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Be a Professional
On February 4th this year, I made a promise to myself that Iād write an article every week.
Whether I was tired, uninspired or on-call at the hospital, I still had to ship my newsletter. Every. Single. Week.
I never thought to myself āHey Faisal, do you feel like writing this week?ā because Iād already made that decision; I didnāt have to make it again.
It didnāt matter how I felt. It didnāt matter what I was doing that weekend. I said that I was going to do something, and when that time had come; it was time to write.
Being a Professional
āA little imprisonmentāif itās of your own makingācan set you free.ā - Austin Kleon, Keep Going.
I used to imagine artists as people whoād create with their backs to the world, presenting us with their work whenever they chose to do so, sometimes weeks or even years later.
But Iāve recently been introduced to an interesting argument; Seth Godin describes a āprofessionalā to be someone who promises to āshow upā and then does.
Someone who doesnāt miss a deadline or come up with excuses.
Someone who creates even when they donāt feel like it, because they said they would.
And I think this is something we can apply to our daily lives:
When youāre expected to be somewhere, be there.
When youāve promised something to someone, keep your word.
Even when no-oneās looking, do the right thing, because thatās what a professional would do.
I almost decided to skip this weekās newsletter.
I was drained from having spent my week working 4 consecutive night shifts, one day converting back to a day routine, and the remainder finishing off a big personal project - my new website.
Still, I choose to write, because thatās what I said I would do.
Thatās the decision Iād made, and Iām sticking with it.
Because thatās what a professional would do.
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Links to things Iāve enjoyed this week and think you might enjoy too:
I redesigned my whole personal website using webflow. Iād love it if you could take a minute to let me know what you think of it - Iāve been working on it for over a month!
Iām thinking to send a short email on Wednesdays summarising my latest Youtube videos (given that theyāre similar in content to this newsletter). If youāre strongly against the idea, please let me know why!
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