Every successful venture requires a great development rhythm. I broke mine down to three areas of focus.
I have heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. 2014 for me was the year I let go of crazy.
For years I told everyone I was going to write a book. It was on my bucket list. My father was an avid reader and even dabbled in short stories for a while. Writing a book would satisfy some internal need to show him what I could do as well as serve my own needs. Plus I thought it would be cool to have a book.
As we entered 2014 I began to socialize the idea with others. If you read my other columns, you know that socializing your idea is a huge thrust of my thesis for starting anything. For me, it created some external accountability; I said it, now I have to do it.
For a few months I would sit down and begin writing for an hour or two, maybe a couple times per week. Knowing that I had to get about 100,000 words, I began to do the math on the completion date of draft one and started to get really worried. Did I have two years to complete this brilliant piece of prose?
That is when I realized I needed to create a different rhythm if I was going to complete my goal of writing a book. So, in September, I sat back and thought about what I needed to change to put myself in a better position for success.
First, I realized that I needed to write more each day and write more days of the week. Duh. Second, if I was going to write more (and my day job was off limits mostly), I needed to find the time elsewhere. Third, if I was going to squeeze serious writing time into my day–basically extending my work day–I needed to adjust my physical being as well. How very self-aware.
I am happy to report that I finished the book by my self-imposed deadline of December 31st and in doing so created a great writing rhythm that enabled me to meet my goal. When I look back there were three fundamental things that worked for me.
You have to read more about those 3 fundamental things I did to finish the book here at inc.com.