When you’re doing any type of creative work or starting a business, you’re already doing something that is not “normal” by the standards of society.
Not normal isn’t bad, in fact I think it’s great, it’s just not what the average person is doing.
The struggle I see in a lot of people who have this itch to be “not normal” and do creative work (myself included) is that we still want to operate with “normal” inputs.
Working 9-5, going to events in the evenings, watching entire seasons of Game of Thrones in a weekend, maybe drinking a couple times a week…
That’s what feels normal. Of course we like hanging out with our friends, those activities can all be fun, and it’s natural to want to spend time doing them.
But if you truly want to create something and make it more than a hobby, you’re talking about doing the not normal. Not ordinary, but extraordinary.
And you just can’t expect ordinary inputs (spending the ‘normal’ amount of time socializing, Netflix-ing, etc.) to yield extraordinary results.
I still spend a lot of time with ordinary inputs, and unfortunately it is that time that is holding me back from running faster with my business.
It’s a hard pill to swallow sometimes. I really cut down on alcohol consumption in 2017 relative to years before, and I definitely worked more hours. I made a ton of progress, and my business is supporting me!
But it’s still not enough. I have to build more and push further, and my most precious resource is time. I’m going to choose the non-normal route much more in 2018, and part of that is both scary and kind of sad, honestly.
But, I know where I want to go, and what got me here won’t get me there.
There is nothing wrong with ordinary inputs — as long as you want ordinary outcomes.