52 Weeks of Proving Myself Wrong
A Story About Finding Ways When Giving Up Isn't Possible
We all have that thing. The one we've tried and failed at so many times that we've crafted a comfortable narrative about why it's just not for us. For me, that thing was writing.
After half a dozen failed attempts at consistent writing throughout my career, I had constructed a perfect explanation: "I'm just better at video and audio content. That's where I shine. Writing isn't my medium." It was a convenient story that let me avoid confronting a challenging truth – I hadn't yet found the right motivation or approach to make writing work.
But sometimes life has other plans. Sometimes the very thing you've convinced yourself you can't do becomes the thing you must do.
When Necessity Meets Opportunity
My comfortable narrative about writing began to crumble when I faced a stark business reality. My consulting pipeline was getting uncomfortably thin. Every client I'd ever acquired had come through my content – primarily my podcast and accompanying videos. But it wasn't enough anymore. I needed more channels, more ways to reach and provide value to potential clients.
This wasn't about wanting to write anymore. This was about needing to find a way. Any way.
The Power of Must
There's something transformative about moving from "I should" to "I must." When writing became a business imperative rather than a personal aspiration, everything changed.
The luxury of giving up disappeared. I had to find a way to make it work.
This shift from "should" to "must" stripped away the emotional baggage I'd accumulated around writing. It wasn't about whether I was "good enough" anymore. It was simply about showing up and doing the work.
Building the Impossible
Today marks my 52nd consecutive week of publishing on Substack. Most weeks saw not one but two posts. That's over 75 articles in a year – more writing than I'd managed in all my previous attempts combined.
The surprising part? The writing itself didn't get dramatically easier. What changed was my relationship with the difficulty. I stopped expecting it to be easy and started respecting the process for what it was – challenging, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately doable.
The Hidden Benefits of Hard Things
What I didn't expect was how this journey would reshape my understanding of personal growth. Here's what I learned about tackling seemingly impossible challenges:
1. Reframe Your Story
The narratives we tell ourselves about what we can and can't do are often more limiting than our actual capabilities. My "I'm not a writer" story wasn't a fact – it was just a story I'd chosen to believe.
2. Find Your Must
Real transformation often happens when we move from "want to" to "have to." When failure isn't an option, you find ways to succeed that you never knew existed.
3. Focus on Systems, Not Goals
Instead of thinking about becoming a "good writer," I focused on creating a sustainable writing system. This meant setting aside specific times, creating content frameworks, and building support structures that made consistent output possible.
4. Embrace the Difficulty
Stop waiting for it to get easy. Some things stay hard – they just become a kind of hard you're comfortable with. The struggle becomes part of the process, not an obstacle to it.
Your Turn: Making Hard Things Possible
If you're facing your own impossible thing, here are some practical strategies that helped me push through:
Start with Why: Understanding the deep reason behind why you must succeed changes everything. Make it concrete and keep it visible.
Build Support Systems: Create frameworks and routines that make showing up easier. For me, this meant having specific writing times, content templates, and a clear process for turning ideas into articles.
Track Everything: Seeing progress, even small progress, fuels motivation. Keep records of your efforts and celebrate the small wins along the way.
Find Your Rhythm: Everyone has different peak performance times and methods. Experiment until you find what works for you, then build your system around that.
Plan for Resistance: Know that you'll face internal resistance and plan for it. Have strategies ready for the days when everything in you wants to quit.
The Truth About Hard Things
A year ago, I would have told you that consistent writing was beyond my capabilities. Today, I know better. Not because writing became easy, but because I learned that "easy" isn't a prerequisite for success.
The hard truth about hard things is this: They stay hard. But you become harder. Stronger. More resilient. The difficulty doesn't disappear – you just build the capacity to carry it.
Whatever your impossible thing is, whatever you've convinced yourself you can't do, consider this: Maybe you just haven't found your must yet. Maybe the story you're telling yourself about why you can't do it is just that – a story.
And stories can be rewritten.
To your impossible,
Josh Anderson
Editor-In-Chief
The Leadership Lighthouse