I made a mistake

I made a mistake last weekend.

I didn’t realize it until Monday early morning when I was getting ready to write my insight for that week.

I sat down behind my laptop, ready to start writing, but there was nothing. No idea what to write about. No immediate inspiration. No funny things jumped into my mind. Not even a bright sunny day to get some ideas from.

Nothing. Nada. Just a blank note on my laptop.

The mistake was that I usually think through my plans for the week on the weekend before, including the topics I will write about.

I reflect on my week, think about the lessons learned, think about the conversations I’ve had, think about the moments that jump right back in my head, and then create topics from them.

I write down a draft title and make some notes for the content. That usually gives me enough ammunition to get my writing process going.

It’s not that nothing happened last week. I actually had a pretty eventful week, with many great conversations, new challenges, and a family visit.

I just got a little complacent over the weekend. Even after I wrote that story about complacency with my favorite football team and just shared it with you.

Complacency happens to the best of us.

I did my usual reflections, but then I didn’t prepare my writing notes. I decided to leave it, assuming that the thoughts would come by themselves.

That was the mistake.

And we make those all from time to time.

We wing it.

We don’t feel like preparing for something. We trust our instincts, experiences, and creativity, and without preparation, we do what we’re supposed to do.

We often get away with it because those on the receiving end do not notice that we were winging it.

That’s what we count on when we decide not to prepare. But is it fair to those expecting us to deliver the best that we have to offer?

It depends on what their expectations were.

If they got what they were looking for, you might have gotten away with it. But if you do not live up to the expectations, you may face the consequences.

If my readers would see the quality of my insights go down, they will eventually unsubscribe from them.

That’s how it works, and I know it.

I think I’ve made a good point out of an experience I had with a moment of complacency in this specific case.

I turned my experience into a story about myself and shared it with you.

But I won’t repeat it because I didn’t like the feeling of staring at my laptop with nothing concrete popping into my head.

So lesson learned, and hopefully, you got a thought or two out of it.

Your turn: What was your last mistake?

Do more of what makes you happy!

Erikjan