Getting started on writing, especially an endeavor such as your first novel, is tough and daunting. And once you’ve started, trying to write everyday can be very, very challenging. We get bombarded from outside factors - distractions that come from our phone, our work, family, friends, the dog etc…The worst of distractions, I found, were those that come from within; your FEARS, your worries and anxieties of the future. You ask yourself, “Would this work out?”, “Am I going to be okay?” and the classic “Am I good enough?”

And I’m here to tell you that achieving your goals, especially the goal of finishing a book, can be reached. You just have to do some inner work.

Here are 3 ways I stayed persistent in writing my book amongst all the ‘noise’:

1. Controlled my EGO (detach from fears)

2. I stayed Disciplined (persist daily)

3. Have Goals (your purpose)

1. Control the EGO

What comes to mind when you hear the word EGO? Is it arrogance? Cockiness? My boss who thinks he’s the shit? Is it denial? Avoiding what’s in front of us and going the other way because we know what we’re doing? Yeah, it is all that. But the EGO is way more than that. Our EGOs are like a whole other person inside us. Think of our EGOs as our twin but a disgruntled twin filled with a lot of negativity. This twin has worries, doubts, fears, anxieties amongst other things. So, what do we do with them?

Tell your twin to shut up! Whenever we want to do something new, whether that be going after our dream goals and purpose, our EGOs immediately tell us not to do that. Even thoughts of doing something outside our skills and knowledge - outside our comfort zone - our twin tells us “No, don’t do that! What would others think of you? Think of what they would say! What if you fail? Come on, let’s stay here and be comfortable. It’s nice here.”

This is complacency. This is where you get stuck in an endless cycle of “what if’s".” And if you want to go after your dreams/goals, you can be complacent. You have to take risks.

A lot of successful people, ranging from entrepreneurs to CEO’s, will tell you that you must take risks and consistently familiarize yourself with being uncomfortable, will lead you to success. And they’re right. Build a habit of doing “risky” things. Sooner or later, it’s going to be familiar to you that it won’t scare you anymore. In fact, the more you fail, the closer you become to being successful.

So, let go of your fears of failure. Let go of your fears of judgements and opinions from others. The sooner you start controlling what your EGO says, the better a person you’ll become. You’ll come out on top and when it comes to an unfamiliar goal such as writing a book, the once daunting dream doesn’t seem so daunting anymore.

2. Be Disciplined

Discipline is one of those terms that has (somewhat) received a bad rap these past few years. Thanks to ‘hustle culture’, Discipline is seen as a “forget everything and everyone, and work your ass of 24/7” type of behavior. I admit, I do agree with certain aspects of what ‘hustle culture’ is saying, but I disagree with a lot of it. Let’s take a closer look.

When I talk about discipline, coupled with controlling your EGO, I’m talking about reinforcing the idea of taking action everyday towards your goals but doing so from a place that FEELS GOOD and isn’t forced. For instance, in writing my book, I tell myself a sacred rule that I will work on writing for a certain amount of time, regardless of how many words I typed. Specifically, I would write for roughly 5 hours (in several writing spurts/sessions with short breaks in-between) and if I come out with only 1-sentence, then that’s fine with me.

I’m not forcing it at all and when there are days when I don’t feel like writing, I would pivot and do something else that’s aligned with my goals (such as reading or creating my book cover or making marketing materials). All this helped me ‘feel good’ because I wasn’t putting pressuring on myself. What’s interesting about giving yourself permission to take a “day off”, is that later, you’d naturally become more disciplined and stick with your plans.

So, discipline is the idea that you give yourself a commitment - an action - and hold yourself accountable for that commitment. And when you hold yourself accountable and take responsibility for your actions, you overcome a lot of obstacles. This comes in handy when you are knee-deep into whatever you’re doing, such as writing a novel.

Some of you might know the phrase “marathon of the middle” when it comes to writing. Every author knows this. It’s that dreaded place where you’re half-way to the end. It’s that stretch of time where it seems you’ve been writing for days but nothing is being produced. Weeks or months gone by and all you did was write nothing but hot garbage. Strangely, you know where you’re going with the story. You have an idea or a concept of what to write and how your plot should conclude, but that middle part of your novel just doesn’t want to come together. You pull out your hairs and scream “Why is this so hard?!” Hence, why this place is also called “The Valley of Despair”.

Well I’m here to tell you that the “marathon of the middle” is exactly what it sounds. It’s a Marathon not a sprint. Hence where discipline comes in. If you can keep at it - keep writing day by day, eventually you’ll get to the end. You just have to be consistent. The Valley of Despair doesn’t have to be dreadful. It feels like it yes, but if you work at it everyday, even for an hour, you’ll eventually have a whole manuscript.

And this goes for any endeavor. Want to build a business? Research how and put in the work everyday. Want to create the next amazing product? Keep tinkering away at it and make small improvements. Soon, you’ll start to see the physical manifestation of all your hard work and effort. In due time, you’ll finish something that you can be proud of. And then you can celebrate! So stay focused and stay disciplined but also enjoy the journey while you’re at it.

3. Have Goals

To wrap everything up, by having a goal(s) you have a clear destination to aim for. Not only that, if you pair your goals with your PURPOSE (or meaning mission as I call it), then you have the power to achieve your dreams. It just takes a bit of time.

Think of yourself as a ship sailing in the open sea. It would make sense for you to have a clear destination or else you’d be sailing all over the place. You’d be lost, aimless and directionless. You need a clear point to travel to and aim for. Most productivity gurus would call this your “North Star” or a “horizon goal”. Simply, it’s just your purpose that you wish to strive for. Your ‘why’ for whatever you’re doing.

So, how do you find your purpose? How do you find something that’s meaningful to you? Ask yourself these questions:

1. If I was on my deathbed, what are some things I wished I could have done? What are my regrets? Why didn’t I start that business, write that book, ask that person out, etc…

2. If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I do right now?

3. Ten years from now, what would my ideal life look like? What would I be doing?

Your purpose should invigorate you, get you excited and pumped. Bonus points if your purpose helps others in some way or provides great value. My purpose or meaningful missions looks like this:

• I help new and aspiring Authors with writing their first novel.

• I help people strive to find their meaningful mission in life and hopefully achieve success!

Paired with my goal of finishing a valuable book, the statements above allowed me to keep going, knowing one day I’ll be on stage speaking to thousands of people as a self-help/personal development entrepreneur. At the time of writing this blog, I am one week away from publishing my debut novel “The Last Guardians of Atlantis”. I have achieved my goal of finishing a novel and now onto my next goal: marketing the book to success by selling over 3000 copies in the first 3 months (ambitious I know). One day, after achieving many goals, I’ll reach my dream.

And so can you! If you want to finish that book, set up your goal(s) and keep striving for them. Once you achieve one, make another and keep going. Having goals coupled with a meaningful purpose, allows you to navigate the seas or rather, navigate the valley of despair with ease. It just takes work, persistence and time.

Watch the video by Ali Abdaal, if you’re still unclear. It helps!

🚀 Brace yourselves for an exhilarating journey! 🌟 Grab your copy of “The Last Guardians Of Atlantis” and embark on an unforgettable adventure. Click the link below for an emotional thrill ride! ✨