One click forward (and six steps back)

How long does it take to build something that lasts? Something evergreen? Something like…

A blog worth reading everyday?

A podcast worth sharing not only with your coworkers, but with your family and friends as well?

A piece of code that makes our lives a little less lonely?

A book that makes us feel emotions that we can’t name?

Awhile, I guess?

And how long does it take to delete something? A few seconds. Poof.

Every word processor and photo editing suite has a delete button. Even the analog world has delete buttons. (Trash cans for some people. Flamethrowers for others.)

Everything has a “new project” button, too. But clicking the “new project” button is not the same thing as building something remarkable. Building something remarkable takes brutal dedication, planning, and enough money to cover years of therapy. Starting a new project takes a single click (the same amount of clicks it takes to delete it). Anyone can take a single click forward. But who can take one click forward and six steps back? Who has that kind of humility? (Perhaps, you.)

The “build” button is a myth, a joke. There can’t be a button that aligns you with a clear goal. There can’t be a button that does away with your habit of going nowhere fast.

It takes one click to start a new project. It takes thousands of steps backward and sideways to build something that lasts.

More respect to the builders, please.

More respect to those climbing the mountain instead of causing an avalanche.

Thanks to those who show up everyday to build great things. Like this website that I'm sharing this blog piece on. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.