The 1 Simple Mindset Trick To Help You Build A Daily Writing Habit

Every Writer Needs To Hear This

At some point, all writers struggle to show up and write.

Even with the best intentions, you can easily get sidetracked by more urgent matters that drag you away from your writing:

• Family demands
• Work emergencies
• The endless stream of notifications

That’s why in Ship 30 we talk so much about setting your Sacred Hours for writing.

But there’s 1 surprising distraction that can undermine your writing routine: boredom.

When we look back on all our personal growth (whether that’s in writing, business, or fitness) over the last few years, the key ingredient has been a commitment to showing up and doing the boring fundamentals, day after day.

On 99% of days, we love the process. But on those 1% of days where writing (or eating healthy or going to the gym) is the last thing we want to do, we tell ourselves:

“You can quit tomorrow — but show up today.”

Being a consistent writer boils down to overcoming the handful of days where you want to throw in the towel and give up. By giving yourself full permission to quit tomorrow, instead of today, you defer the decision to the future. All you have to do today is show up, keep the commitment you made to yourself, and do the bare minimum.

There are 3 simple reasons why this mindset trick works:

Reason #1: Tiny is easy.

On the days when you don’t feel like putting in the rep, it’s important to make it as easy as possible.

BJ Fogg, the habit expert from Stanford University, says in Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything:

Keeping changes small and expectations low is how you design around fair-weather friends like motivation and willpower. When something is tiny, it’s easy to do — which means you don’t need to rely on the unreliable nature of motivation.

Showing up today, no matter how big, means you’re putting in another rep and maintaining…