Set a timer and write.

Do I set the timer for eleven minutes to give myself one minute to think? Or do I set the timer for ten minutes and start writing.

I decided to forgo the minute to think and begin writing. I want to make sure that I pour ten minutes into my writing. Writing for ten minutes straight every day for the next thirty days is the goal I am currently pursuing. This fits in with my current goal of writing every day for 2021. When I click save and publish, this will be post 162.

162 reminds me of the number of games in a regular-season of Major League Baseball. Baseball puts in 162 games between April and early October. There are more than 162 days during that time, but you have to account for teams having days off, the all-star break, and maybe a rainout or two.

I often wonder as I sit down to write each day; I ask myself questions. One is, Am I doing the right thing? Then comes self-criticism; I bet that you have grammar mistakes, followed by no one is reading, so you should just quit, and the negative thoughts continue to move around.

Writing is the antidote. Typing the next word is how you get your writing done. Hitting save and publish is the way to get your work into the world.

Once my writing is in the world, it takes on a life of its own.

It would be nice if more people read my posts. It would be wonderful if I monetized my blog, podcast, and newsletter.

At this moment, that isn’t happening. So I have two choices: quit and stop, or keep writing and get better, and over time, we will see what happens.

That is the only way. The only way to be a creative person is to create and put your work into the world.

If you don’t create, you have an audience of one. A very selfish audience member and not helpful. If your goal is to put creative work into the world, and your internal voice talks you out of it. Then you have to ask yourself, Is my internal voice helpful?

Here is the truth. It isn’t. You need a supportive internal voice. A voice that tells you yes put your work into the world. A voice that tells you the way to your writing goal is to write. If you are still finding your why or saying you need to be authentic, you have lost. The person who gets credit for finding his Why is Simon Sinek because he wrote the book and gave the TED talk, so you need to imitate that. Sit down, Set a timer, and write. Then click Save, and publish. What are you waiting for?