No Days Off

Writing is sacred

Bold weeks & days

(The real life)

Today was the first day since I started Das Z Letter that I was almost not going to write it. Almost.

The reason for this is called “Bold Friday”. That’s the most important event of the year for my running clothing brand, Willpower. From Friday to Sunday, we are offering numerous new items along some special offers and an overall, storewide 20% code.

Don’t worry, this Das Z Letter is not about the Willpower “Bold Friday”. I am just mentioning it because it was an enormous amount of work and kept me busy and locked to my desk for the last few days, or even weeks.

I’ve been procrastinating the Das Z Letter, always putting it off for seemingly more critical tasks. Until now. I am very much on top of things with “Bold Friday” and even though I feel scorched and burned, I find great peace in engaging writing.

Writing is sacred

This is a note I wrote on my whiteboard. Not the whiteboard I do work sessions on, but the small’ish whiteboard in the hallway that I see in passing, when I leave or enter our flat.

I don’t remember where I got this quote from. Or if it is even a quote. But it is placed there exactly for days like today.

It’s easy to find reasons not to write. After all, it’s an extremely time-consuming pursuit with no tangible return. At least not in big categories of modern humankind:

• Money

• Longevity

• Prestige

Sure, there’s interaction, a dear relationship between my readers and me. That is surely a reason to write whenever it fits in. But the above quote does not say to write "when it fits in”. It refers to adamant consistency. Writing weekly, even daily, and moste of all, when it does not fit in.

Enjoy the process

Writing, very much like running after the early Sturm & Drang Years, has a rather flat curve for improvement. Yes, you will get better. But only if you have a long breath, and only if you do it continuously.

People say “trust the process”. I once adapted that quote to “enjoy the process”. Why? Because it’s a long way and if you don’t find fulfillment in the small, but only hunt an end result instead, you won’t make it very far.

That’s undoubtedly what I am doing right now. Enjoying the small. I am glad I took a short break from the Bold Friday express train. Thanks for joining me!

---

Everything not running

Due to popular demand, I am once more revealing where the intro and outro song of the Das Z Sprachnachricht comes from.

I pride myself in having the hardest intro of all podcasts and non-podcasts. Need a comparison? Ok, listen to Das Z Sprachnachricht and then Vom Laufen Podcast. You will know what I mean ;-)

The intro/outro song is by the last band I played in, GWLT. Well, actually it is a cover song by the revolutionary German rock band Ton Steine Scherben. It’s called “Macht kaputt was euch kaputt macht” (English translation: “Destroy what destroys you”) and it was released on GWLT’s last album “Stein & Eisen”, which is still available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever your stream you music.