I wish I was left out of a baseball team

The process of good writing involves a lot of rewriting. Sentences never come out right the first time, or the second, or even the third for that matter. (Don't take my word for it; there's a great recent article in The Economist talking about this.) The best writers, then, are the ones who spend a lot of time and effort polishing what they produce. Of course, with time and effort, the words flow more naturally, and perhaps fewer iterations are required. But even the best writers will struggle to get the words down sometimes. (Just ask GRRM.)

How does one become a better writer? Reading and absorbing the books recommended by The Economist is definitely not a bad idea, and something I hope I can get myself to do at some point (I'll add it to the list of things I hope to get to someday! Also on that list: learning to play the ukulele, performing stand-up in front of a crowd, and skiing down black diamonds). But perhaps a simpler way is to do what's recommended in Atomic Habits, a book I finished recently: just write regularly. Write when you feel like it; write when you don't. Write when you feel inspired; write when you're out of ideas. Just don't break the chain. Not everything you produce has to be a work of art. But when you develop a process -- when you develop a habit -- and when you're interested in improving yourself, you will make a small amount of improvement every time, and over time, the improvements will compound. If I do this, perhaps in a few years I won't consider myself a bad writer.

Now, why do I wish I was left out of a baseball team? In both Atomic Habits, which I just finished, and Shoe Dog, an autobiography by the founder of Nike, which I'm almost done with, the authors get left out of their high school baseball teams. That rejection spurs them on to do great things; the author of Atomic Habits went on to be a star baseball player in college by being very disciplined and developing good habits, while Phil Knight became enamored with running and went on to become a founder of a certain company known for their running shoes (among other things). I find it very amusing that both of them had similar anecdotes to share. I'm struggling to think of a similar watershed moment in my high school life that made me decide to pursue a particular course of action. Maybe if my high school had a baseball team, and I was left out of it, it would have led me down a path to greatness! (If my high school did have a baseball team, I would definitely have been left out of it. The blame, then, clearly lies with my school. I would have done my part.)

Another possible path to greatness? Not knowing your biological dad growing up. Worked for both Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos. Missed that chance too!

I guess I'll have to do it the hard way.