There’s so much focus on flow and ease—finding the things that bring us joy, that give us delight and satisfaction.
I’ll admit, I love it when writing flows. When the ideas come, when I have so much I want to say and it comes pouring out of me.
But there are also days when I show up and nothing seems to come. When the faucet isn’t readily flowing.
This doesn’t mean I skip a day, or wait until the well feels full again.
In fact, I’m noticing something even more important lately: I have a natural resting point in my written work, where I’ll write about 80% of a piece, and then I’ll pause. The early ideas will all be out of me, and now it’s my job to push it just a little further.
If you lift weights, you know that this is where the growth is. It’s not enough to show up and do the same weight and the same reps. As your body stretches its capabilities and you gain strength, you can increase the weight. Doing the work pushes your limits out a little further.
Writing and creative work is the same way. Find your edge—the place where you’re naturally inclined to rest, to stop.
Then push just past it. Find the knot of resistance and work to untangle it. Break it down, pull it apart, and go for it.
Your job is to dig in, to find the edge.
And then keep going a little bit past it.
That’s where the growth is.