Just so you know, we are going to be on a bit of a William Goldman kick for the remainder of the month, so you’ve been warned. Last week was my first blog post in a very long time. I spoke about the circumstances around why I had such a long hiatus. After all, as William Goldman says, “One of the easiest things in the world is not to write… If it were easy, everyone would do it.” I hadn’t just slipped with my public blog posts though, this was the whole kit and caboodle. I stopped writing almost entirely, no blog posts, no story projects, not even any journal entries. I woke up a few weeks ago and I wondered if this was it? Was my dream dead in the water?
My answer was no. Slowly I gathered up my skills and dusted them off and got back to work. For many, the thought of starting on their dreams or goals again seems like a daunting task. So how did I do it? Well if you are expecting some earth-shattering, sage advice you should look in another place. It’s not the divine
1.) Start. Just sit down (or get up depending on what you are after) and commit to starting something. Nothing big or grandiose, just start. If you’ve fallen out of practice, then think big picture, what it is you are aiming to do; then break that into its smallest pieces. For me I just had to write, the foundation for any career as an aspiring author. It didn’t matter what I wrote really, I just needed to start writing something again. It’s the action and the commitment to picking up your dream again that matters. So many times, we say, “Oh, I need to start that,” and we never actually start anything. No
2.) Take it easy. A very good way to fall right back out of your habits is to try and go full bore at the beginning. I didn’t sit down and say to myself, “Okay Ko, let’s write a novel.” No. Wrong. That is not small. To start writing again I needed to start something that would let me get back into the groove of it. I needed something to stretch my legs before I took off on a sprint. So I started by journaling. I didn’t always use to journal, it is in fact, a newer form of expression that I got into a few years ago. It quickly became part of my daily routine. My entries are usually not super long nor are they very detailed, but they are words on a page. Taking just 15 minutes, this was a small commitment. What did I do that day? What did I feel? Simple is good in the beginning because you are not looking to finish your dreams in one big push but looking to create a lasting habit.
“One of the easiest things in the world is not to write… If it were easy, everyone would do it.”
William Goldman
3.) Work your way up. This is related to number two. Our smallest habits are the foundations of our larger dreams. When the slump hit I stopped journaling first. To get back into the flow of writing I started journaling again. I try to do this every night. Even though these entries are only tangential to my larger goal they are one of the cornerstones, a habit that supports the larger goal. Working from these small journal entries I worked myself back up to the blog posts. Having started those again, I am now eyeing my larger writing projects. We all have to start somewhere, it doesn’t need to be huge, it just needs to start.
4.) Give yourself a break. I think of coming back to my goals in the same vein as starting on them fresh. I am going to miss a night of journaling here or there. I will create a blog later than my new deadlines. I will miss a Saturday morning writing block (another new habit I am trying to form) but by golly, that doesn’t mean that my dreams are over. I don’t have to berate myself for slipping, or be angry I missed a journal entry. I don’t have to assume my dreams will always be out of reach just because I miss a deadline. My dreams will remain alive so long as I keep chasing them. So, give yourself a little bit a grace.
If you are starting on a new dream or goal, or if you are just trying to get started again after a lapse, set a start time and stick to it, start off small with what you can handle, work your way up towards larger more complex projects, and most importantly give yourself a bit of grace if you mess up here and there. It’s ok. Our dreams are waiting for us, we just need to start chasing them.