Consider letting go of the phrase “I can’t.”
You have a choice in virtually everything you do in life.
You can choose to read this post. Or not.
You can choose to eat breakfast or skip it.
You can choose to keep your job or leave it.
The choice is yours and so are the consequences.
And this principle applies to writing.
You can choose to prioritize your writing. The consequence being that you write more, finish projects faster, and start making money sooner.
You can choose to make writing secondary to so many other things in your life that it almost never gets done. The consequence being that you write less, rarely finish anything you can try to sell, and take a longer time to see any profits from your efforts (if you ever do).
It’s highly probable that you are physically capable of writing every day, even if only for a couple of minutes.
But “Can I?” isn’t the most important question, in my humble opinion.
The key is “Will I?” Will I make writing one of my priorities today?
Will I spend the half hour before bed writing or watching videos on Instagram?
Will I spend the first ten minutes of my lunch hour scrolling through Facebook posts or in a Google Doc adding to my word count?
Will I use the time I wait in line to pick up my kids from school writing in my notebook or listening to the news on the radio?
It’s easy to feel so overwhelmed that we forget that we’re in control of our own lives. That we have much more free time than we think (it doesn’t always come in hours or days, sometimes just a couple of minutes here and a couple of minutes there, but it adds up!).
No, we can’t change the weather or snap our fingers and make millions of dollars appear in our bank accounts.
We work, raise children, go to school, etc. These are things we prioritize in our lives, and for good reason.
But I—and, yes, this is just my personal belief based on the clients I’ve dealt with in my career—wholeheartedly believe that you have what it takes to start and finish your project, regardless of what your circumstances are.
Time to write doesn’t magically appear, but you can find it. Even for the busiest people I’ve known (single parents of multiple children, owners of multiple businesses, etc.), when they wanted to write, they chose to MAKE the time. They took things off their plate by delegating to others or hiring extra help. They sacrificed ten minutes of sleep, their lunch break, or their TV time each day. They started taking the subway to work instead of driving so they could write on the way.
Some changes / sacrifices may be more drastic than others, and only you determine how far you’re willing to go for this dream.
But, if you’re reading this post, you likely have time enough to scroll through social media at least once each day.
I have faith in you.
I think you could spend at least some of that time working on your project.
Even if you “hunt and peck” at 30 words per minute (that’s one word every two seconds), three minutes of writing each day would yield approximately 90 words per day, 630 words per week, 2,520 words per month, and 30,240 words per year. If you have time for hour-long television shows, 45-minute lunch breaks, or half-hour naps, you probably could spare three minutes for your manuscript.
But WILL you? I certainly hope so. You CAN do this! ♥♥♥
