Consistent and Reliable

Everyone can write, right? You, me, my neighborhood girl, and with proper guidance and training probably her dog as well. Then why do we have far less writers than we see readers in the world? Why do I know of over a dozen friends who started a blog at some point of time, but haven't written anything on it for over an year? And a lot many others have said they wish to start writing. But never get around to writing it. 

Everyone, and I mean everyone I know has a story to tell. But when you have a blank screen with a cursor blinking in front of you, imploring you for it to be moved, it takes courage to put your fingers on the keyboard and start clicking. More often than not, our mind goes blank. We don't know where to begin and where to end. Writing is scary. 

I wrote my first post on this blog back in April 2010. So, in a few months I would be completing 5 years of being a 'blogger'. I have written close to 200 posts till now. Some of them have been popular, some of them are my personal favorite, while a lot of them simply went unnoticed. It's been a crazy, unexpected ride and overall I am proud of what I have built. 

But if there is one thing that I have struggled with while blogging, it's being consistent. If you go through the archives you would notice spurts of inspirations, enthusiasm and even insanity followed by long periods of lull. And this characteristic extends to almost everything that I do in life. I can be super disciplined and consistent when I have a short term challenge to meet (and that's why self-experiments are so important for me). But over long term I always struggle. 

Everyone wants to be a Superhero. I have myself dreamed to become a Superman since my childhood. But being a Superhero isn't about wearing flashy dresses and a cape. It's about being the most trusted individual in anyone's life. 

The real life Superhumans that I know of, aren't that macho or full of charisma. But they are hard workers.  They value their words. And they have built a rock solid trust with their actions. And they are CONSISTENT in everything they do.

Superhumans, to tell the truth is just about being a Proper Human. If we could just achieve our own potentials, we would be far better than 99.9% of the world. If we could simply perform our duties, show up when and where we are expected to, and just keep our promises, we could so easily become an object of envy and astonishment for the world.  And I can say this because if I am in danger today, the first set of people that would come in my mind to ask for help might not be my best friends or family, but the ones who have exactly these same traits. 

But here is the funny part. Intrinsically we are all aware of it. But we never make an effort to be a "Normal Vanilla Human". Instead we all want to be Rockstars. The ones that are shown to us in the Cinemas and the Televisions and on Internet. The ones who make billions or become 'overnight success'. Everyone has their own perception of a Super Human. I won't criticize anyone, because mostly I also am a part of the same herd. 

In 2015, I am not making any resolutions. I am just working on a theme. A theme to be a consistent and reliable human. A promise keeper and the one who shows up no matter what. And instead of making fancy goals, I want to focus on becoming a healthier, calmer and more mature human. 

This year, for me, is about building a solid base. I know I do something like this every year and then fail. But I can't stop trying. Probably after years and years of failing, finally I would succeed. Who knows!

And for this blog, I want to go back to my original promise/goal of posting one post per week (Sunday morning at 9 am?). And I want to develop a habit of writing daily for just 10 minutes (at least). My 'perfectionism' is always a hindrance in moving ahead and achieving my goals. So, I want to break that characteristic as well. 

So, I would post anything that's in my draft for that week. Even, if it's not complete. I don't need a ~1000 word essay like this one. Just a 100 word mind dump would do. No fancy formatting, nothing to impress. Just a simple goal of one post per week. Either here, or on Medium. 

  

I haven't written any post for the first week of the year. So, I have already failed. That's fine. I will fail more often. If I don't post on a certain weekend, I would continue to do it in the next. I don't need to be perfect, but I need to try and achieve consistency. You don't become a Superhuman by writing a blogpost. You do it by failing a lot of times, but never giving up. 

I hope you have your own resolutions/goals/dreams/bucket-list checkboxes to fill this year. And I really wish you achieve them. Here's to a Consistent, Reliable New Year.