It takes 20 days for a new habit to set in.

I am on day 5 of this new habit I’m attempting to reintroduce into my daily life: to focus on my writing for at most an hour a day. 

If I can edit five pages a day, then I’d be on my way to finish the second draft of my novel in 60 days. That’s two months. That’s no time at all.

I can do this, but only if I focus on my habit. And honestly, it doesn’t have to be for the full hour. Even if I focus for just 10 minutes a day. I want to get to the point again where I want to write, and feel sad that I missed that daily writing window. 

I used to have that time carved out every day, but with most hobbies, life gets in the way. New jobs happen, new relationships take precedence. You get exhausted to focus your energy on yet another task at the end of a long day of already looking at a screen.

I recently heard that when making goals, it’s imperative to make sure that your goals are specific enough. If they’re too vague, they won’t mean anything to you. Thanks to Tori Dunlap, I recently heard of two quotes that really inspired me:

“A goal without a plan is just a wish” 

And

“Perfection is just fear in stilettos.”

Wow. I’ve spent my entire life striving for perfection. I can’t submit anything unless it’s perfect. I can’t let anyone see my writing unless there are no edits made. 

That’s the wrong way to pursue my dreams. If I continue to think that nothing will ever be good enough, I’ll never, ever achieve any sort of dream if I think it needs to be perfect. Hell, I know I’m not perfect. And that’s been a truly eye-opening piece of advice for me. 

What’ll help me achieve my dreams is to let go and be ok with imperfection. I just need to do. I need to put my work out there and hope for the best. I need to get exposure. I need to let people know who I am, let them hear my voice. 

So that’s my new plan: if I commit to writing for an hour a day (it doesn’t have to be solely focused on my book, just any type of writing), then I will be closer to achieving my dream of being a published author. 

And there’s nothing better than feeling at peace with a decision. I understand my daily goals now, let’s make sure I stick to them.