The Act of Writing
/That goal.
You know the one I’m talking about.
You want to do it so badly.
But, for whatever reason:
you don’t get around to it
you don’t know how or where to start
you’ve started in the past (maybe over and over again), but never finished
you fear failure, imperfection, rejection, ridicule, or (you fill in the blank)
I don’t know what that unrealized goal is for you. It may be writing a book. So many of our Inspira authors have started from that place of paralysis and procrastination, and have overcome it.
It may be writing a second book.
It may not be anything to do with a book at all. It may be a weight loss or fitness goal. A “bucket-list” trip you’ve always dreamed of. An epic achievement like climbing a mountain or running a marathon. An aspirational project like building or remodeling a house, or restoring a classic car.
Maybe it’s a relational goal: to improve your marriage, connect with your kids, or even restore a strained or broken relationship.
Whatever that goal is for you, I want to encourage you to make 2023 the year you follow through with it!
I know that for me, procrastination, or the putting off of a goal, is often related to an overall sense of mental disorganization where I don’t clearly see or know how, step by step, to tackle it. And so, the goal stays in the realm of the conceptual, the ethereal, the aspirational . . . until I reach up, grab it, and pull it down into the realm of the practical.
For me, this means writing it down. Right there, the act of writing crystallizes a thought and turns it into a concrete object. An object that is now staring me in the face, requiring me to do something with it.
So, then, what do you do with a thought that has been written down and become tangible, whose very presence on the page in front of you demands you do something with it?
You keep writing.
Specifically, you:
Name it.
Describe it in detail. (Include pictures that inspire you, if that’s helpful.)
Identify the reward you are anticipating (this may be physical or emotional) when you accomplish your goal.
List the incremental steps (and resources) required to make it happen, doing research or talking to someone more experienced for help, if you don’t know the steps yourself.
Set a deadline and assign a timeline to the steps you just wrote down.
Put these dates in a calendar or calendar app (if you do it electronically, set reminders for yourself.)
Share your written goal and timeline with someone and invite them to ask you about your progress (this may be someone with expertise in the area of your goal who can help you accomplish it, but not necessarily).
Because I am an external processor, things become more real, and more memorable, for me when they are written down. This is one of the beautiful things about the act of writing. It takes the conceptual, the ethereal, the aspirational—whether a goal, a story, a mission, or a message—and brings it out of the abstract, into our 3-D world.
It is my greatest joy that, as a writer and editor, my professional work is focused on this very process. Through Inspira, our team and I have helped dozens and dozens of authors bring even more dozens of books and curricular resources into the world—books that have informed, transformed, equipped, or entertained millions (yes, millions) of people globally.
That’s not a testimony to me or to Inspira. It’s a testimony to those myriad authors. Some had small projects; others were more far-reaching. All of them had amazing missions and messages to share with the world. They all laid hold of the ideas and aspirations that were floating around in their heads and made them a reality—through the act of writing.
What thoughts, ideas, and aspirations are floating around in your head, just waiting for you to lay hold of them and pull them into the practical dimension and make them a reality?
Here’s to the act of writing—whether it’s a book or a goal—and the realization of all your aspirations for 2023!
Warmly,
Arlyn, and the Inspira Team