I remember the day I got serious about writing my memoir as if it was yesterday. It was in March 2016. I was at a mastermind meeting in San Diego. One of the challenges our fearless leader, Sandra Yancey, made to the group was to commit to something we’d been talking about doing, but had done very little in accomplishing an outcome.
She built our excitement by sharing stories of her own successes. The very successes that have given her a lifestyle most only dream of.
Excited, I wrote down, “Write 60,000 words on my first draft of my memoir within 60 days.” This simply meant I would write a minimum of 1,000 words a day for the next two months.
I’m Committed
Each morning I worked on the first draft. And each day, I wrote at least 1,000 words. At the end of the 60 days, I hit my goal.
Yet, that was only the beginning of the process. Now came the part that was going to prove more challenging that the initial writing. Cleaning it up.
I secured the services of a writing coach to help me dig deep into the content, clean things up, fine-tune the flow and create a product I could be very proud of.
Wait… There’s More!
My intention was to finish the memoir within a few months. Fast forward 18 months, and I’m still a considerable time from completion.
It didn’t take long to realize writing a memoir is very different than writing a business book. With many genres, there is no deep emotion attached. With a memoir, not so. Memoir writing can be very emotional. In my case, the time period is a very dark one that I nearly didn’t make it out alive from. That’s all I’m going to say about that. You’ll see what I mean when you read my published memoir.
Enter the 30-Day Turnaround
When I decided to start the current 30-Day Turnaround Challenge, I did so with the next rewrite in mind. Having had many stops and starts over the last year, I needed something in place to hold myself accountable to anyone who joined in the challenge.
The results I’m experiencing are astounding.
Finish Lines
Finishing the first 60,000-word draft, in a sense, was crossing a finish line. Yet, it was only one of many finish lines I will cross before the book is published.
There’s still a lot of work to do. The best way to finish anything is set one big goal and then break that down into smaller goals.
The goal of publishing my memoir is a big goal. Writing 60,000 words for a first draft is a smaller goal. Writing 1,000 words a day is an even smaller goal.
Whatever you set as you goal for the 30-day turnaround is likely part of a bigger goal. The 30 days, a smaller goal. Each day, smaller yet.
What Are You Made Of?
Sadly, most people who set resolutions, join challenges or commit to something outside of their comfort zone, often quit within a very short period.
They do this for any number of reasons including boredom, not seeing results fast enough, distractions and not having a big enough why.
The people who stick with it don’t let anything stop them. They stay the course. They do what they have to do. They find out what they are made of.
Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
There will be things in life that are downright scary. Things that push us to see what we are made of. Things that once we do it, there is no going back.
We can play it safe and try not to make waves, thus making the waves of mediocrity. Or we can live in the space of playing full out.
The 30-Day Turnaround Challenge is designed to create the space to do more than you’ve been doing. It’s designed to get you to play full out.
Do you play full out? Are you willing to push your own limits? Isn’t life way too short not to?
Today… give it your all. Today… stay the course… Today… make the commitment to live fully.
Today, accomplish one more day of your own 30-Day Challenge.
Do so in order that you have no regrets tomorrow.
