Hey, writers. Football is upon us once again. “Not gonna lie” I am very hyped. Let’s get on with some writing 🙂

Hit the jump, and let’s discuss.

There’s a lot of things I like about football. One, I am absolutely not an expert but, two, I like the strategies and philosophies that come out of football. For instance, one of my favorite quotes is “Winning is a habit.” It sounds so simple and maybe it is in a way, but it definitely isn’t easy.

Writers, I’ve read a lot on habits. As a friend of mine likes to say, and she’s really just making fun of me, I read entire books for one concept. I am proud (sad?) of that compliment (insult? Haha). Regardless of my emotions, her observation is pretty accurate.

Now there’s a lot to be said about habits. One of the things is that it can be cultivated. I remember reading in Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens a riddle. Here are some lines from it:

<> Who am I?
<> I am your constant companion.
<> I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
<> Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. (DAMN I love that line.)
<> Those who are great I have made great.
<> Those who are failures I have made failures.
<> Who am I?

The answer, of course, is habit.

One of the interesting things that’s mentioned in that book is that habits can lead people down the wrong path. (These types of books always focus on the positive and it’s refreshing to receive the cautionary.)

On habits, I never actually promised myself that I would write everyday, but that’s definitely how it’s been for a while. Having said that, I’ve been writing up a storm lately. So let’s get back to it.

I think I go full speed ahead when I’m writing but the reality is that I’m working on things that are NOT the website. It feels like progress but it isn’t. It feels like penny-wise and pound foolish. All these things are productive but they are invisible. Until a book is released, everything is behind the scenes.

I do these things and I feel stoop. But, if you’ve been following these posts, then you know this isn’t the first time. Shame face. No. So. What’s the solution to this?

Habits. A simple shuffle of some priorities and it’ll all be better. It sounds simple but sometimes simple is best. Specifically, in the case of AlohaAlvin, I write an article before I move onto other things. I like to think of it as hitting the batting cage before stepping onto the plate.

That simple reorganizing has solved a lot of problems for me. If you’ve never done it, I suggest you try it.

So tell me,

Have you ever made a simple swap and received big gains?

Aloha,
Alvin