But it wasn’t easy. I had to coerce myself to sit in my writing chair consistently every day and work on my manuscript, no matter what mood I was in or how much I wanted to go and do something else.
And that was the ‘secret’ to getting my book finished. Consistency. It’s not big bursts of energy and motivation that get writing done, it’s the consistency of showing up and doing the writing every day. Consistent progress over time compounds into something greater.
It’s too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that those who have success in life are the ones with lucky breaks or who work 80 hours or more a week. But the truth is that those who keep showing up every day are the ones who have success. It’s the same compounding effect that got my book manuscript written, edited and proofread. I took action on it daily, no matter what.
And this compounding effort works for anything you want to do in life, no matter how big or small, like finally getting around to cleaning your car or to starting your own business. Consistent effort will get you everywhere.
To be more successful than others all you need is consistent, compounding effort. While I was working away on my manuscript, I also kept reading about other writers who were complaining that they just didn’t have time to write and so weren’t currently working on anything.
I also found some bad habits I knew nothing about that I had to eradicate. It seems I am an incredibly distracted person and would stop and look up things or I’d want to go and watch TV or think that I’d rather be doing my sewing or going for a walk. But I didn’t I used strenuous amounts of discipline to stay in my writing chair. And once I did, I found it easier than I thought to let these distractions go.
I also learnt that I was a lot more disciplined than I ever thought I was once I was motivated enough to get my book written. And the word ‘motivation’ has the word motive written right in there, which is the real meaning. To be motivated you need a big enough reason to do something. My motive wasn’t to finish my book but to prove to myself that I could be disciplined if I tried. And I did try and I was right (because I didn’t want to be wrong).
One big takeaway from my recent efforts is that I realised that people who we think of as super achievers, when you look at their efforts, the one thing that stands out is that they are consistent with what they do.
There’s a book I recently came across on this subject that I recommend to any of you who want to do more and achieve more. It’s called, “The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success” by Darren Hardy.
Don’t let your big writing dreams escape any more. If what you want to do is be a super-achieving author, the time to start is now. All it takes is daily consistency to create a compounding effect.
