Thirty days ago, one of the women I admire most–Tara-Nicholle Nelson–invited me to participate in a 30-Day Writing Challenge for Conscious Leaders. Without really thinking about it, I said yes.
The mission? To write every day for 30 minutes or until we got to 750 words. She also provided some great writing prompts for each of the 30 days. Most of the 150 challenge participants used those prompts, treating the challenge as a journal of sorts.
But I’m never the type to follow the crowd. I’d been wanting to create a truckload of content for my blog, but I had a million excuses for putting it off: I work full-time as a writer. When I come home, I want to do anything *but* write. What’s more, I work 45 minutes from home, so I rarely get back earlier than 8:00. I recently made a commitment to myself to get my arse on my treadmill every night and do 45 minutes.
I mean, could there be any better excuses? Maybe, but I thought those were pretty good. But I really wanted to create that content!
So, when Tara proposed the challenge, I accepted the mission. What’s more, I resolved to write something publish-worthy (at least in my mind) for each of the 30 days. I think Tara might have been the only other challenger who decided to do the same. But she’s an ambitious sort, and so am I. If she could do it, by gum, I was going to prove that I could do it, too.
To be honest, I thought there was no way I’d actually follow through to the end. I figured I would miss at least half of the days. I mean, I had all those great excuses, right? What’s more, I wasn’t really sure what I’d write about for all of those blog posts–how would I come up with one after the other for 30 days? Yikes.
Well, ladies and gents, I made it. Today is day 30, and every damn one of those days, I wrote something. Maybe not great posts every single time. But good enough–at least in my not-so-humble opinion.
What did I write about?
Well, if you’re reading this right now, you’re on my blog site, so have a look at the topics on the left, and you’ll see. Most of the time, it was trivial subjects. I wrote about my dogs, I wrote about cooking, I wrote about the power of green tea. Sometimes I wrote about something that I felt was more substantial, like whether the American Dream was alive and well and the Hobo Code of Ethics. But somehow I kept coming up with topics, day after day after day (after day!).
I won’t lie: it was bloody hard! I’d agonize about what to write. I wrote on Thanksgiving Day! I wrote until two a.m. some nights. But somehow, I completed my task every single day.
What did I learn in the end?
I learned that I can accomplish anything that I put my mind to. I learned that I can push back against resistance and push through writer’s block. I learned that I’m a determined bi-atch who doesn’t quit. And I remembered how writing every day really keeps your skills sharp (I used to be a daily reporter, so I’d learned that lesson before).
I’m proud of the body of work I created. I also now believe that I could write a longer work–perhaps a novel–while working full time, commuting, and getting my big booty on that treadmill every night. Yeah, baby!
So, now I’d like to pass the torch over to you.
Tara is starting the whole thing again on January 1, 2017. I highly encourage you to take the challenge. I think you’ll learn a whole lot about yourself. You might learn about your strengths. You might learn about some of your weaknesses and how to overcome them. You might learn through the writing prompts. You may find it in you to start a magnificent blog that will change the world (I’m not saying that mine will…in fact, I’m quite certain it will not.). But you will learn, and learning is what it’s all about. I believe you’ll accomplish a lot in the process. And at the very least, you’ll try something that’s pretty damn hard, and you’ll feel great when it’s done.
So there it is, people. I’ve finished my 30 days. This is the end of tonight’s 750 words.
Woo-hoo! I did it.
Until the next,
Brianna Politzer Stevens,
Writing wrongs since 1987