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The Most Important Work You Do is on Yourself · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyRiderLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We all want to have successful books, of course.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: As artists and as storytellers, we want to write a great American novel that's a New York Times bestseller.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: We want to build a successful business.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Or we have some kind of other dream that's really important to us.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now that work is important.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, of course that work is important, but it's not the most important work that you do.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I would argue that that work isn't even close to being the most important work that you do.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And here's why I say that, because I believe the most important work you do is on yourself.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: The best energy that you can put into your writing is not the energy that goes into the actual book or the words.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: The best energy you can put into your writing is the energy that goes into your mental and emotional health.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I ask you the question: are you taking care of yourself physically?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Are you exercising and eating a decent diet?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have friends that you can call on in times of trouble?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And are you involved in some kind of community where you live?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, are you actually interacting with real humans or are all your friends on the internet, basically?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: I also would ask you, do you read every day and do you take some moments for gratitude and meditation?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting enough rest and hydration?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a hobby and do you take some time to relax every day so you're not spending all your time working?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now there are a lot of other questions that I could probably ask related to this, but you understand the point that I'm trying to make.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all fundamental questions.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all really important things that we've got to have in our lives because if you focus on your creative work all the time, but you neglect working on yourself, you're eventually gonna crash and burn.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there and crashing and burning is no fun.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I really want you to be successful over the long haul.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to be healthy over the long haul, not just for the immediate term when you're working on something that you perceive to be so important.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there are times whenever we've got to intensely focus and maybe we're working extra hours and that kind of a thing, but that kind of a thing, just by definition, should be rare, not the norm, where we're working 20 hours a day trying to get this stuff out there.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, does your work matter?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Does your writing matter?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Do your books matter?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Does your business matter?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, but the most important thing that you will ever work on is yourself, because if you don't have a self that's healthy and functioning at a good level, then eventually your business, your writing, your books, all those things are just gonna crash and burn in addition to you and your emotional, your physical, and mental health.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't want that to happen to you.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I say today the most important work that you do is on yourself.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, the most important thing you might do today is take a nap.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like a lot of people are really, really sleep deprived.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And um, my goodness, sometimes the most spiritual and creative thing that we can do is just go to sleep for 10 or 15 minutes and get renewed and refreshed.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: That might be, in fact, the best thing that you can do all day.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So um somebody out there needs to hear this, and I hope that you take it to heart.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a message that I need to constantly hear as well.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's challenge.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you spending time each day working on yourself?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And in what specific ways are you doing that?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I hope this is helpful to you.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: As always, thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.