Writing under the influence

Maybe I should try posting at 3am...it might improve the quality of my writing :)
@contrabourdon

This was a bit of a tongue in cheek comment I received last night on a post that I wrote at 3 am, which is not the typical time most likely write their Steem posts and while a joke, I think it actually would help people improve their writing. Of course, it isn't just writing in the week hours of the morning that I think would help, it is writing under lots of different conditions and testing to see what arrives into the mind.

There are two types (for dramatic effect) of people in this world, those who perform when the weather is good, and those who perform regardless of the conditions. To maintain consistency in delivery across conditions, one has to practice and test in a range of variables so that skills can develop that are able to be called on and relied upon as needed.

There are many who are unable to remain consistent in their skillset when pressure is applied and that means, failure is certain as there is always going to come a point where conditions degrade. It doesn't matter what the skill is or where it is being used, but if one is in a competitive environment like sport or business, success requires consistent performance and conditions will rarely be desirable.

For me, I test my writing under trying conditions to learn more about the way I think and what I am capable of producing in a range of conditions. I have written posts with 40 degree temperatures, with no sleep in three days, after arguments, awaiting medical test results, while getting intravenous treatment, when angry, after too many drinks, while thinking about how to buy baby formula I couldn't afford, while my daughter was in hospital after having seizures - through life.

As I see it, there is no such thing as perfect conditions and if one is unwilling or able to perform as life is happening, there will be no performance at all. I have found that through writing through various emotional and physical states, I have not only improved my consistency, I have also found a very good way for me to process my mind and come to better understand conditions, needs and therefore the decisions I should make.

This hasn't just come through my writing though as I have been forced for various reasons to work under much less than ideal conditions, especially due to my health. As my physical condition affects my mental quite heavily and especially my memory recall at times, I have had to develop strategies to cope professionally. It has meant that I have learned to by attentive to my environment and professional audience and improved how to adjust conversation on-the-fly.

While far from ideal, it has worked well enough and as said, ideal doesn't really exist, it is all about resource availability and the understanding of how to use them. I think that everyone knows someone who has a lot of resources at their disposal but uses them badly, and another who has had very little but applied them well to get gains outside expected. Princes who have squandered what they inherited to become paupers, paupers who used what they had and could find well to become princes.

Being an author on Steem can have its ups and downs and long periods of hustle and choke, but those who are able to remain consistent, deliver quality and perform necessary tasks over time again and again generally will eventually get traction of some kind. Erratic behavior however is nearly always met with mixed results and outcomes.

The ability to perform under different types of pressures is required for just about every vocation and whether an artist, a stock trader or a high school teacher, learning to cope with and excel under trying conditions is a strength every time. We live in a world that is increasingly on "stress leave", while the conditions that lead to burnout may be far from poor.

Very few question their own ability to deal with stress as it only gets considered when under stress and at that point, the assumption is made that it isn't me, it is that the conditions are too hard. Even though the person standing next to us in the same conditions might be doing just fine.

While some might be talented, I think in general it is experience that leads to an improvement in stress management and I reckon those who willingly put themselves into stressful conditions are able to cope the best Stressful conditions doesn't have to mean high cost for failure, just that the processes simulate and practice the reality and the desired response. Too many wait for real conditions to test their skills, and then wonder why they fail to adequately meet needs.

Writing under the influence is a way to improve my skillset in many ways including being able to deal with the failures that arrive, the ridicule of potential poor performance and, the social cost for not getting it right. While some look to always be factually correct, what they miss is that there are a host of facts that are still yet to be known, and a host of current facts that will be proven factually incorrect as new information comes to light.

That new information however doesn't come from people who deal in known facts, it is from people exploring what is yet to be known and those people are going to face all kinds of failures and pressures as the path of discovery is littered with the bones of bad ideas and mistaken understanding. If you aren't willing to be wrong, aren't willing to look for new, not much can ever change.

I guess there are other types of consistency too, consistently passive, inactive and fearful of error. If one is only able to perform when the stars align, there will be lots of waiting backstage while others take the limelight to be stars in their own right. No matter the skill one wants to develop, to be significantly better than good on average requires to be good under the worst conditions, and brilliant in the best.

We are all influenced by our conditions, some more than others - for better or worse.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]