Transcript

What If? · The Daily Writer

0:07
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: These lessons are inspired by great artists, authors, and thinkers, both past and present.
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SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at DailyWriterLife.com.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the military historian Robert Cowley coordinated a fascinating series of books called What If?
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SPEAKER_00: The books featured essays by prominent historians, each one looking at a particular what if question in history.
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SPEAKER_00: For example, what if the Mayflower had never set sail?
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SPEAKER_00: What if JFK had never been assassinated?
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SPEAKER_00: What if Teddy Roosevelt had won reelection in 1912?
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SPEAKER_00: What if Lincoln had not issued the Emancipation Proclamation?
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SPEAKER_00: What if Martin Luther had burned at the stake?
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SPEAKER_00: Well those are fascinating questions, and those books gave historians the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild and speculate on what might have happened in history if things had turned out a little bit different.
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SPEAKER_00: Well that's a great exercise not just for history buffs, but for you and I as well.
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SPEAKER_00: As you think about your goals for next year, ask the question, what if?
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SPEAKER_00: For example, what if you wrote that book you've been planning for the last three years?
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SPEAKER_00: What if you started that podcast you've been thinking about?
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SPEAKER_00: What if you wrote every morning for 30 minutes?
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SPEAKER_00: What if you started calling yourself a writer when people ask what it is that you do?
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SPEAKER_00: What if you started writing for clients and 18 months from now you were making as much money in your side business as you do now in your day job?
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SPEAKER_00: Well, here's the amazing thing about these what if questions.
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SPEAKER_00: They aren't just imaginary scenarios cooked up by historians.
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SPEAKER_00: These are real-life flesh and blood situations that are possible.
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SPEAKER_00: And they're not just possible.
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SPEAKER_00: They are probable if you do the work to make them happen.
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SPEAKER_00: The Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky famously said, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
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SPEAKER_00: Isn't it time you started asking what if?
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SPEAKER_00: and finally took that shot?
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SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Daily Rider Podcast.
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SPEAKER_00: We appreciate your support and hope you enjoyed this.
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SPEAKER_00: You can find more at DailyRiderLife.com.