ProofPilot

There are rare times when I feel like I’m in the zone. Those are great. Then there are times when I ask myself, “How in holy hell have I become the janitor of a mountain of bullshit?” Put another way, sometimes you’re the boxer and sometimes you’re the punching bag. We all get our turn as the punching bag. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t matter how “successful” you become, you have always grabbed a number at the deli counter of getting your ass kicked by the universe. During these periods of fire fighting, I get fidgety and frustrated. I feel like I’m treading water, and patience wears thin, especially with myself. My instinct is to try to fix things as quickly as possible. That’s all well and good, but I’ve realized that from a place of “WTF?!,” I often rush and create more problems. This is particularly catastrophic when I try to sprint immediately upon waking up. The mantra that saves me is simple: “Make before you manage.” Each morning, before plugging holes, fixing things, calling vets, answering text messages, or delegating things, this mantra is a reminder to make something. Even the most time-sensitive items can usually wait 60 minutes, and by make something, I mean anything. You just need to feel like you’ve pushed a millimeter ahead in some creative direction. For me, even a 90-second video of calligraphy could set a better emotional tone for the day, helping me to more calmly handle problems. Or maybe I attempt to jumpstart my writing with an Instagram caption. It’s practically nothing, but it’s enough. Even token efforts allow me to reassure myself with “Don’t worry. You did produce something today.” The psychological difference between zero acts of creation and one act of creation, no matter how small, is impossible to overstate. If you’re lucky, sometimes that one idea, one sentence, or one shitty first draft can turn into something bigger. But the point is to be able to say to yourself, even for five minutes, “Hark! I am a creator, not just a janitor of bullshit! Here is proof that I can—and will!—do more than just manage minutiae… ” We all spend time on the struggle bus. At the very least, this mantra has helped me to find a window seat when it’s my turn. When in doubt, try it out: make before you manage.