When I was coaching competitive snowboarding, I used to say: “if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”
I needed that reminder recently.
I've been working on consolidating my writing from over the years into a single repository. Some that was submitted and published, and some from different websites I've run or accounts I've posted from. For years, I've wanted a portfolio-like place where I could accumulate my own little pile of progress... so I built it. It's still a work-in-progress, but the whole point of the MAP Year Project is to document the unfinished parts of the journey along the way.
While going through some of my old stuff, naturally I came across a couple of pieces that conjured a bit of nostalgia. Like this one. It showed me something really important: a snapshot of who I was before I left the outdoor world for tech. Reading my words, I felt the eager vibration of someone who wanted to explore and create.
Even then, the dream was to build my own publication. Ironically, that's why I followed a path into tech—so I could learn how to build websites and grow a business. But, as that snow-sliding, sarcasm-slinging, mustached snowboard coach would say, "if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong."
Doing shit you hate won’t make you happy.
Forcing yourself to do things because you think you "should" doesn’t last. You have to like the process, or you won’t make it to the outcome... you'll fizzle out instead.
I'm glad I stumbled across my old writing. It's helping me double-check that I'm spending my time on things that bring me joy. I'm making sure that's the stuff I'm building my days around. Because, before you know it, that's what shapes your weeks and months.
So if, like me, you need the reminder… fun is a choice. And you find what you look for—if you can’t find it, get creative.
onward.
-dmac