Fresh Start Monday #034: What is your "show up habit"?
A pro of starting to work for myself is that I don't have a boss to report to.
A con of starting to work for myself is that I don't have a boss to report to.
Being a part of a team or a larger organization keeps you accountable. When I played Ultimate Frisbee, I always showed up to practice, or else I wouldn't be on the team. When I was employed, I always showed up, or else I would be fired.
Working for myself, that accountability and structure from another person or organization don't exist. There's no consequence. It's up to me to either show up or not. Every day.
I didn't realize how difficult maintaining that self-discipline would be. How am I showing up every day?
I've wanted to build my reputation on Upwork. It's one small way to find clients and, hopefully, let them find me over time.
The habit I intended to build is sending one proposal a day. A proposal is like sending a cover letter for a job but for a project. They both suck to do.
I went weeks without sending a proposal until one day I asked myself, will I attract clients without sending proposals? No.
It's like sleeping four hours a night and expecting to have energy. What was I expecting to happen? I didn't show up.
The key here is identifying the habit that's equivalent to showing up. If I showed up to Ultimate Frisbee practice, I would stay in shape, and the team would improve. If I showed up to a job, I would receive tasks and complete my responsibilities.
What's useful about this "show up habit" is that it reduces overwhelm by eliminating X, Y, and Z and focusing on A. It's like the tree trunk that all the other branches grow from.
This can apply to different areas of your life. Think of it as the foundational habit in that specific area of your life.
Back to Upwork proposals. I decided to send one a day to establish my freelance profile. I identified two blockers.
They were taking too long for me to do. I tinker too much and customize everything. But generic templates I can send in two minutes won't work either.
They're boring and tedious to do. I have no solution for this.
The idea that came to mind was Pomodoro's technique, where you work for 25min on a timer and then take a 5min break. However, this has never worked for me, and 25min still felt too long.
Randomly, one of Youtube's suggestions was a music timer. It was 15min of electronic music with a timer in the background. Near the end, the music speeds up as the clock counts down.
It's now a game where I turn it on once a day, and it's a race to send it out before the clock hits zero. The music is uplifting, and the timer removes my perfection.
I show up by sending one proposal a day.
To show up every day:
If you don't start incorporating habit X, will you create the business, career, body, relationship, etc you want?
What one habit lays the foundation?
What's hard about this habit? What don't I like about it?
What's a creative solution for this habit?
Back when I played Ultimate Frisbee or was employed, showing up took care of the rest. What one habit takes care of the rest?