100 Posts in 100 Days
July 7, 2021 was my fitness “day 1”. It was a break in the school year, the first real vacation coming out of COVID quarantine. I was back in my hometown and my wife and I were talking regularly about our desire to be more healthy and active. By definition, I was motivated.
As it turns out, being motivated, yields exactly 0 results. Zero. Motivation without action is just desire. The only way for me to become healthier and more active was to actually do something. To commit to action. To find the willpower, to practice, to form new habits. And there’s a word for that: volition.
Here I am. Writing this and seeing the notification on my fitness tracker: “You set a personal record for your longest daily Move streak: 297 days!” Yep. Two hundred ninety seven consecutive days of meeting my move goal. Five countries, 11 plane trips, 2 train rides, 2 road trips, and all the time changes that come with travel are inside those 297 days (yes, I am blessed). But, my commitment and willpower, my volition, has me achieving a healthier lifestyle.
Enter a new “day 1”:
100 Posts in 100 Days
Today is the start of a new commitment, a new act of volition
In 2004, I made the career move from teaching in the classroom to working in the central office in a US public school system. I went from being a first & second grade teacher ♥ to a facilitator of adults. I became a Literacy Specialist with the specific role of helping our district train and support elementary literacy coaches. Since then, I have always worked with adults who work with students. I have been an instructional coach, professional learning coordinator, associate principal, principal, and am currently the Director of Teaching & Learning at an American international school. Over the years, I have been asked/told/encouraged to write a book. And to be honest, I have been interested. I’ve had the desire. The motivation. Alongside the desire have been a slew of questions: what would I write, how would I get started, who would care what I have to say, why would a publisher be interested in my voice? Yet, this idea of being a writer and author has remained all these years.
So, here’s where I’m at. I haven’t been missing a story, a point of view, a starting point, a network of people, or resources. And I don’t need a publisher. What I’ve been missing is the commitment, the willpower, the volition. You know what I need to be a writer and I know what I need to be a writer. I just need to write.
100 posts in 100 days is my commitment to myself. I’ve moved for 297, surely I can write for 100. I don’t really know what stories are going to emerge. Or how well written they will be. Maybe one day the entire story will be, “This is my story. It isn’t very long. The end.” (That’s for you Mandy and Mer!) I think many of them will be from my professional life and the work I love. Lots of people I have met and learned from along the way will probably be included. Stories about my family and friends will likely be sprinkled in. It won’t be a book. It may not be well edited. It will all be eclectic and imperfect, but it will be an act of volition and I will be a writer.
Want to know more about motivation and volition? Check out these links:
Motivation vs. Volition on learnevents.com
Going Beyond Motivation to the Power of Volition on MIT Sloan Management Review
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