Written by Dave Rothacker on October 19, 2023
Because once they get underway, options and possibilities open up before them…options and possibilities that they couldn’t have known unless they’d gotten underway by working the plan.
Think of it like this. Your destination is fifty miles east of your present location. With a map in hand, you head out. Two miles down the road, there's a detour that wasn’t on the map. You couldn’t have known unless you had started your journey and gotten underway. A new piece of information appears three miles down the detour. It alters your intended destination.
Unless you get underway you’ll never reach your destination. Then you discover new information that changes your plan. Way has led to way has led to a different way.
Probe, work and nurture our subconscious and it will yield options, possibilities and gold. Stay seated in your planning chair and forward progress will stagnate, dry up and wilt. I’ll share more ways to mine our subconscious in the future, but for now, it’s critical to understand the importance of not only getting underway but also reacting and responding to intel, info and data that we take in along the way in a positive manner.
See if this thinking applies to your own craft. Writing coaches tell their students to show up every day and write. Especially if they’re struggling to produce content. These coaches know that if their students write one sentence, they’re more than likely to write another. They get underway. Then way keeps leading on to way.
Guess what happens if you don’t show up! You got that right, nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Instead of procrastinating due to planning and or uncertainty, get underway! Show up and move forward even if it’s a small step.
Here’s a secret that only those who’ve been on the Way Leads on to Way Road know. The more steps forward the more options appear. Although it might not happen right away, clarity comes. You learn what works and what doesn’t. You acquire a feeling that makes you want to keep moving forward.
Yes! Without an end in mind along with the necessary steps to get there there’s no Way in the first place. The plan is the original Way.
It’s been said that Michelangelo started with a block of marble and then chipped away at everything that didn’t contribute to the statue of David. Although there’s no proof of Michelangelo actually saying this, it’s been embedded in our culture for over 500 years and it simply makes sense.
Both of these anecdotes are examples of way leads on to way.
“Way leads on to way” is a line from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”. It’s been a personal North Star of mine for decades.
Get on the road with a destination in mind. Take small steps forward. Learn from experience, study and social interaction. Pivot if the intel warrants it. Keep underway and discover a brand new and enlightened world!