The Blog Reilly Didn’t Write

Reilly didn’t write a blog this week.

There.

He said it.

For someone who has spent a good part of his professional life telling business owners about discipline, consistency and doing what they said they would do, this was mildly embarrassing.

Not catastrophic, obviously.

Nobody had called the guards.

No Smácht members had gathered outside the house.

But it was still a little awkward.

Reilly had the usual excuses.

Busy week.

Too many meetings.

Things to finish.

Things that should have been finished.

Things that definitely should have been finished last week.

And somewhere in the middle of all that was the little voice saying:

“Reilly, you really should write the blog.”

Reilly was very good at telling other people what they should do.

He was less good at listening to himself.

Friday arrived.

The Connacht match was on in the Dexcom, and Wifey had bought him season tickets.

Technically, Reilly could have written the blog before the match.

But that would have required planning.

So he went to the rugby.

Saturday arrived.

There was swimming in Blackrock with Finn and Robyn, breakfast in Connollys, and the ubiquitous pints in Linnanes.

Still no blog.

Sunday arrived.

Still no blog.

At this stage, Reilly was beginning to feel that the blog had become less of a piece of writing and more of a hostage situation.

And then something strange happened.

He realised he wasn’t actually worried about not having written it.

He was worried about what he thought not writing it said about him.

Was he becoming less disciplined?

Was he losing his mojo?

Was he letting people down?

Would anyone notice?

Would the world continue turning?

The answer to the last question was reassuringly obvious.

It would.

And that got Reilly thinking.

Perhaps we sometimes confuse commitment with perfection.

Discipline doesn’t mean doing everything.

It means doing the things that matter.

And sometimes life gets in the way.

The trick is not to abandon the commitment simply because the original plan didn’t work.

It is to find another way.

That applies to business as much as life.

We can become so attached to doing things the “right” way that we forget the real objective is simply to get the important things done.

A full diary is not necessarily progress.

A beautifully executed plan is not necessarily progress.

And sometimes spending three hours trying to make something perfect is less productive than spending thirty minutes getting it done.

Which brings Reilly neatly back to the blog.

A few thoughts

1. Progress beats perfection.

2. Consistency doesn’t mean rigidity. The commitment can remain even when the method changes.

3. Technology is a tool, not a cop-out. If it helps you keep a promise when life gets in the way, use it.

The Quote

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes — including you.”

— Anne Lamott

Sometimes we need to work harder. Sometimes we need to stop. And sometimes we need to find a smarter way.

The Question

Where in your life are you demanding perfection when progress would actually be enough?

Postscript

And yes…

Reilly ran out of time.

The blog wasn’t written.

So Reilly, who is famously non-technical and still occasionally suspicious of the television remote, used AI.

And voilà.

The blog got written.

It may not be 100% as good as an original Reilly blog.

But heigh ho.

The commitment was kept.

The blog was sent.

And if you didn’t notice the difference, Reilly is saying nothing.

Because perhaps that’s the point.

Technology didn’t replace the work.

It helped Reilly finish the work when life got in the way.

The commitment didn’t suffer.

Only the method changed.

Progress, not perfection.

Heigh ho indeed.

And if you did notice dear reader, please let him know by return of email.