There is a big difference between wanting to say you wrote a book, and actually writing one. Many people think they want to write, even though they find crafting sentences and paragraphs unpleasant. They hope there is a way to write without writing. I can tell you with certainty there isn’t one.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the distinction between the desire to achieve a goal and the effort required to accomplish it.
Scott Berkun highlights that many individuals have the aspiration to write a book but are often deterred by the actual labor involved in the writing process. He asserts that true achievement requires commitment and effort, and that one cannot expect to succeed without engaging in the necessary hard work.
In practice
During a motivational speech to aspiring authors, I could use this quote to inspire them to take action.
Innovative ideas are rarely rejected on their merits; they’re rejected because of how they make people feel. If you forget people’s concerns and feelings when you present an innovation, or neglect to understand their perspectives in your design, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
My TV show had been cancelled; nothing else had gone anywhere; some alliances I had made petered out and nothing came of them and I was looking at a long, long year ahead of me in which there was no work on the horizon, the phone wasn't ringing. I had two kids, one of them a brand-new baby, and I didn't know if I would be able to keep my house.
Failure seems to be nature's plan for preparing us for great responsibilities.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
What doesn't kill us sharpens us. Hardens us. Schools us. You're beating plowshares into swords, Vosch. You are remaking us. We are the clay, and you are Michelangelo. And we will be your masterpiece.
Everything is possible at any one competition.
There's no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.