Resolve to do little...

It’s January and I’m going to take a fairly safe bet that your inbox and social media timeline is full of ‘new year, new you’ type motivational posts. Perhaps you are like me and you find this idea both enticing and awful! I mean, yes, it is a new calendar year, but here in the UK, January is often the coldest month, and definitely the darkest month of the year! Not the easiest time to be making radical changes.

I do however have a perennial resolution that this influx always reminds me of; keep it small.

Tiny. Fractional. Minute.

This is how I write my books. Every day, I have to dig deep for the courage and belief to write. I make it so much easier on myself by framing this in tiny requests. Such as, ‘just write five-hundred words, Rachel’. Or even, “just write for ten-minutes”. Perhaps some days I am forced to ask myself for just a single sentence. By promising myself I will turn-up daily to these tiny-goals I have written four books so far (and am planning my fifth novel).

There is magic in this approach – it is amazing how much more I end up doing when I’ve given myself permission to ‘just’ complete the small-goal. It’s a psych-op ‘nudge’ of myself – a total trick (well, if it is good enough for the politicians…). Nine out of ten times when I have asked of myself ‘just five-hundred words’ I have written three times more than that. On the days when I do just five-hundred, well then, I’ve no reason to feel bad about my progress; I did exactly what I set out to do.

I apply this approach to all aspects of my life – all the household chores, the admin, even the self-care which I always feel guilty indulging in! It is amazing how much it is possible for me to complete in 10 minutes and how more peaceful I feel afterwards!

And on this theme, I am keeping this letter to you shorter than my habitual monthly musing. I am sure you will thank me, especially as you’ll be able to use the ‘extra’ five-minutes to great effect.

Rachel x