In 2012, I flew to Alaska for 25 hours.

I was there for such a short amount of time that I didn’t even bother booking a hotel. I flew from Washington DC to Phoenix, and then from Phoenix to Alaska, arriving in Anchorage around 3AM. I slept at the airport for a few hours, then rented a car, and went exploring.

I went hiking, saw a moose, climbed a mountain (and almost died), attended a Nerd Fitness meetup with 3 people at a bar, and then hopped on a late flight back to Phoenix and back to DC.

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Why did I do such an absurd thing?

Because I needed to fly a certain number of miles to earn frequent flyer status with American Airlines. This cheap flight gave me 12,000 miles of flying, which was juuuuust enough for me to earn status, free upgrades, and benefits for the the next 14 months.

Yep, spending lots of money on certain credit cards can help earn status, but there are some scenarios for us travel weirdos in which the best option is to plant one's ass in a seat and fly there-and-back-again!

Because status resets every year, many find themselves short of qualifying for a certain status, and will book the cheapest flight to any destination and then fly right back.

This was me in Alaska back in 2012, and comically I find myself in need of ass-in-seat miles right now too.

Kind of.

I’m currently deep in a secret-book-shaped-project, and I was reminded of my Alaska trip as I worked on it this past week.

At the beginning of the week, I was feeling a bit lost and unsure if I could find a through-line amidst the 90,000 words of chaos.

It made me avoid opening the project in the first place, and had me thinking "I just need to do a bit more research..."

I was then reminded of Seneca:

So...ass-in-seat, I opened the document and did a bit of work on it.

And then I did the same thing the next day. And by the end of the week, I felt approximately 1000 times better about the manuscript and made tremendous strides. Shocking, I know.

Author Neil Gaiman similarly describes ass-in-seat strategy:

The ass-in-seat strategy applies across most of life:

• Creative projects: we can convince ourselves we need more research, or that we need to check in with a few more people. The reality is often far simpler. Work on the project!
• Getting in shape: The more time you spend in the gym, the more likely you are to get fit. There's no substitute for "ass-in-gym" hours!
• Being a better parent or spouse: There's no substitute for time spent with your family or friends, quality time or garbage time.

Do you have a project or goal would benefit greatly from you racking up some more ass-in seat miles?

Hit reply and let me know!

-Steve (typed with my ass-planted-firmly-in-seat at a coffee shop)

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