Check yourself

Shine!

On day one of Jon Acuff's Start Experiment, he challenged us to take an action step toward our goal. For some reason I thought he meant just one for day one. Apparently he meant one that we could repeat every day! 

This was my response:

"My action step for today is to write a blog post about Day One. It will be called 'Side effects' and I'll post it to my blog before I shut down for the night. Tomorrow I'll be up at 5 to work on the book."

Before unpacking the challenge, a few observations:

1. More leads to more. Whether following God or in writing, the more action I take, the deeper it gets. The more prolific my writing gets and the more profound my God gets. 
2. Perspiration is more important than inspiration. Although I don't like to believe that, Old Ben was right (that's Franklin, not Kenobi).

At first glance, it looks like my action step was to write one blog post. Looking back on the week, the goal (if I am allowed to set goals retroactively) was to get up at 5AM and work on the book every day.

The experience of this week has taught me that it is possible to disrupt the comfort of my own life in order to make room for pursuing God and the work He has set before me. As of this morning, the word count in the book is about 5600. Three weeks ago it was 0. Sunday night it was about 1200. That seems like a good start to me. Right now I've got some incredible momentum.

Additionally, this week my life has become deeper and more rich. The relationships I've made this week with other dreamers and visionaries has been incredible. I woke up at four o'clock on Friday morning to have breakfast with four other people that are not only outrageous dreamers but also outrageous doers. Intention will get you nowhere. That magical intersection of vision and hustle is the sweet spot that we crave. Being surrounded by people like that is extremely motivating and inspirational. If I hadn't been getting up a 5 on Monday through Thursday, there's no way I would've made it to that breakfast on Friday. In a way, it was like a reward for the obedience of the week.

Which leads to the more important area of the week. For me, writing this book is an act of obedience to God. By actually doing it, I've rediscovered a nearness to Him that has been eluding me in the last few months. Sitting down with a Bible, a prayer, and a blank page has led me to incredible new insight into God. It has been delightful diving into Job and Genesis with fresh eyes this week and following where He leads. On one hand, I'd love to share it with the world, but on the other I know that if this persistence act of obedience is simply between me and God then that is sufficient.

In addition to the book, have I written more this week? After all, that was the heart of the first part of that action step. My response is yes, but not over the top or outrageously. This is the third post on this blog this week, which is definitely above average. I did transcribe another very short post for my dog Pete this week as well. Privately, I've spent quite a bit of time (and words) writing email to my new friends. I've done a little bit of analog journaling this week as well.

Was week one awesome? Check. What action goals can I set for week two? I will continue to get up at 5AM and write. It's amazing what it is like to begin writing in that open space that is found in the darkness before the sun rises. Additional goals are to write at least one blog post on each of my (5) blogs.