There was a time when I convinced myself I would write a book. In fact, there were multiple times like that. In second grade, I came up with a concept for the eighth Harry Potter book. I can’t remember if I even finished a sentence. In hindsight, this is probably for the best. No one wants an eighth Harry Potter book, especially one written by a second grader.
In high school, I was struck again by a momentary, overwhelming desire to write a book. I found myself swimming in thoughts of glory. Of course, I was daydreaming about the end of the journey, hypnotized by passion and numb to reality.
I found a pretty binder to put my hypothetical notes and drafts in but gave up after a paragraph or two. It was a one-hour moment of inspiration that faded so quickly it can’t even be considered an attempt to seriously pursue my goal.
This kind of thing seems to happen a lot. Moments of inspiration hit us with force and fury, allowing ourselves to visualize the potential success we could achieve. Whether it’s someone’s story of victory against the odds, a motivating podcast or a personal burst of productivity, strikes of inspiration are incredibly energizing.
With encouraging words and powerful images still ringing in our brains, we feel capable. We feel strong enough to make our own progress toward our own goals. But it is so often short-lived. When the inspiration fades and the moment passes, we find ourselves back where we started.
However, while inspiration might be spontaneous, hard work is far from it. The two concepts depend on one another. We need inspiration to motivate us to work hard, and we need hard work to extend the short-lived nature of inspiration.
The inspiring moment allows us to recognize what we care about and prove we are able to accomplish a difficult task. But the lifeblood of achievement — whether we like it or not — is hard work.
Worthwhile goals cannot be achieved by a fleeting gust of inspiring words or a passive dream of success. They are complicated, demanding, confusing and — eventually — rewarding.
We are already aware of the importance of hard work. Every success story contains a lot of evidence that true accomplishments do not come quickly or easily. Just because we know what it takes, however, does not mean we will automatically succumb to hard work.
I knew writing a book would be immensely challenging. But when I visualized the sparkling completion, I was both driven by and clouded by overwhelming inspiration. When it went away, I put my pencil down and never returned.
Beyond inspiration and beyond hard work, we need accountability. For some, that can be strictly followed, self-imposed deadlines. For others, it might be having an advisor or mentor repeatedly check in on your progress. Accountability is a more formal and more structured form of motivation. It is the forceful, artificial — and quite often necessary — form of inspiration.
Accountability can be a crucial ingredient in uninterrupted hard work, which is normally blocked by procrastination. Without accountability, it is far too easy to push our goals into the hands of our future selves with no regard for their concerns. And at that point, you never write the book.
Inspiration is the amazing, motivating and oh-so-important spark to success. Hard work is the force that fulfills this dream — unpleasant, but crucial. Accountability is the glue that allows for hard work to actually happen.
And accomplishments are dependent upon all three. When the next temporary burst of inspiration to write a book hits me, I’ll try to remember that. Maybe then — and only then — will my goals finally stick.
