It's not really a conundrum.

I have a confession: I almost didn't publish a post today.

This is my first week back at work after a short break. On Monday, I was greeted with emails in the triple digits (I left at inbox zero) and a workload that had grown. A lot. I may have slowed down significantly over the holiday, but the rest of my world had not.

I'm not (yet) a wildly successful author who can spend my days at the beach, sipping on an oat milk smoothie while thousands of words flow from me to the page. During my break, I felt like that (future) version of myself: thinking big thoughts, reading big ideas, scribbling in my notebook, and typing away at my keyboard.

It's easy to publish an article weekly when you have loads of free time.

Alas, my momentary reprieve was over. It was back to reality. My first week in the office has shattered any perception that this year will be calmer than the last. I won't. The way things look this early on, it will likely be a busier year, leaving me with less time to write.

A conundrum.

But also not a conundrum. If writing is important to me, the solution is simple: I make the time to write.

I launched this blog to achieve two key things: to prove to myself that I am a writer and to inspire you to be the best version of yourself. I can only do this if I am disciplined enough to actually write.

To achieve anything in our lives, we need discipline. Inspiration is momentary, a flash of energy inside of us. Eventually, it fizzles out. Discipline will get us through to the finish line. We need to show up every day, no matter what. It takes effort to ignore the Little Voice. It's uncomfortable at first. It requires gritting our teeth at times. It's also rewarding. Self-discipline teaches us a lot about ourselves and our potential.

I wake up at 05:00 on weekdays. 06:00 on the weekends. I don't like it, but I choose to be the person who gets up early to work out and write before the rest of the world wakes up and clamours for my attention. A bonus perk is that I often get to experience a glorious sunrise. Over the holidays, I cut myself some slack and woke up a little later, but the holidays are over. It's back to reality. When the alarm rings, I force myself out of bed and groggily make my way to my office, where I have my weights and laptop ready to greet me.

In my opinion, few things make us feel better than making a commitment to ourselves and then sticking to it.

Cheers to me, for getting this post out today.

Cheers to you for reading it.

Have a great week.

Ric.