A Snail's Progress Is Deceiving
Recently, an Australian publication asked if I would repurpose and refresh an article I wrote about 18 months ago. They thought the content was interesting, engaging, and relevant to their audience. I was happy to oblige. After all, this was one of my favorite pieces I've written in the last few years. My intent was to simply dust it off, update some of the data, and provide some context more relevant for an Australian reader. Then, something happened.
Remember how this was one of my favorite pieces I had written? Upon a revisit, I thought it was garbage. The sentence structure was off in several places, my arguments were not as crisp as I expected, and the jokes felt a little flat. Wow! It was as if I was reading someone else's writing. I was, though. My younger self. Now one might not think a lot can change in 18 months, and you might be right. However, there's one fact to add to this story. Since I've published 300-500 words every day since November (plus writing for other publications), I've probably published more than 125,000 words since I wrote that piece. That's the equivalent of two entire books. Yikes!
That's the funny thing about a snail. It's hard to see its progress when you're staring at it. It looks painfully and embarrassingly slow. But if you turn your attention away from it, then come back later, it's startling how far its come. That same concept applies to us humans, and it's relevant to so many different areas of life.
Earlier this summer, my kids could barely swim…..and I certainly wouldn't trust them in the deep end. It was difficult for them to grab a diving ring from the four-foot depth. Yesterday morning, Finn treaded water for four minutes, and Pax swam the length of the pool in just a few breaths. They would have sunk like stones just a few months ago, but here we are! The snail is chugging along!
Whatever your craft, skill, art, hobby, book, music, or other endeavor is, just put the work in. It may feel like you're moving as slow as a snail, but that's a win! If you just keep going, one day you'll look back and be as shocked as we are at the snail. If I can go from garbage (my own harsh self-talk) to good in just one year, what does the next year look like? Or 5 years? Or 10 years? It's weird to think about.
What about you? What's something you need to just do, do, and do again? In what area do you need to put your head down and put the work in? Whatever your answer, I hope you do it! You deserve it, and so do all the people who will benefit from your excellent work!