If we practice diligence in everything we do, we will avoid
causing ourselves additional problems and pain.
If you don't have time to do it right, when
will you have time to do it over?
John
Wooden
I want to preface this post by saying, I am not writing this
for sympathy – instead this is an object lesson for diligence.
My wife and I are on a “diet” of sorts, we are actually
changing our eating patterns, but twice a month, we allow ourselves to go a
little off the rails as it were, and splurge: Friday was that day.
I left my “Brick and Mortar” for lunch to go to one of my
favorite eating spots. I enjoy Mexican food, and so there is this semi fast
food restaurant near where I work, which I enjoy frequenting.
I hopped on my bike, and headed out for the restaurant and
as I was crossing traffic, my bike lurched forward, and I fell off my bike in
traffic, and hurt my foot.
I got up, and started for the side of the road, and noticed
the nuts that hold my wheels on were loose; I do maintenance on my bike once a week and I make sure
everything is secure and in working order, and I usually check my bike, but
that check is done first thing in the morning. Friday, I realized my
diligence should have extended to every time I get on my bike.
Now it is
unclear if someone loosened the nuts on my bike, or if some magnetic
gravitational force loosened the tightened nuts on the wheels: The point is I
need to check each time I get on my bike, so I don’t have an accident.
When we write our blogs, an article for a client, or letters to our friends; we should remember that we are writers, and we are held
to a higher standard for our writing. In other words we need to be diligent.
So many times, when I read a blog from a new blogger, or
even from a seasoned veteran, I see glaring mistakes: Sometimes looking back on
my own work I see glaring mistakes.
The point is we must be clear in our
translation of thought to page, and it should be… no it must be void of errors.
We cannot and must not become lax in our writing, because as
writers we are expected to communicate efficiently.
Look at what you create with a critical eye, look at it
fresh. I have to admit, I write a post a day or two in advance, I then read
over the post and save it. I come back to it an hour before I post (sometimes a
half hour) and I read it again. After I put it in the blog, before I post it, I
read it aloud again just to make sure there is clarity of thought: Then I
publish it.
How can you be diligent in your work? What works for you?
Share in the comment section, because I enjoy reading from my readers and
learning what they do. Everyone has something to offer.
