How To Turn 200 Words Into A Book
Almost every one of these is around 200 words.Every post is small, readable, and only focuses on one thing.Every post is fine by itself, but together they are a track record of intention and action.I'm somewhere around a few hundred blog posts.Together, that's a book.
It didn't happen all at once, that's impossible.
It happened every day.Principle: Big hairy, audacious goals are actually made up of lots of small, achievable goals.
2 Minute Action
What's your book?How will you break it down into blog posts?Reply/Comment and let me know what you're working on.I'd love to help break it down into actionable pieces with you.
How To Get Past Writer's Block
I've had a few people ask me recently "how do you come up with ideas?""How do you become creative?"There's no cure.Just like there's no cure for "having an idea" or "starting a company."You're not going to magically come up with something brilliant.But if you just start . . .Just start writing. Just start building. Just start calling.Whatever it is you're trying to do, you'll narrow in eventually.Let it be garbage. Let it be bad.Don't throw it away. Don't delete it.Just keep going.The goal isn't perfection, the goal is momentum.Once you get over the anxiety of starting before you can see the ending, you might find that you're quite unstoppable.People (and sometimes the voices in our own heads) are very happy to tell us all the reasons something won't work.Yet, people tend to get out of the way once you're moving.That's the punchline. There is no cure. You just have to start.It's probably not going to be good, so toss out the idea that it should be perfect.The goal isn't to hit a home run in your first at-bat.
2 Minute Action:
What's something you've been putting off?
- Working out?
- Writing a book?
- Start a company?
Start right now in 2 minutes.
- Do 10 pushups.
- Write a blog post.
- Make a sales call.
I promise you can get started on any path in under 2 minutes.Practice that habit enough and you'll forget "writer's block" even existed.
A Little Hack To Jumpstart Your "Someday Maybe" List
Almost everyone has a "Someday Maybe List"
On it, you have . . .
- The non-profit you want to start.
- The album you want to record.
- The backpacking trip you want to take.
Sometimes these things are so big and important that they paralyze us from taking action. Maybe we don't know where to start. Maybe the road is so long we are afraid we won't make it. Maybe it's not urgent so we hit the snooze button for later.
Here's a super easy way to start:
All you have to do is ask: is it actionable?Can you do something about it right now? Why or why not? If it's not actionable, you'll either need more information or you'll need to break down the goal into smaller, actionable pieces.For example, "write a novel" is a big, hairy goal. You can't just bang that out today. It takes time, persistence, and a LOT of patience.Most people think: I'll write a book and then maybe I'll start a blog to tell people about it.They've got it backward. By starting with the blog, you're not only writing out the novel in small, digestible chunks (some publishers call these: chapters), but you're also building an audience of people who are going to be the most likely group of people on the planet to care when you publish it.
Is it actionable?
No. You can't publish a novel today.Fine. So what CAN you do?
- You CAN write a chapter today.
- You CAN call 5 publishers every day for a week.
- You CAN start a blog, today.
Life is going to be a lot harder (and procrastination will be a lot easier) if the tasks on your to-do list turn out to NOT be actionable.It's an easy question.You've got this.Small, daily, relentless.
2 Minute Action
What's one thing that's been sitting on your to-do list for a while?What's holding you back from checking the box?Okay, now what's the real reason?What's a small step that you can take towards making it happen?