January 4

I think a lot of the advice I've seen and identified with can be condensed into two words: be prolific. I tip my cap to people like Isaac Asimov, Cory Wong, and others who continuously crank out content. I aspire to be like Corin Tellado or Agatha Christie. Not all the work is going to come out the way you want it. Maybe even most of it won't. But, as I'm increasingly learning, it's a numbers game. Slowly I am drifting across the spectrum from the elephant to the seahorse approach. 

If I make a commitment, tonight, to make this my most prolific year yet, how might that go?

I can certainly write *something* for the NSF CAREER award proposal. Maybe it won't be very good. Maybe it will. 

I can pump out at least 5-6 manuscripts and get them submitted. Maybe they'll be accepted. Maybe not all of them will. It might take a while. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was rejected over 100 times before it was published, or so I recall reading.

I remember while I was playing the other night, I seemed to find my groove when I loosened my touch a bit, not trying to judge what I was playing too much as I was playing it. Let that be a metaphor for my creative pursuits in 2021.

Might as well give it a try.