Invisible Hours…
Greeting dear friends & fellow navigators, & welcome to my world this week. Writers’ block has never meant a lack of ideas for me. Quite the opposite ~ it is the overflow stopping me. My mind floods with half-formed thoughts, fragments of lessons learned at 3 a.m., moments of quiet discipline never making it from pen to paper, or a camera roll.
But one idea often keeps resurfacing in my mind, showing up in different words, different moods, & different seasons of my life:
No one will notice if you skip a workout – but you will.
No one will notice if you are making progress – but you will.
No one will notice if you give up – but you will.
It has never been about proving anything to anyone else. It never was. The person you become is built in the hours no one sees. 1
Every private workout you skip. Every quiet promise you break to yourself. Every goal you silently abandon because tracking became hard. The world does not notice. But you do. You are keeping score, even when you pretend not to be.
I have run loops at 3 a.m. with nothing but my mobile phone to witness me. Stayed true to my values in spaces where compromise would have been easy. Written words when absolutely no one was reading. Those invisible repetitions ~ the ones no one saw, no one celebrated, created everything which eventually became visible.
Here is what most people miss: external accountability is training wheels. It is useful in the beginning, but real transformation begins the moment you stop needing an audience to do the work. When your standards exist, whether anyone is watching, this is when discipline becomes identity.
The ultra-marathons I finish in my mind are not about proving anything to spectators. They are about honouring the version of myself who showed up for every brutal training swim, who pushed through the lonely miles when quitting would have been easy ~ & invisible.
Most people only perform when someone is watching. They need validation to maintain effort. They rely on witnesses to stay consistent. Then they wonder why their progress collapses the moment the audience disappears. The truth is simple, but hard to live:
Your relationship with yourself is the only accountability which matters. 2
Every private choice either strengthens this trust or erodes it. Every unseen effort deposit something into the quiet bank of self-respect. You do not need applause to stay consistent. You do not need validation to keep showing up.
Because when no one else is watching, you still are. And this is where everything real begins.
Just few observations again dear friends & provide an opinion in my world. Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your being here. If my journey encourages you also, all is well with my soul. Looking forward to next week; this is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson with best wishes.
1 What you do when no one is watching writes the story everyone eventually sees ~
quote is often attributed to NFL coach Lou Holtz. It means private habits of a person & their integrity & hard work (or lack thereof) will eventually shape their public reputation & visible outcomes. The actions performed without the expectation of recognition ultimately define ones’ character & success..
2 Robyne Hanley-Dafoe ~ How to Be Accountable to Yourself & Why It Matters
Self-accountability is the key to self-trust & a well-aligned life.
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