I set a goal to read 50 books this year. That’s a book per week, with only two weeks off. I’ve finished one so far. It’s the middle of February, which means, according to the math, I’m five books behind. This information could be daunting, could mean that I’m already failing, that this goal is too ambitious. But here’s what I also know: I’m reading more consistently than I ever have. I have three books in the air right now that I’m about halfway or more than halfway through, so I always have something to pick up when the moment appears. Yes, it feels impossible, but I also know I’m working toward the impossible every day. And I get excited to share what I’m reading with my friends.
In my experience, in order for anything to feel fulfilling and engaging for more than a few days, two things must be true: first, it has to feel impossible, because if it’s not impossible it’s probably not worth doing; second, I have to feel like I’m making consistent progress on a daily basis. That’s how I felt working on Daniel’s Art Party, putting together a festival of 7 shows over 21 days in less than six months. It was impossible, and somehow, by making small progress daily, we got it done. It’s how I felt on my bike tour across the US. When we started, we could only do thirty miles in a day and it was hard to find campsites. The math would not work out. We would not finish on time. It was impossible. But we continued to make progress every day, and somehow we caught up with our timeline. There is magic that appears with consistency.
My practice now is to hold these two conflicting realities in my awareness simultaneously. Yes, it is impossible, and yes, I can make progress. The rest has a way of working itself out.
Theodor Gabriel 