Each week on his show, Bob painted a mesmerizing landscape in just half an hour. He was known for his soft-spoken style, his signature permed hair, and his uncanny ability to make you believe that just like him, you could paint a masterpiece.

Most of Bob’s viewers didn’t know that he meticulously planned out his paintings in advance. He would create the original, memorize every brushstroke, then paint the scene a second time during the taping of the show.

Every once in a while, Bob would make a tiny mistake and then repeat his signature phrase, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” Then, he would either paint over the mistake or find a way to blend it into the scene.

There is a good lesson here not only for painters, but for writers as well. We like to beat ourselves up for mistakes. We are disappointed when we mess up or don’t perform perfectly.

But remember, you’re human. You’re imperfect. You won’t get it right every time.

There are times when you will flat-out bomb. That book, that blog post, that article, that lesson or speech won’t go as planned. In those moments, the last thing you want to do is celebrate your mistakes.

But what if you did this instead: rather than painting over those flaws and imperfections, you accepted them as a part of the picture? And not only accepted them… but celebrated them?

It doesn’t mean you should compromise your standards. You can still reach for excellence while also accepting your humanity. Those happy little accidents, if you learn from them, can be the pathway to a life that is more beautiful and scenic than all the perfect paintings in the world.

Today’s Challenge: What is the last mistake you made? What if, instead of trying to cover it up, you accepted it as part of your picture and used it as a learning experience?

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Christmas means many things to many people. Some people look forward to parties and social events. Some people enjoy the lights and holiday displays in stores and homes. Some people love all the holiday entertainment you can enjoy, such as Hallmark movies and music specials.

And of course, everybody loves gifts, especially kids!

But for people of faith, Christmas is the time of year when we remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Even though we may enjoy all the festivities, gifts, and celebration, nothing is more meaningful than remembering the hope we have in Jesus.

It’s fascinating to read the accounts of Jesus’ birth from the Gospels. Those passages have been immortalized not only in church, but in pop culture as well. We all remember how Linus quoted from Luke chapter 2 in the popular TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

But have you ever stopped to consider exactly how these passages were written? We think of the Bible as a sacred text, which it is, but it was also written by regular people who chose to be obedient to the Spirit’s leading in researching and writing down these accounts of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.

In Matthew chapter 1, just before the main action of the Christmas story kicks off, there is a short phrase in verse 18. We tend to ignore it as a passing phrase that links the previous section to the next one, but it’s absolutely vital to appreciating the writers of the Gospels. Matthew writes, “This is how the birth of Jesus came about …”

In other words, Matthew is saying, “Listen up, I’m about to set down a definitive account of something really important.” But what if he had not been obedient to his calling? What if he had not taken the time or the trouble to sit down and record this account of Jesus’ birth? Would someone else have done it?

Perhaps. Even though we have three other Gospels, they are all different. If Matthew had not done it, we would have never had his specific account of Jesus’ life.

Somebody had to make the effort. Somebody had to take the time. Somebody had to write it down.

So today, on this Christmas Day, as we relax and celebrate, let’s take a moment to appreciate Matthew and Luke as writers who took the time and effort to record their versions of the Christmas story.

And let’s also reflect on this: if God can use the writing talents of an ordinary tax collector like Matthew, then maybe, just maybe, He can use you and me to make a little dent in history.

Merry Christmas!

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After you have prepared by tilling the soil of your mind, planted by keeping track of your ideas, watered your mind by reading, pruned the dead weight from your schedule, and harvested your creativity by getting your writing done, it’s important to celebrate by enjoying your success.

For some reason, writers have a hard time being content with their success. Maybe it’s jealousy or a mentality that says whatever they have achieved, it’s not enough. Maybe it’s an attitude they inherited from their family that they can never measure up.

Whatever the case, it’s vital to recognize that when you write, you have done something worth celebrating. It doesn’t need to be a giant ego boost. You can celebrate in a way that inspires others and doesn’t put yourself in the spotlight.

When you accomplish something worthwhile, take a moment to stop and recognize the value of what you’ve done. Take pride in your work. Enjoy your success.

If you don’t develop this habit of celebration, you will never be happy with your achievements. How sad would it be to work so hard but never feel satisfied?

Question: Are you taking time to celebrate your success?

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I want to take a moment to let you know about an important milestone we just passed here on the podcast in the last couple of weeks. We hit 100,000 downloads!

There are many podcasts with far fewer downloads, and many podcasts with much, much larger numbers. So, what does 100,000 downloads actually mean? It means that 100,000 times, people have been touched by the message of writing. I consider that a pretty cool success, no matter how you slice it.

Although I’m the one who writes and records the podcast, I don’t really take credit for this. Who deserves the credit? You do. My listeners are the ones who tune in and listen, who download and share this podcast, and who make it worth all the time and effort.

So, thank you. I mean that sincerely. I am genuinely grateful for your time and appreciate each download and listen. There are so many other ways you could be spending your time, and it means the world to me that you have chosen to spend it with me.

We are right at 700 total episodes of the podcast. I don’t consider myself to be a person of unusual talent or skill, but I have consistently shown up to create this show day after day. And I want you to know that’s a big key for your success, too. If you decide you’re going to do something important to you, and you stick with it and keep showing up, you can achieve big goals as well. I think we make success way more complicated than it needs to be sometimes.

There’s one more person I want to thank, and that is our podcast producer, Raejan Noh. After I write and record the podcast episodes, she handles the audio editing and uploading, writes show notes, coordinates with podcast guests, and also handles social media for the Daily Writer. Raejan is an absolutely indispensable part of the Daily Writer, which is not only this podcast, but also a membership community that you hear about regularly on this show.

So Raejan, thank you for all your hard work and creativity. It truly makes a difference in people’s lives. And thank YOU, our listeners, for letting me come into your life and share interviews and inspiration related to writing.

So, what’s ahead for the Daily Writer? Let me share a few things we have on the horizon.

Of course, I’m going to continue with the current podcast schedule, which means this will keep on being a daily show. But in May, we are going to do something we’ve never done before, which is doing a monthly theme. The theme for May is mental health, so May will essentially be Mental Health for Writers month. Each of the weekly guests will have some things to share related to staying mentally healthy. We will also be doing a challenge during the month of May related to mental health.

You will also see a growing focus on the Daily Writer Community this year. Our members are having some fantastic successes, and I encourage you to strongly consider giving it a look. I guarantee that your writing life and your success will be stronger when you lock arms with other writers and spend time around successful people, like those we have in the DW Community.

I’m also planning two writing-related book releases this year. The first is How to Build a Writing Habit, which will be a free download. This is the first of a series of short guides for writers. I’m calling this series “60-Minute Guides for Writers.” That book will come out next month or early May.

Then, in October, I’m releasing the big book I’ve been working on for a couple of years, appropriately called The Daily Writer: 366 Meditations on Creativity, Habits, and Discovering Your Authentic Voice. This is a daily devotional-type book for writers, and you will have the chance to not only be a beta reader, but also join the launch team for the book. More info will be coming in early summer about that.

I also really encourage you to follow the Daily Writer on Instagram, @dailywriterlife. We have some very cool things happening there and will be ramping up our presence on social media very soon. Who knows, maybe I’ll also get active on TikTok…

That’s it for this update. Thank you again for being a faithful listener. I truly appreciate you and look forward to catching up with you in the next episode.

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