Inspiration Cliff

April 30, 2026

I've been thinking about yesterday's post and the gap between knowing and doing and it caused me to think about inspiration and motivation. When we see people doing amazing things, we are inspired and believe that we can do the same. But, the doing isn't actually that fun. It requires showing up consistently. It requires making mistakes that you couldn't conceive when you started. It requires time. And the worst part is even if you finish, it won't be nearly as amazing as the thing that you imagined it would be when you started.

The grand idea you had when you felt insipred is what motivates you to start. Starting is easy. But continuing when things aren't going well is work and work sucks. If we are ever going to create anything worth creating, it will take consistent effort over time. Inspiration is the opposite. It is inconsistent and requires no effort. I think this blog is an example. I started it with 3 posts over a year ago when I was feeling insipired. Once the inspiration wore off, I stopped. This is my attempt at building writing and thinking ability in the age of AI. Fear of being replaced by LLMs motivted me to start again. But, it's painful. With every post I think about how I could have done it better. I am not too happy with how I write. But, I will try to continue anyway.