less, but better
Derek Sivers makes some excellent points throughout this piece, but two stuck out to me:
You will outlive these companies. Your writing should outlive you. Depending on companies is not an option.
Damn.
Reliable, flexible, portable, independent, and long-lasting. Plain text files will be readable by future generations, hundreds of years from now.
These qualities should be evaluation criteria for more than just writing.
The hardest part of any endeavor is beginning it. Many would say that seeing things through is the hard part. I disagree. I think the minimum amount of effort is required to start any task, therefore, it is the most critical component of the path to completion. The irony is that many people thrive on the motivation to complete something due to the forward progress. None of that momentum exists without having begun.
When something seems daunting or impossible, just start. Make starting the focus of your thought and energy. Nature supports the theory as well. Watch a bird take flight. The hardest part is the take off. Once it is soaring, it glides and decides when to spend more energy to either remain forward progress or coast. It finds the way forward once flight has been achieved. Treat your goals the same.
Take off.