and knowing I had to post a blog because I’d posted every week this year just clogged things up even more.
There was a part of me that was scared to quit, because that’s just not what you’re supposed to do, especially after all the hours I’d spent writing on here.
But there was an ever bigger part of me that was scared I was losing passion for this.
That really scared me.
When something that used to bring you so much joy no longer does so, I don’t think pushing through it is the answer.
So I didn’t.
I stopped posting, stopped writing, and acted as if my blog didn’t exist.
And guys, I can’t even explain how much I’ve missed this ( & you <3 ).
A Streak Is Your Worst Enemy
“Habit is a great deadener.”
Samuel Beckett
I want to tell you about a friend of mine who had a 1,000-day streak on Duolingo.
She devoted 10 minutes to her French studies every day for almost three years (that’s 166 hours!!).
But after those 166 hours and a streak she was truly proud of… her French still sucked.
I’m certainly not bringing this up to rip on her, but I want to introduce you to the danger of a streak.
A streak can often give us a feeling of accomplishment, even if we haven’t actually accomplished anything.
Apps like Duolingo pray on this fake sense of accomplishment, with features like the ‘streak’ being among the most addictive and celebrated aspects of the platform.
The app even offers unlockable rewards that let you ‘freeze’ your streak for a day, so you don’t lose it even if you don’t complete your studies that day (I mean, can it get any more artificial than that?).
The streak is such a celebrated and important feature of the app, that it shifts the user’s focus from actually learning the language to simply making sure they don’t lose their streak.
They’ll blitz through the lesson right before bedtime (when their brain is primed to learn absolutely nothing) and tick off ‘French studies’ from their habit tracker with a little sense of accomplishment.
This used to be me, and this is how I know I’m doing something for the wrong reasons.
I was writing an article and posting it to my blog not because I had something to say, but because that’s what I had done for the 40 weeks before that.
Whilst consistency and structure is a wonderful thing, it can be dangerous when it defines the creative process.
When you lose this streak and the block of consistency that comes with it, it allows you to re-assess and re-define your reason why.
I don’t want to post just to post, I want to post to say something.
I’m not doing it because ‘that’s just what I do’, I’m doing it because I want to.
Oh, And Stop Overlooking Rest
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.”
Alan Cohen
I truly believe knowing when to quit is an art, even if it’s only temporary.
In the past seven days, I’ve written four blog posts, and I’m so excited to share these with you.
Not having to post anything allowed me to write from a place of freedom again.
This extends far beyond writing.
Rest is so valuable, and sometimes the precursor to this enforced period of rest is the feeling of discontent or the lack of inspiration.
To quote my boy Dominic Fike, “If you feel out of place, maybe it’s because you are.”
That’s a mindset thing, too.
You don’t have to keep forcing things, allow yourself to take a break.
You’ll either come back stronger, or you’ll realise you were on the wrong path to begin with.
Either way, that’s progress.
IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK BABY!!!!!
