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Stay the Course
Turn Consistency into Success with Hal Elrod (The Secondhand Inspiration Project)
The Secondhand Inspiration Project begins with a motivational quote and ventures wherever the creative path meanders.
“95% of our society — the ‘mediocre majority’ — fail, time and time again, to start exercise routines, quit smoking, improve their diets, stick to a budget, or any other life habit that would improve their quality of life. Why? Most people don’t realize the seemingly unbearable first 10 days of a new habit is only temporary.” -Hal Elrod
I’m embarrassed about how much I’ve struggled with developing my latest poetry manuscript. I’ve re-ordered the sequence of poems more than a dozen times. Full-fledged outlining, editing, and redrafting entire sections each time. I keep tinkering with and rehashing everything. It’s been months and I’m still stuck in the starting blocks, not even in the race.
I’ve been reading books by “better” poets. I see their creative vision in libraries and bookstores. I keep wishing I was in their position. I imagine these writers invigorated by their success. Then I look at my lack of progress and stack of unpublished manuscripts and feel frustrated.
What am I doing about this? Well, as cliché as it may sound, I’m trying. I do small things. I read a book and several blog posts on compiling a…