SOME TIMES WHEN I BEGIN NEW projects or ventures or even after I've been involved with them for some time I begin to ponder how much easier it would all be if I could somehow go into the future and collect everything that was able to be produced in my lifetime with the intention of bringing it back to the present and using it to finish up my current workload.
The idea, I tell myself, would be to just transcribe what I'd already written. So it wouldn't be cheating; I'd still be writing the material. Only I'd just be writing it earlier than I did initially. Sometimes that fantasy has me going back in time and giving the motherlode of material to a younger self to get an earlier start with things and even help with career planning as each publication I'd taken from the future would have a date and publisher name for the work, letting me know when I should put something out and with whom.
And while it can be fun to imagine what it would have been like to have such insight and titles at my disposal in my early twenties when publishing (and the world) was in a much different place, I soon enough come to realize how unrewarding this would ultimately all be. For while I have the information and works to showcase and produce I wouldn't have the skill set nor understanding of how it came to be. In short, I won't be able to really write what was written by my older self because I didn't put any sweat equity into it just pilfered some instant rewards.
Ultimately I wouldn't be happy and would lack any sense of fulfillment let alone joy. For I'd know I didn't really produce the work myself but instead took a shortcut that would end up hurting myself in the end. I won't be able to live up to my previous standards as I wouldn't have been able to produce them yet. The raw talent would still be there, sure, but the refinement—the discipline—and basic craftsmanship would be lacking.
I've grown so much in my creative endeavors over the last few decades and have a much better mindset, understanding, and outlook than I had all those years ago that really helps me every day with life, not just with the creative side of the career. To throw that all aside for a quick gain that would in the end be detriment—even life-damaging—would be the height of foolishness.
Some things take time. I used to hate hearing that but patience is truly a virtue and there is something to be said about delayed gratification. So, as is so often the case with this recurrent fantasy, I turn aside from the notion of trying to pilfer from my future to somehow better my present and instead take a breath and return to the grind—putting forth the effort that will bring me into a better future not just more polished and skilled as a creator and writer, but person in general.
And I'm sharing all this in this month's post to remind and perhaps encourage folks not to take the easy path if they can help it. Instant reward without any effort put in to achieve it will in the end cheapen both the reward(s) and recipient. There is really something to be said about working toward a goal---advancing organically toward an end. For when that reward finally comes it will not only validate your own effort but lock in what you've already developed and learned along the way, providing some inner strength and insight you'll be able to use in the rest of your life as well as any new challenges you'll encounter.