The Battle Plan

“Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?”

“(He)who wishes to fight must first count the cost…”

“Never venture, never win!”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Right now I’m writing for the sake of self-discipline, not because I have anything to say…yet.  Often once I Get Started the thing I’m supposed to say comes to me.  So I keep writing until that happens.   It’s a watching and waiting game.  The Muse is watching me to see if I’m working.  I’m waiting for her to give me something, but, as I’ve said before, I can’t wait passively.  I have to be working.

Sometimes I can be working on something else, but my mind at least needs to be on my writing to some extent.  If I can’t get my fingers here, I need to at least keep my mind here.  What does a writer write when he has nothing to write about? 

·      He writes about writing. 

·      He writes about life.

·      He writes about his sadness.

·      He writes about his hopes.

·      He writes about his losses.

·      He writes about his victories.

·      He writes about what he loves.

·      He writes about what he knows and sometimes doesn’t know, but learns as he writes.

·      He writes until he feels he has nothing to say any longer.  (That day comes about three days after he dies.)

So I keep working, trying to reach my goal, though it seems so far away as to be almost invisible.  I know that what I need to do is put in a certain number of hours until my goals are reached.  I just don’t know how many hours that will be.  So I keep writing.  I keep creating blogs.  I’m almost to 300.  Tomorrow I’m making it my goal to write three.

Eventually I want to be a full-time writer, but today a friend pointed out that I’m already a writer.  And I am.  But I’m a writer who hasn’t reached his goal yet.  So I Keep Going. 

The other truth is that I love writing.  I love doing this.  It’s a privilege to be in my Purpose.  I think one of the keys to a happy life is to spend as much time as possible in one’s Purpose or Purposes.  Everything else is just a waste of time. 

So this is what I have to do:

1.   I have to write the next day’s objectives down every night before I go to bed.

2.   I have to make sure as many of my tasks as possible align with my goals.

3.   I need to use my time wisely, including the time I “waste.”  (Sometimes “wasting” time is actually using it well, as long as I’m aware of what I’m doing.

4.   I have to complete those objectives.

5.   I have to repeat Steps 1-5.

That’s it.  That’s the battle plan.  It’s pretty simple, though it may not always be easy.  All I have to do is Get Started and Keep Going…and stick to the battle plan.