Something I learned about writing a novel is that writing the middle is generally the hardest part, or at least it’s the part when you most want to be done with the thing, when you most aren’t entirely sure where you’re going, where you’re most unsure of the thing as a whole, and when you’re most tired of writing it. Might not hold true for every novel but holds true more often than not.
I’ve also noticed that this transfers to all sorts of things in life, essentially anything you’re working to be great in. Whether that’s writing fiction, boxing, copywriting, learning the cello, or any other skill. There comes a time when the “finish line” and/or “end product” is far away but the beginning is still behind you. This is the time when the initial burst of motivation has worn off and when the excitement of completing something isn’t there either.
It’s the dread middle, the grind, and it’s where greatness is made. I think we’d all be amazed at how much we learn and pick up when our mind is numbed with exhaustion from doing something over and over and over again. And then going in and doing it some more. When you get the almost sick feeling in your gut where you’re just like “no more please”. That’s when you’re closing that gap from good to great and that’s what I want to talk about today.
Numbing Yourself To Greatness
So usually when I talk about numbness I’m talking about it in a bad context but this type of numbness is different. This is numbness that comes from hard work and consistency. Regardless of what skill you’re learning there comes a time when you’d rather be doing anything else than that skill, at least when you’re trying to take it to a high/professional level. There comes a time when your mind and gut are so sick of it but you keep going. That grinding numbness is what takes you higher.
A lot of people think that means its time to take a break and there is something to be said for that. But if you want to be great at something you have to do it every day. And there will always be days when you’d rather be doing something else. If you let yourself brush off training/working then you’ll never accomplish the greatness that you want. Sure rest after the job is done, take your mind off things. But you have to be consistent with putting in the work, day in and day out.
Anything less and you’re cheating yourself. Have a minimum requirement of yourself each and every day/week. For example as a writer my minimum is 1,000 words a day. And that’s EVERY DAY. On vacation still have to get it in. In the hospital still have to get it in. Having the worst day of my life still have to get it in. Now granted I might do 2,000 one day if I know I’m going to be preoccupied the next day but the work always gets done. I hold myself too it.
Consistency Over All
So set goals, have what you need to get done to get to greatness. If you want to be a professional writer then I’d recommend writing a MIMIMUM of 1,000 words a day. If you want to be a pro boxer then make sure you’re getting X amount of rounds a week and so on and so forth. Consistency and determination are more important than anything else. It’s not intensity of work that will get you to greatness but consistency of work. That and not giving up because if you give up then it’s not going to matter anyways.
You have to have goals, daily/weekly goals, whatever makes more sense and then you must hit those daily/weekly goals for years on end. Just show up each and every day and put in the work. No one can take that from you and if you don’t give up you’ll likely get where you want to go or at least pretty damn close. You’ll shock yourself with what you can accomplish. But it’ll take more work than you thought starting out. Everything worthwhile does.
And by the time you reach your goals you’ll be so deep in it all that they’ll seem…different than they did when you started. I’m not sure how else to put that. Don’t get me wrong you’ll still enjoy accomplishing them but you’ll be looking at them differently from when you started on this path. You’ll loose the bright eyed bushy tailed-ness but it’ll be replaced by something better. Wisdom, maturity, and understanding. You’ll look back and wonder if you’d do it all again.
Greatness & Skill
One thing I want to point out is that what I’m talking about here is becoming great through a skill. This doesn’t apply to things like paper pushing or “picking up girls” which isn’t so much a skill as understanding a few key things and then putting them to work in life. However for things like music, sport, art, and the like then this applies. So don’t waste your time doing something like this for something that’s not a skill as your ROI won’t be nearly as high. But for skill development this is the path to greatness.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
