January 2021
Hello from Orlando!
I’ve started a tradition where in January each year I share with you my what my wall calendar looked like from the year prior. Maybe it’s an accountability thing. Maybe it’s to show you how many blank days there were where I didn’t work on a book. Or maybe it’s to show you that in spite of yourself, you can still reach your goal if you keep trying.
Whatever the reason, here is my calendar.
You’ll notice a lot of white space at the beginning of the year. There are whole months where, no matter how hard I tried, the words didn’t come. January came and went and I didn’t write. Same with February. In March, I got tired of the blank calendar and started “planning” for 7 weeks which included brainstorming story ideas and may or may not have also included watching a bunch of cat videos. I was confusing movement with progress. Just because you’re doing a lot doesn’t mean you’re getting a lot done.
Then I started the book with 4 weeks of solid writing followed by 9 weeks of not writing.
Not a single word.
I got back to it at the end of July but then I quickly ran out of steam again by August.
The good news was my novel was halfway done. The bad news was my novel was only halfway done. I looked up. Saw how much more of the mountain there was still left to climb. I turned to look back down the path and saw how easy it would be to stop.
I think this is the place where most people give up. I know, because I’ve been there.
They set their dreams aside. They tell themselves they tried their best. They move on.
But it’s always darkest just before the dawn. And if you’ve read my last few newsletters, you know the rest of the story. I prayed, I got inspired, and in a burst of writing, I finished the second half of the novel in 9 days and wrote what I think is my best book yet. Without any planning. Just fingers on the keyboard, writing like a reader reads, typing until I was done and coming up with a better story than I ever could’ve planned.
Why am I telling you this?
Because it’s January 31st and once again I haven’t started the next book yet. And because you probably have a goal for the year that you haven’t started yet, either.
Failed January goals never surprise me.
January 1st is when most dreams are born and January 31st is when most dreams die.
But this is what separates those who dream and those who see their dream come true:
They do ‘one more.’ They write one more word. One more sentence. One more paragraph. One more chapter. The athlete takes one more shot, does one more rep.
They wake up and wonder if they’ve reached their peak, if they can outdo themselves again… if they’re destined to live on the plateau or if they can climb another mountain. Then they decide… and they push through the pain, and they do one more, anyway.
I woke up this morning not wanting to write this newsletter. And tomorrow, when I start working on the next book, I know I’ll wake up not wanting to. Because starting is hard.
But without commitment, you’ll never start. And without consistency, you’ll never finish.
I have to remind myself that the days I don’t want to write are the days that count.
Because winners keep going when there’s nothing left in the tank. And because who you want to be tomorrow, you’ve got to start working on becoming today. Every day we’re either preparing or repairing, getting closer to or farther away from our goals.
The truth is, if you have a dream, you will experience some kind of pain.
Because there are two kinds of pain in life: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Jim Rohn taught that discipline weighs ounces… but regret weighs tons. I don’t want to live with regret. I’m willing to bet you don’t, either.
So let’s make a commitment.
Let’s decide today that we’re going to do ‘one more.’
When the inner critic says you can’t, ignore it and push through to the other side.
There’s no passion to be found in playing small and settling for a life that’s less than the one we’re capable of living. Embrace the pain of discipline, and just do one more.
I can’t wait to write my next story, knowing the tough days are the days that count. -Ken
