Get To vs Have To
A lot of people I’ve spoken to in the past few years that have blogs talk about the pressure to post. If they have a personal blog the pressure may be there at the beginning but slowly it tapers off and this is why many blogs die out. If the person writing the blog is doing it professionally they feel this pressure to post constantly. And if they have a blog that takes only short, newsy posts or is only updated once every few days then pretty soon they have the desire to start another blog, and then another blog, and so on, and the pressure to post becomes more apparent as the number of channels they have to supply content for increases.
A lot of people who don’t have blogs ask about the pressure of posting to the blog on a regular basis though they don’t usually phrase it quite like that. The question is often “Isn’t it stressful to have to post every day?” or “Isn’t it a lot of work to have to post every day?” or “What’s it like having to write every day?”
Every person that does not blog on a regular basis that has questioned me about my own uses one recurring key phrase: “have to.”
This perception of having to post every day is interesting. They perceive that writing for a blog is a huge amount of work and that it would cause them undue stress and an insurmountable work load. Even after I have explained to the person that I don’t have to write every day they are still sceptical. The key difference is in “have to” and “get to.”
I don’t have to write every day. I get to write every day.
I don’t have to design video games every day. I get to design video games every day.
I don’t have to climb out of bed and go to my office every day. I get to go to my office every day.
The difference is in outlook.
You might as well ask me what it is like having to eat. I get to eat. I get to partake in wonderful experiences.
Attitude, perception, viewpoint, call it what you like, I get to do the things I want to do, I don’t have to do anything I don’t.
What do you have to do and what do you get to do?