Advice

The Best Advice I Ever Read To Help Me Write Everyday

Use this life-changing tip to achieve any goal, big or small.

The Daily Struggle

When I started writing, I had big plans. Big, big plans.

I was going to write at least 1000 words a day, and each word would be perfect. I would become an overnight success, and everyone on this platform would know my name.

As you can guess, that hasn’t happened. Yet.

I’ve had ups and downs with writing and lately have been having trouble keeping my motivation up. I question myself often: are my ideas good enough? Is my writing good enough? Am I good enough?

When I get down on myself, I lose my focus, and I stop writing. I’ve gone for days without writing, which makes me feel guilty. Feeling guilty makes me depressed, and being depressed keeps me from writing. It’s like a never-ending downward spiral, and I know that many writers experience this from time to time.

One Is More Than Zero

Everything changed when I read an amazing and amazingly simple piece of advice in an article by Anya Klis. It originated from a viral thread on Reddit in 2013, and even eight years later, it’s still changing lives.

Here it is:

Have no more zero days.

What is a zero-day? A zero-day is when you don’t do a single thing toward achieving your goal, whatever that goal may be. My goal is to write every day to become a better author. So a zero-day for me would be not writing a single thing that day.

Now my goal is to have only non-zero days.

This tip has helped me write something every single day. If I end up writing 1000 words, great! But if I’m really not feeling it and I just can’t get in the groove, I will write at least one sentence. One Tweet, one Quora response, one Facebook post. Heck, even one word!

Because one is more than zero, it will be a non-zero day.

And it makes me feel better.

A Versatile Tool

Anyone can use this simple tool to help them keep forward momentum with their goals.

Your goal is to get fit, but you don’t have the energy for that 20-minute run? Do one push-up or one sit-up. One is better than zero.

Your goal is to be an artist, but your creative juices aren’t flowing? Sketch one tree or one happy face. One is better than zero.

Everyone has off days, but with this advice, even those off days can be useful in some small way.

I am now adopting this tool to help me achieve goals I’ve been putting off for a while. I’ve been meaning to read more, and I really, really need to get in shape. So every day, I read one article or one page of a book, and I do at least one push-up or use my 20lb. baby, to do one bench press!

This advice put an end to my procrastination, got me started on goals I put off, and it will keep me going! And maybe I’ll even be in shape in time for my sister’s wedding next year!

Do you have any more helpful tips like this? If so, let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for ways to get motivated. :)

And shout out to Anya Klis for introducing me to this life-changing advice!

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