A sketch or an idea isn't the work. It's the start of it.
A post isn't the work. It's the end of it, a summary of work.
Everything in-between is the work — the hard work, the unglamorous work, the I-screwed-up work, the nobody-will-lay-eyes-on-it work, all of the minute decisions that others will never know or appreciate.
To keep alive the dream of the work being worthy or accepted, we have to show up and do the work.
When we do, we might find that our work has the ability to scale walls we’ve constructed inside us, it can be used to tear down old walls, construct new ones, or perhaps become mounted on a wall deemed important. But to realize such a future requires us to do the work.
Too often we focus on the end goal — visualizing to a point of paralysis. We seem more interested in the finish line, the prize, and the accolades without the act of doing the work, regardless of what work we dabble in.
There can be dread at the beginning of the work. It can feel daunting. It can drain.
It can cause feelings of imposter syndrome, of not measuring up.
Which makes us ask — what are we doing this work for?
Why do we do this work?
If your aspirations are greater than your answer, don’t sell yourself short.
If you are “mailing it in” on your employer who believes you enjoy the work, stop.
We are called to work.
You should have a desire to do the work in which you are called.
There should be joy in doing the work.
(not always, but more often than not).
If that's not your experience, go seek it out.
And do that work.