Building the Platform

Not so long ago, I was fat. Sixty pounds overweight to be exact.

I hardly even saw it. I assumed that clothes were getting shoddier (and tighter) and that there was something wrong with my haircut.

When I started going to the gym, it was because a half-hour on the stationary bike meant I could watch TV uninterrupted by my 3 year-old.

One half hour. Three or four times a week. At the pace of a senior citizen.

After three years of this, I got a trainer. I ignored half of what she recommended.

But I did the other half. Three or four times a week.

A few more years passed.

I wasn't fit. I wasn't strong. I was still fat. But I was ready. I had built the platform.

When a rare lull at work let me go to the gym every day, the scale started to move. So I trimmed my intake, just a bit. In a year, I lost 40 lbs. 20lbs more went in the next few months.

Without the platform, I never could have done that. Five years where I got little to no results, except for the pleasure of dropping by the gym, watching the tube, and showering in peace.

The Lessons:

1. Keep writing, undettered by a slow pace and barely adequate performance.

2. Make it a pleasure. Otherwise you'll quit. All that slow work you've done on your platform will be lost. Write about what you like, when you like.

Don't worry about progress, as long as you're showing up at your desk at regular intervals.

Just like the lull at my work, your great opportunity may be coming. Make sure your platform is ready when it does.