Overcoming inertia

The hardest part of any project, for me at least, is starting. That first step, first word, first action, is always the hardest. Once I've done that I can start gathering momentum and keep rolling. The thing itself provides part of the motivation to continue as there is part of it already. But that initial plan can so easily be thwarted by inaction. It is far too easy not to do anything, that some days nothing gets done.

You can read as much as you want about forming habits, or routines or creating rituals, but they still need to be acted upon. It is great once they are going, but remembering to do them, and imparting them with the meaning to influence everything else is the trick.

I don't have a magic wand to wave and make this problem go away. All I can do is control my focus and keep coming back to the next step. Is what I am doing the most productive use of my time right now? What should I be writing? Then it is up to me to do that. Which is the most terrifying thing.

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash

I am self-employed. My business and success are solely down to me. There is no one else hovering over my shoulder keeping an eye on what I'm doing. Or reporting what they don't think I should be doing to others. (Thanks Lisa!) If I stopped doing anything to create and promote my books there would be a tail of income, as they wouldn't die immediately, but it would tail off drastically over time. In order to continue, and to build, I need to keep working at it. Writing more books, finding new ways to market the ones already published. Both of which need me to take action. And so often I don't. 

The first step is always the kicker. Once a project is rolling, it will keep going and I'll get up and write write write for the story. I just need to start. All of which is a strange way to say that I am starting a new project and struggling to get it going. I've finished two series in the last year (I was alternating releases) and it was great to get the last of those books out and have a rest. But now I need to get my focus hat on again and start working on the new series.

I am excited about it. There will be so many cool things in these stories, like a magic library and phoenixes and crystal magic and a series of challenges and I have so many ideas I need to wrangle into an outline and then write. So, in a bid to get myself going, my task this week will be to set up the first book on preorder. That way I have an external deadline to push myself into doing stuff. Setting goals for myself is never as reliable as making them public and knowing there are others out there waiting for what I'm doing.

And now, see what I did there? I am telling you all that I'm creating the preorder to set myself the external deadline to do that as well.