Boston, Sunday morning, September 22, 2019
Hello, friend.
What's the thing you're trying to do right now... but you just can't seem to get off your duff to do?
I've been "writing a new book" for... forever.
I put that ☝️ in quotes because (between you and me) there hasn't been a lot of "writing" going on. Plenty of "thinking" and "daydreaming" and "researching" and "discussing"—all valid parts of any creative project. But not a lot of actual "writing."
This past week I told my friend Andrew that I needed to start the writing part of the "writing a new book."
It was a conversation we've had about a jillion times. We were on the phone, but I swear I heard him roll his eyes like again with this conversation sweet jeebus just do it already!
"No, seriously," I added, with gravity. As if trying to convince myself. As if he was arguing back. (He wasn't).
"Maybe I need to start writing one sentence a day," I said. I was half-joking.
Andrew didn't laugh. "Well..." he said. "Why don't you?"
Internally, I shuffled through my deck of excuses like a card shark trying to find the right one to play that would end the hand. I tried to find one to play: Can't. Too busy. Wearing mittens and therefore cannot ever again use a keyboard sorry... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Externally, I said nothing. I didn't have a card to play. I didn't have an answer.
I'd forgotten the lesson I learned a year ago, when I read a new book about the power of habits, James Clear's
Atomic Habits.
That lesson comes down to this: If you want to change your behavior, or start something new:
You need a gateway habit.
Like a gateway drug, but with a less desperate and sad end.
Gateway habits rely on the Two-Minute Rule, says James: "When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do."
So, if my goal is to write my third book already... my gateway habit is actually—Yep!—write one sentence today.
ONE. MEASLY. SENTENCE. That's ridiculous, right?
Not really. Because the point is that you write one today. Another tomorrow. And the next day. And the next...
The goal is to not break the chain. You're building momentum.
This is how you write a book.
I think of it as a fun-sized goal—like a fun-sized Snickers bar in a Halloween bucket.
It's manageable. It won't overwhelm you. I don't even title the document I'm writing a "book." I call it a "sentence project." (And the truth is that I never write just one: Fun-sized candy bar or fun-sized sentences, most people wouldn't stop at one.)
Over to you:
➡️ What's the behavior you want to change?
➡️ What's the thing you'd like to accomplish?
➡️ How can make your first step fun-sized?
I'd love to hear. Hit reply and let me know?
P.S. My current sentence count = 526.
* * *
Here are 4 things worth knowing this week.
1. The Robots Are Coming
Should we all be depositing poop emojis in our pants emojis at the notion that artificially intelligent robots are coming to take away all of our marketing jobs?
Or should we high-five as those robots take on the boring part of our jobs? Freeing us up to bloom into the creative, delicate souls we are?
In my latest piece at Emma, I ask my friend and AI expert Paul Roetzer to help me separate the fear from the facts.
Our conversation is here.
🔎 Zooming in: I asked Paul about AI + marketing writing. I loved his response:
"Writers who take the initiative to understand and apply AI to their craft will be in high demand in the near future."
2. Bio the Belt
Your bio on your website or social channel is easy to set and forget. But your prospects are likely reading them much more closely than you think. Why: They want a feel for not just what you do but also who you are.
That's especially true in any kind of professional service business (including agencies), where 75% of your would-be clients have already googled the heck out of you before they reach out directly.
