Journal
On Doing the Work
The unglamorous middle of anything worth finishing.
R
Richard Nkwenti
1 min read
The beginning is exciting and the ending is satisfying. Almost everything difficult happens in the middle, where nothing is new and nothing is finished.
The middle is where most worthwhile things are abandoned, not because they failed, but because they stopped being interesting before they stopped being necessary. The trick — if there is one — is to build a life in which the middle is bearable: a routine, a reason, a small circle that keeps you honest.
You do not need to feel inspired to do the work. You need to have decided, in advance, that the work happens whether or not inspiration attends.
Show up. Again. That is the entire method.