Monday, August 2, 2010

Practice Tracking

It's a horrible shame I can't find this website again -- I think it was linked on the Objectivism Online Forum -- but there was an immensely inspiring forum thread in which a man tracked his artistic development from amateur to master. He promised forum members that he would draw at least one thing per weekday and four things per weekend, and that he would publish every single thing. He not only kept his promise, but also maintained such a strong determination in his practice that he became an expert in his craft and managed to become an art teacher for adults. Amazing. In dozens and dozens of pages you can look at every single piece of art he has produced and track his growth. To watch his life unveil before you is deeply inspiring.

One of the things that inspires and moves me the most is to read and observe the lives of good men who have great achievements to their name, even if just in the personal realm. Sure, Ayn Rand's heroes from The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are inspiring, but I find myself more responsive to real men like Walt Disney and Winsor McCay. Knowing they have existed and what they have achieved, I am given fuel for my own efforts.

As such, I have a question for my readers: Would you be interested in reading about my own development much like that artist did in posting his art? You know that once my project is over with that I'll be adding extra heavy emphasis on my career development, in pure studying, food preparation practice, and experimentation. I'm prevented from doing so right now due to psychological barriers set forth by the circumstance I am trying to cure.

I was thinking maybe, if this type of reading were of interest to my readers, that I could establish a static title for all posts of this type and set up a labeling system for conveying what it is that I did to develop myself on that day. For example, I would tell how much of what books I read, what writing and assignments I did, what I cooked (maybe with pictures), and so on. These posts would be frequent since I plan on engaging in as much self-development as the physical limits of my body and brain will allow, until they need rest. There would be benefits to both parties: You get to observe my intellectual and competence development, and I get extra incentive to maintain my efforts.

So what say you?

(Also, if anyone can provide a link to the forum thread I speak about that would be great.)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Ben,

    Yes, I would be interested in following your progress log! I've found your descriptions of your personal progress experiences helpful in becoming aware of my own, and I'm glad to be validated in them (such as the headaches, which for me are more like a thick, heavy gooeyness). I wouldn't blame you if you didn't think it was worth it for one respondent, though.

    I also think that's a good idea for my own blog, so I hope you don't mind if I steal it. I'm not totally sure I want to start a blog, since I feel overwhelmed at the thought of keeping up with it; but if I did, keeping a progress log would be a good way to form the habit.

    -kelleyn

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