This January, I’m going to share something a little different.
Not advice.
Not strategy.
Not leadership tips.
Just some reflections - from a year-long challenge I nearly didn’t do.
A year ago, I decided to play music every day.
Not because I felt confident.
Not because I was ready.
But because I was frustrated with myself.
I could play.
I always had.
And yet years had passed where I simply… hadn’t.
Life seemed to get in the way.
The idea of doing something every day felt heavy.
Onerous.
What if I missed a day? What if I stopped? What if I proved to myself that I couldn’t follow through?
So…. I delayed.
I told myself I needed to prepare.
To find the right music.
To feel more confident.
To get warmed up.
On the day I was meant to begin, I still wasn’t sure - so instead of playing, I talked about the intention.
Honestly – what was I on??
That hesitation said everything. (Do you recognise this behaviour? I’m hoping a few of you are nodding in agreement….)
What eventually tipped me forward wasn’t confidence.
It was accountability.
Not the kind where someone checks up on you, but the quieter kind where you know whether you’ve kept your word.
I didn’t tell many people.
I kept my account private.(I’m not the biggest fan of social media – it’s a means to an end but I do like some aspects of it…)
I chose a platform I barely used.
And I gave myself one job: show up.
Some days the music wasn’t ready.
Some days it was bangin’ (mostly unexpectedly)
Some days it wasn’t good.
And on more than one occasion - some days I really didn’t feel like it.
And there was always an easy out.
No one would have chased me.
No one would have cared.
Nothing bad would have happened if I stopped.
Except for one, important thing:
I would have known.
What I learned over the year wasn’t really about music.
It was about consistency without perfection.
About staying with something even when the novelty wears off.
About honouring myself - not with grand gestures, but with small, repeated acts.
Now, I’m not trying to get you to take up an instrument. (Although if you can play one, dust it down and get cracking! 😊)
It’s about the things we quietly talk ourselves out of. The challenges we soften. The promises we leave with an escape clause.
Because most of us don’t need more motivation.
We need permission to begin imperfectly - and to keep going when it gets uncomfortable.
I’ll share more over the coming weekends.
Unfinished. On purpose.
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