When I last published a blog post, I titled it “We’re Building the Richmond Velodrome.” It was an ambitious statement.
But it’s been over 4 years since then. I haven’t written anything for a long time.
So what happened?
Finding employment
When I started the Climb Mountains Blog, one of the three stated goals was to build a portfolio of writing that I could present to potential employers.
It was a good goal. If you want to be hired for your ability to write, the best way to prove it is to start writing something, anything. I chose to write about building velodromes and climbing mountains.
It worked. I was hired by Key Web Concepts in October 2018.
But this meant that I had one less reason to write for the Climb Mountains Blog. It had fulfilled one of its purposes.
It also meant that my day job would be 40 hours a week of blog posts, copywriting and writing about blog posts and copywriting. Although I had every intention of continuing to write, it was hard to motivate myself to work outside of work hours.
Getting married, buying a house and having our first child
Since the last time I wrote for Climb Mountains, I have crossed a few life milestones. I met a girl, got married, changed jobs and bought a house. Last June, our first child was born. That’s a lot of lifestyle changes. (Oh, and also we bought a dog.)
It’s hard to admit how much is on your plate when you’re in the thick of it. It’s easy to say that sure, you are a little busy, but you could find the time to write if you really want to. Then, you keep telling yourself that you want to, but you never seem to find the time.
As I kept failing to find time to write for Climb Mountains, I had to reconcile myself with my competing priorities. It wasn’t about not having time. It was about not having many good things to prioritze over writing.
Overcoming the motivation trap
Ever since I’ve fulfilled many of my initial goals for starting this blog, I have struggled to write anything more. I haven’t had the motivation.
But there’s a lesson that I’ve learned from cycling about motivation: you can’t wait for motivation to sweep you off your feet.
If you wait to feel motivated before you plan your route, put on your cycling gear and ride out onto the open road, the motivation may never come at all. You’ll have ample time to reconsider. You’ll see the rain or the pile of household tasks and you’ll think that now’s not the time to go for a ride.
This lack of motivation will feed on itself. You’ll think of how often you fail to go for a ride and how you’re falling behind on your fitness. Why should you ride today when every ride feels like you’re only just now getting back in the saddle after an embarassingly long time? Wouldn’t it just be better to cut your losses and double down on everything else going on in your life other than cycling?
If instead, you plan your route not because you’re fully motivated and definitely going for a ride right now but just as a what-if….
If you put on your cycling gear because maybe it’ll be fashionable one of these days…
If you ride out onto the open road not for a full bike ride but just to see what’s at the end the next bend…
If you do all these things before you feel motivated, you won’t have time to wait for motivation. You’re too busy biking.
Then, sometime later in the cold, pouring rain, somewhere on some forgotten mountain road dissolving from potholes into gravel as it nears its peak, you’ll find it. In the middle of the ride, you’ll find the motivation you needed to get out the door in the first place.
A new reason to write
Today, in 2023, I am writing for this blog, not because I have some big, 3-pronged master plan for what I can accomplish from it. I’m doing it because, in the middle of writing what you’re reading now, I discovered why I loved writing.