Recognizing the difference between a brick wall, a roadblock and a speedbump.

My last post was about the difference between not knowing how to do something and knowing how to do but not how to make yourself do it. Clear as mud? If not, scroll down and read the previous post.

But sometimes the stumbling block is when you don't know how to do something. This blog is a fine example. When I first started this over a year ago I'd known about blogs for a long time, but since I'm not a techie I thought it would be too difficult. But I picked up a how-to book, set the blog up, posted once or twice...and promptly quit.

I quit for many reasons but mostly because I thought my posts had to be perfect or earth-shattering to be worthy of posting. Those expectations created a roadblock in my brain that halted all blog traffic for a full year. (Check out the dates on my posts.) Then I read a fantastic article by The Nametag Guy and started writing with newfound energy. I sure hope people find what I write helpful. If they (meaning you) do or don't, I'd sure like to know. But the perfection-induced roadblock that was there is gone for good.

There are still some speedbumps. I have all sorts of ideas about linking to articles (like the one above), other blogs, etc. and I'm not just a little stymied by that. I posted this later in the day than intended because I wasn't sure I'd know how to link to the article. A little nagging voice in my head kept telling me the process was complex. It wasn't.

Compared to what else is out there in blogworld I've gotten into the game in the fourth quarter. But I'll do my best to put interesting stuff out there that folks will find helpful. These occasional speedbumps won't turn into roadblocks.

What about brick walls? It's vital to know when you've hit one of those because you're not going to win no matter how long you keep banging your head against it. Staying with the "tech" train of thought, a brick wall for me would be creating my own website. That, my friend, is left that to the pros. In eight years I've had three or four websites created by other people. Left to do it myself, website #1 would still be in development.

Navigate around brick walls. Do what you must to tear down roadblocks. And though you may slow down for the speedbumps, keep moving forward. It's all about making steady progress.