Is it better to work by habit or by inspiration? Notice I didn’t ask which approach sounds like more fun, because then the answer would be obvious — working when you’re inspired is the answer if you’re looking for ‘fun’.

I’m not looking for fun though, and if you want to run a solid, long-lasting business you shouldn’t be looking for fun either. You should be looking for results. If you stay focused on results, then habits trump inspiration every time.

If you want to start blogging, then make it a habit to set aside time every week, or every day, to write. That habit will get you toward your goal. If you simply wait to be inspired to write, it’s inevitable that at some point your publish day will arrive, but you weren’t inspired to write anything. Lacking inspiration, you’ll decide it’s okay to miss a day. Then you’ll miss another day, and another. Pretty soon, not blogging becomes your habit.

Some of my most popular posts were the hardest to write and many never really felt like they were done — or good enough to publish. But it seems you all loved them anyway, so they were a success. They were products of habit, not inspiration.

If you’re like me you’ve got a bunch of things you’d like to do regularly, but the reality is you simply don’t have enough time to be awesome at guitar, learn to paint, make furniture, and run your business. Don’t try to do it all, pick the most important things and turn them into a habit. Reap the rewards of that habit, and as your time frees up start developing a new habit.

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photo credit: pasukaru76 cc