BOOK REVIEW | Every Single Day
Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash
Yesterday, I made a commitment to writing and publishing every day between now and December 15th.
Will it go on after that? I'm not sure. I started this little experiment based on an analysis of my 2018 goals and what daily behaviors it will take to accomplish them.
In the midst of identifying this seed behavior, I came across the best book I've read in a long time on shifting behavior. Bradley Charbonneau's book, Every Single Day, is for transformation what Steven Pressfield's The War of Art is for resistance.
Both books are required reading if you want to do something meaningful with your life.
By meaningful, I mean to you; not by the standards of status quo or your Aunt Susan. Because anyone who has tried and failed to do what matters most to them knows, resistance is real and cannot be "overcome." The only way to do meaningful work is with resistance sitting right beside you.
Imagine for a second that every time you sit down to create that masterpiece, launch that new program, or write the next chapter. a little tiny demogorgon is sitting on your shoulder. He's whispering things in your ear like "nobody wants this" and "who's gonna care." Really imagine it, maybe it's the almost cute lizard looking version that Dustin originally pulled out of the trash can. (And if you haven't watched Stranger Things yet, I highly recommend it as procrastination with a purpose.)
Pressfield helps us understand and accept, even personify resistance in a whole new way. Then, Charbonneau comes along with a "simple but not easy" prescription for doing what matters most while resistance is whispering in your ear: do it every single day.
When you read that, your mind is offering up at least a hundred reasons why you can't do something every single day - there isn't enough time, I don't have enough money, maybe after I retire. In his book, Charbonneau takes every single one of those excuses and breaks them down with humor and grit.
Every Single Day is the anti-demogorgon.
Once once you read it, you'll hear Charbonneau's words in your head as well. And maybe if you let them resonate, you'll experience one of the many side effects of doing what matters every single day. My personal favorites from the list are:
“#5: accidental laughter at things others might not think are funny
#8: a strong sensation that you want to go to sleep so you can get started on the morning and jump into another day
#10: bold thoughts that you can now do anything you put your mind to”
Here's what I'm certain of: If I hadn't read this little gem of a book yesterday on the plane, I wouldn't be sitting at my sister's dining room table by 4:30 am PT to make sure I have time to write and publish before heading into the office to facilitate a strategy session this morning.
Instead of getting up, writing this, pressing publish, and sharing online - I would have told myself that nobody's reading this, that one skipped day won't matter, that there are more important things for me to do right now. And while all of those things may be COMPLETELY true and rational, I'm not doing this for you (though I hope the residual impact is positive!).
And I'm not writing this morning because Bradley Charbonneau told me to. I'm up and writing and pressing "Publish" because his book reminded me (just as Pressfield's did so many years ago) that this is the work that matters most to me. That means my own personal demogorgon will always be lurking around, but now I've got a secret weapon against him: Every Single Day.
What's the one thing that you could do every single day that just might transform you (and maybe the entire world)? In other words, what is the work of your life?
Don't know yet? Email me and we can hop on a quick call to sort it out.
And don't forget to read Charbonneau's book - it's free on KindleUnlimited right now.