Resolved

Though technically it’s just another day, there is something about the New Year that inspires us to start fresh, to begin something new or finally do that thing we’ve been saying we’re going to do. Like write a book, for instance. I think this is great, though because it is, in fact, just another day, whatever fears and resistance you had in December are likely going to still be hanging around on the First of January. That’s okay! Resolving to do something doesn’t wipe all your old habits and worries from your mind. It could, however, point you in a direction where new habits are grown.

Let’s say you decide that starting January 2nd (give yourself a day to recover), you will wake up an hour earlier every weekday and write. You will set your alarm. You will be at your desk no matter how much sleep you got the night before or if you’re feeling uninspired. You won’t answer emails or check social media. You’ll brew some coffee, feed the cats, and start.

It will feel good to make this plan. It’s so manageable, so attainable. And indeed, when that alarm goes off, you rise from your bed, pour some coffee, and sit yourself at the desk. You will like writing at this hour, with the house quiet, your partner and children sleeping, the world outside your window not fully arisen. Easier to hear yourself without all the hub-bub. This is your time, your book, your life.

Before long, however, it’ll happen. The freshness of the new schedule will wear off, and you’ll be stuck in some scene that isn’t going anywhere, and that familiar doubt will creep back into your mind like an old drinking buddy who’d never let you leave the bar until you’d had one more. Where’s this going? What if this is no good? And wouldn’t another hour of sleep feel good?

This is the most important moment in the life of a new habit, more important even than the clarity and course-setting of the resolution. Here is where you get to experience choosing to write despite the doubt, despite the unanswerable questions, despite being tired. Here is where you get to learn that none of those supposed obstacles were more substantial than your will married with your desire. This is where you learn what is required to be a writer.

Don’t worry if you succumb to your fear, if you ignore the alarm, if you decide you’ll take this day off but definitely get back to it tomorrow. This needn’t be failure. The choice to start again will always be available, just the as fearful questions will be waiting to challenge you again. Time will not run out. All it takes is one decision in the face of that old doubt the see that courage is just the difference between one thought and another.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com