Prompted by one of my favorite Substack authors EKO in his article “The Artist You Buried Is Still Alive”, I went back to an old habit of writing Morning Pages. Each morning I get up early and scribble three pages of thoughts. Some mornings I stare at the page for a while. Others, it just pours. This process clears my mind of clutter, organizes my thoughts, reflects on my life, and makes long-overdue decisions.
That last one is key for me. I’m not the world’s fastest decision maker. Since starting Morning Pages, I’ve made a couple key decisions I wouldn’t have made otherwise. The following is about one of them.
Yesterday, I wrote in my Morning Pages at length about my frustrations with the lawnmower breaking down at the worst time possible.
Imagine trying to get your house ready to list for sale, deadline approaching, and the lawnmower stops working.
Imagine everything you do to fix said lawnmower is complicated by dropping screws in the yard, draining the battery accidentally, replacing parts to no avail, etc. After a month of this, our back yard is a jungle the dogs can only peer through.
Imagine experiencing the same drama simultaneously with a four-wheeler that won’t start, which I also need to fix to sell before we move.
Through Morning Pages, I came to the most obvious realization that I was really non-smart for leaving both of these machines outdoors in the elements since last summer. The ATV had a bunch of acorn shells under the hood if that tells you anything. The debris and moisture cause all kinds of issues.
I wrote, “Don’t own equipment unless you are prepared to maintain them properly. The problems will accumulate right under your nose…It would be a lot less frustrating to plan the tune up proactively than to need the equipment and have it fall apart with multiple problems [at the worst time].”
My solution came next, “It should be super simple. Follow the maintenance schedule from the manufacturer and they will continue to operate in good order/condition.”
So, what did I do? It’s too late for these machines. I’ll have to sell them “as is” and hire a bush hogger to cut the yard.
For my cars, it’s time to level up. I’ve always taken good care of my vehicles, but I couldn’t give you details (dates, service, mileage). I give a deer-in-the-headlights look to the service guy when he asks if a certain service had been performed and when. “I think so. Maybe a couple or a few years ago?” No bueno.
Early this morning, I bought maintenance logs to start tracking the schedule and services performed on my vehicles. With the maintenance logs, the service guy and a future owner will thank me. And, I will decrease the likelihood of a roadside emergency.
Now that I’ve sufficiently embarrassed myself, please tell me you have your own story of incompetence that you later mastered. I hope sharing this will encourage you to take time to reflect, decide, and level up through Morning Pages.
Three pages every morning first thing, come what may!
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