The Thing You're Resisting Might Be a Positive Change

For me, it was buying an iPad.

I did something last week I thought I would never do.

I bought an iPad.

Big whoop, right?

I have scoffed at Apple for decades. I guess it started with the iPod. I wanted one so bad. I could think of nothing better than making my extensive mp3 collection portable.

It was 2001. The iPod held an astounding 1,000 songs. The barrier to entry? $399.

I have never owned an iPod.

My twisted thoughts about money and my lack thereof aside, that $399 was unattainable to me. It’s still a daunting amount of money.

Apple proceeded to release a new device every year, each with a similar price tag. When iPhone hit the market in 2007, Apple was dead to me.

I could get two of pretty much any alternative for the price of one Apple whatever.

I was basically offended that they would price their products so high that I, an Apple IIe having been the first computer I ever touched, I couldn’t be their customer.

How dare they not want me to be their undying fan.

Year after year, they released new devices and new versions of old devices. I rolled my eyes at the people who stood in line to lay hands on the latest, greatest.

In the Meantime…

I searched.

I searched for PC and Android devices that could stand in the gap.

I looked for peripherals that would ease the disconnect between artist and canvas. I’ve used Wacoms and not-Wacoms. I’ve used Android apps and styluses out the wazoo looking for the right equipment that would unleash my creativity and allow me to make things others could admire…and maybe even buy.

For decades.

In 2018, I saw someone on YouTube for the first time using the iPad with Procreate, a graphics app available for Apple products only. That Apple Pencil though, that really drove it to my core.

For 5 more years, I scoffed and I searched and I tested and I failed miserably.

Then, Last Monday…

I came across the concept of digital planners and an app called Goodnotes, available only for Apple. Crap!

I had no idea about PDF annotation. I am a connoisseur of fine PDFs from all around the web, but I always thought you had to have Adobe Acrobat Pro to really do anything with them.

I saw videos about people making digital planners in PDF format for this Goodnotes app, and I was intrigued.

That’s 2 apps I was insanely interested in, but had no access to because I was too high-and-mighty to buy the platform where I could find them.

As many of you know, my father passed away in October, and I received a small amount of money from his life insurance.

A little more than a week before last Monday, I’d already purchased a computer upgrade. It’s easy to justify these things when you use it to make your living.

Now, I was in the market for *gasp* an iPad.

Of all things!!!

I did my due diligence to find out which one I should get. There are several sizes and tiers to choose from. I checked my local Best Buy for price and availability. (They are cheaper than Amazon and now that Amazon is pretending they don’t have, and have never had, 2-day shipping, it’s BB’s time to shine!)

I talked myself into it.

I talked myself out of it.

When I talked myself back into it, I drove to Best Buy and did the darn thing!

A Life Transformed

Y’all, I’ve been stagnant and just maintaining the last 4 years taking care of my parents. I’d do it all again, NO question, but I didn’t realize the ripple effect it was having on my entire life.

Then, COVID. Then both my parents died. It’s been a rough season of life in Avaville.

I turned on this iPad for the first time and it was like someone cracking the door to my dark cell.

I downloaded those two apps.

I’ve spent most of my time in Goodnotes documenting my experience exploring Apple for the first time. It just happened and it’s been a great way to learn how that app works.

When I was in college, we learned Photoshop through tutorials. I decided this would be the best way to learn Procreate.

In addition to that, I’ve come across some really good stuff from creators on Apple devices while looking for apps and information about my new device.

For example, I learned a framework called the 5 Sevens Framework.

• 7 years

• 7 months

• 7 days

• 7 hours

• 7 minutes

You figure out where you want to be in 7 years. Decide what you can do in 7 months toward that end. Make a plan for 7 days to achieve what you’re working on over the next 7 months.

Each time frame feeds into the one above it. You reassess every 7 days.

Most of us have an idea where we want to be in life in 7 years. This allows you to kind of reverse engineer that.

It reminds me of something my friend, Mark Linsenbardt, said, and I’m paraphrasing heavily, “Start at where you want to be and work your way backward through the steps so you know what you need to do to get there.”

I will have a 5 Sevens notebook in Goodnotes starting TODAY.

So this is iPad - Day 6, and I’ve:

• Written 20+ pages about my experience

• Completed 1 Procreate tutorial

• Learned how to make 5 kinds of brushes for Procreate

• Developed 1 idea for a planner page

• Brainstormed several more

• Doodled some cool stuff

• Downloaded apps and developed infrastructure to move forward exponentially in my business

It’s like Apple came in and flung open all my doors.

But…I had to let them in.

Make sure the thing you’re resisting isn’t the total change you desperately need.

If you relate to this, have an app recommendation, or whatever, it would be amazing to hear from you!