Once I make a commitment, I hate missing it. But, every once a while, I find it helpful to miss a commitment to recommit to a better process. Here’s an example.
I used to host this blog myself. A few years in, I started experiencing a spate of phishing attacks from some Russian bots/. This led to a predictable pattern – I would realize something is wrong (included the blog going down/an inability to post), go back and forth with my hosting provider requesting for help to clean up the Russian files, and then call one of my trusted developer friends for help to save the day.
Eventually, we’d get it back up and I’d sneak in my post for the day and not miss my commitment.
After this had happened a few times too many, I decided it had to stop. So, I missed a day.
Instead of the usual short-term fix, I used the day to stop hosting the blog myself and handed over the reins to WordPress.com. Safety/security came with the package. And, for $40 or so per year back then, I bought myself peace of mind.
I thought of this incident recently as I found myself contemplating yet another last-minute sprint for a project. But, instead of doing so, I decided to miss my commitment (it hurt!) and, instead, commit to a better process.
Here’s to that.
