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Transcript

Does It Make You Happy? · The Daily Writer

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of questions you've probably asked about the results of your writing.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Here are a few of those questions.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Will it make my life better?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Will it make me money?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Will it increase my status?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Will it grow the size of my audience?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Will it get me closer to a publishing deal?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Will it give me material that I can use elsewhere?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all good and valid questions to ask about your writing.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And here's another really important one to consider.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Will it make me happy?
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean writing is only a self-centered pursuit.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: If happiness is the only measurement that we use to determine the value of an activity, then our lives will always be focused inward.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: That being said, happiness is a good indicator of whether you're doing the right kind of work in the first place.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Ernest Hemingway certainly felt this way about writing.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I do it.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it makes me happy when I do it well.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, note here that Hemingway put a condition upon the happiness that writing brings into his life.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: He said, When I do it well.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So can writing make you happy?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yes, of course it can.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: But happiness that truly lasts is not the result of external measurements.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Money, the size of your audience, or a publishing contract will not bring lasting happiness.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, happiness in your writing will only come when you have done the job well and when you have put in the time, effort, and excellence into your writing.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: External rewards are unpredictable and they depend on the judgments and actions of other people.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: But internal happiness is something that you can enjoy every single day, no matter what anybody else does.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.