Hang On

One more cycling metaphor.

When I chose to ride with the quick folks yesterday, it was because I know that you get faster by riding with people who are faster than you.

It sounds so simple, but the decision to do it is anything but.

People often ask me how to get faster at running and I give this very irritating answer: run faster. 

It’s that simple and that hard.

The trick is to find people who are faster than you and then try to keep up.

Rinse and repeat.

The inclination is to “build a base” or get back in shape alone and then join the pack once some ill-defined, rarely attained level of fitness is achieved. This is a really, really hard way to do it.

Instead, find a pack. Find people you admire. And then try to hang on.

Keep doing this week after week and watch what happens.

As I was riding today and concentrating on not getting dropped by the group, I was thinking about how a similar scenario plays out with writing.

We assume that writers know things and then they write them down. Many times, though, it’s exactly the opposite. Writers write their way into knowing. 

Find a question you can’t let go of, find a shred of a story, find an idea to chew on. Read people you admire. Start writing. And then try to hang on.

Don’t wait until you’re fit. Don’t wait until you know. Look at the uncertainty and act. Write. Ride.