Details in detail

What happens if we do the same thing every day? Naturally, we’ll get better at it. It becomes part of our life. We do it more easily, almost without thinking. But on the other hand, we might get bored. We might not enjoy it the way we did at first. We might fall into repetition, stop creating new things, or even quit altogether.

I think taking action always comes with an invisible friction—especially when it comes to good habits: creating every day, writing every day, exercising every day. That friction is what separates amateurs from professionals, dabblers from experts.

So what allows us to keep going long enough for something to become a skill, a career, or even an identity? I believe it’s craft. Craft is care and care means noticing the endless small details within an activity. Unlike the “big picture,” which may only have a single view, the details are limitless—if you choose to look for them.

Craft reveals new details, and those details bring joy and challenge. Continuous joy turns into love for the craft. Love for the craft keeps us going—long enough to become skilled, to see the big picture in new ways, and to let what we do become part of who we are.