In December I entered a challenge to write 1,000 words per day or 5,000 words per week.
On the surface, this doesn’t seem too challenging for a blogger/freelance writer. I have to write every single day. Right?
A personal trainer should train every single day. A writer should always write. A runner should always be running.
Makes sense, right? Well in theory it does. In application, consistency is key, yet it’s difficult for many of us to remain consistent. We either get a lot done in one shot or we drag our work on for weeks.
Has this ever happened to you? There’s a simple task to complete. Yet for some reason it takes you days to finish. The process usually goes something like this:
- You procrastinate forever with starting the task.
- You know you eventually have to get something done.
- You sit down to do it.
- You go on Facebook. You realize your buddy posted something funny from YouTube. This leads you to watching related videos.
- A few hours go by.
- You put the task off.
- The night’s over.
There goes your day. This happens far too often.
Why daily practise?
You HAVE to put in the work on a daily basis. You just have to make it a part of your lifestyle. I don’t believe in quick fixes or bandaid solutions. I believe in slight lifestyle changes for long term results. This is why adding a little bit of work to your daily routine goes a long way with building a new lifestyle for yourself.
You also need to quantify your work somehow. The reason that I set a daily goal is because it’s easy to keep track of my progress. If I can’t write 1,000 words on a daily basis, then I really should consider my freelance writing career. The same should apply to your own unique freelancing situation.
You especially have to overcome the excuses. It’s far too easy to put things off. Life gets in the way. The excuses add up.
- I couldn’t sleep last night.
- I’m having relationship problems.
- Work was stressful.
- It’s cold outside.
- My friends wanted to hang out.
- I had to help my friend’s neighbor build a doghouse.
The truth of the matter is that when you want to do something, you will. If you don’t want to do something, you’ll think of an excuse.
I wanted to look at a real life example. The dude that runs the kettlebell classes that I attend. He’s done everything possible to become the best trainer around. He has all sorts of certifications. He has put in the work to become the best instructor around. As a result, he gets many classes, along with multiple private clients. From my observations, he’s making more money than any other personal trainer at the gym. He put in the work to differentiate himself to stick out from the crowd.
What if work gets in the way?
The reality of this site is that many of you have full-time jobs and real lives with real responsibilities. Work will get in the way. That’s bound to happen. You just can’t let work become your excuse to not getting anything done.
Are you ready to commit yourself to consistency?
In order to learn more languages, I work on my Spanish every single day. The other night I was exhausted and ready to pass out. Right before I shut my eyes, I realized that I forgot to study Spanish. I checked online and read over a few verbs before bed.
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