Freedom.

Yup, it’s human nature to think the other way around… “If I don’t have to do anything aren’t I free to do what I want?”

As Jocko Willink says in an interview about his book Extreme Ownership – How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win … “What’s interesting is that the more strict we were with our standard operating procedures, the more freedom we actually had to operate faster and more efficiently because everyone knew what to do.”

So to look at this from a writer’s perspective (comparing sitting at a desk to what the Seals do is ludicrous, I know, but stay with me)… if you have the discipline to do what we all know we’re supposed to be doing:

Outline
Write every day
Set a goal of so many words a day
Build an increasing level of tension
Don’t take shortcuts
Edit, then edit again
Then edit some more…etc.

These are in all the books, they’re no secret.

But the secret is… when you develop a structure in any aspect of your life, it opens doors that wouldn’t otherwise be there.

So go build your day… and let yourself run wild in it.  For more, read his book.

Onward,

J