Discovering the Why

We all have goals, dreams, or desires. But how often do we take the time to stop and think about the Why behind them? I know that for me, there have been seasons of my life where a goal seemed so clear and practical that it seemed like a waste of time to stop and consider my Why. Wrong move. I’ve learned that no matter how simple or practical the goal or desire is, developing a Why that helps you to see the ripple effect your success can and will have makes the difference between success and failure and even success for success’ sake and fulfillment. 

For those of you looking to get more out of your successes, I urge you to consider your Whys and what fulfillment means to you. When success leaves you feeling unsurprised or anxious to move onto the next goal, what’s often lacking is fulfillment. As you prepare for your next big goal, dig deep to discover your Whys. How will this success bring you fulfillment? Who will be affected by you achieving this thing? Seeing the ripple effect your success can have and using that to power you on your journey is a surefire way to attaining fulfillment.

Excerpt from Chapter 2:

The realization that what I had dreamed all my life about work could be true, and I could have a hand in making that happen for others as well, was my aha moment. Often, moving on to the phase of discovery is preceded by a moment like this: one that opens your eyes to a passion, a strength, some type of longing. It might be an event that evokes a response like, “I’ll never let that happen to someone else,” or, “I’m going to show everyone that not all [insert something you identify with or choose to become] are like that.” But rest assured, it is these moments that propel us on to the most fulfilling of success paths.

We touched on finding clarity in your goals, but now we want to discern the Whys behind those goals. This phase of your journey is easy to rush past. Let’s say your primary goal is career oriented. It may feel silly to take time to delve into the Why when something like that seems so cut-and-dry. Often, the simplest seeming goals are surface level. Example: your goal is to make $100,000 a year. That sounds simple enough; but if you fail to identify the Why(s), when you face challenges”which generally elicit some type of emotion related to fear”you are more likely to give in to the fear and abandon your goal. With one or more clear Whys, your faith response is more likely to kick in and help you use that fear productively instead of letting it come between you and your goals.

If you enjoyed this excerpt and would like to read more, click here to order my book. As a first-time author, word of mouth is key to growing my audience and I’d be so grateful if you would share this blog or my website with a few friends. Thank you and remember…you got this!

Start with Self-Reflection

Perhaps you are struggling with a decision, a direction, or just life in general and are looking for an easy-to-implement process to figure out what to focus on and pursue. Or maybe you know someone in that boat. Big changes or challenges in life can feel overwhelming. It’s not uncommon to feel like you don’t know where to start or that whatever you are facing is simply too big to take on. Start with self-reflection. Quiet your mind, dig deep to find clarity, and to determine your next steps.

If you are ready to open your mind to new possibilities, adjust your mindset in a positive way, and learn the simplest, most stress-free ways to move yourself forward…then my only ask is that you read this excerpt and consider ordering my book (Faith Over Fear: How to Adopt a Success Mindset). Whether you order the book or not, know that I am rooting for you and wishing you success in all that you do.

Excerpt from Chapter 1:

I’ve learned on my own spiritual journey how true it is that the spirit (or God, the Universe, however you prefer to refer to it) whispers. Quiet your mind and surroundings. Pause. Breathe. Think. Progress isn’t always visible. We are thinkers, and we need to do thought work to gain clarity. This can come in the form of meditation, prayer, or even just “think time” that you block off on your calendar. Yes, do that—mark it on your calendar so you’re more likely to do it consistently. Taking the time to think is imperative to your success.

What does that mean, and what does it involve? Self-reflection (go ahead and groan a little bit, I don’t mind) is a great place to start. Instead of looking in a mirror and acknowledging your physical appearance, the practice of self-reflection is going inward and looking at yourself from the inside, recognizing the perfectly imperfect person that you are. Internally gaze at your behavior, your goals, and your personality. In the process, you will identify things you like and dislike. That’s okay! The goal is to heighten your self-awareness and to become more honest with yourself. All of the above actually serve to increase your emotional intelligence, which will come in handy in every situation you encounter. The more time you spend inwardly thinking or self-reflecting, the more you’ll be able to clarify your goal, find mini goals for self-improvement, and further arm yourself for the success you seek.

Tip: Acknowledge that we, as humans, can never be perfect. Embrace the beauty of your imperfections, but never stop seeking to grow, learn, and improve in all ways possible. The goal isn’t to be perfect, but to be the best version of you. Self-improvement is a powerful launching pad to identifying new goals and purpose in your life.

Introducing my newest “baby”

I published my first book on September 26, 2023! It also happened to be my daughter’s birthday. When my team at Brown Books told me the day they were thinking for Publication Day, I laughed out loud. They weren’t sure if it was a good or a bad reaction, so they offered to hear any alternative suggestions. I explained that it was my daughter’s birthday and that while I would have to make sure she was okay with it (she was), I thought it was so fitting to “birth” my first book on my firstborn’s birthday!

So, in lieu of posting hundreds of pictures of my newest “baby”, I thought offering some sneak peeks into the book might be appropriate. My mission is to spread a message of encouragement to as many people as possible, offering guidance, advice, and examples from my experiences to empower each and every reader to unleash success in all that they do. If this is what you’re looking for in your next read, here’s an excerpt from the Introduction. If you know someone who might want to add Faith Over Fear: How to Adopt a Success Mindset to their library, please share this post.

Excerpt from Introduction:

“Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.”

—Norman Vincent Peale

Every day, millions of people wonder about success: how to reach it, what it means, what it looks like. Some of the most searched phrases related to success ask if success and happiness are linked, if success can be measured, if it can motivate a person, where it comes from, and what it means.

Based on my experience and observations, success is a mindset. Its definition (or destination) can vary from person to person or subject to subject (i.e., success at work, a successful relationship, personal success), but the common denominator between all types of success is the mindset it takes to achieve it. Unfortunately, as human beings, we seem to have a built-in, default roadblock that can steer us away from success without us even realizing it. In fact, we tend to justify the detour with logic and boost our confidence in the decision to avoid whatever lies beyond it. That detour is a four-letter “F” word that I absolutely despise. Fear.

How to Order

If you’re interested in ordering the book, first, thank you. Second, know that I am committed to donating 10% of net proceeds to non-profit organizations that I hold near and dear to my heart. To learn more about the book, visit https://www.mandyschaniel.com/book. To order, visit https://www.mandyschaniel.com/shop.

Cancer Research Institute Partnership

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season! Over the break, we were met with a series of sicknesses in our household followed by the loss of cherished family member (Brian’s Grandma, or “Gigi” to our kids). These past couple of months have been challenging, but ultimately they make me and my family all the more grateful for the blessings we’ve received, one of the biggest being family.

All too often, we as humans can fall into the habit of taking our family for granted. (By family, I really mean the people closest to you, whether they are blood or chosen.) They are always there, so we expect them to always be there. It’s not possible to spend 100% of our time with family, but making the time we do have count is the key to ensuring you don’t have regrets, you let them know how much you appreciate having them in your life, and you create memories that will stick with you.

About 8 years ago, I was getting ready to leave my office to have lunch on the 3rd Street Promenade when my phone rang. It was my Dad. It was unusual for him to call during the work day, so I immediately knew something was wrong. I can still remember standing in my office and hearing him say, “I have prostate cancer.” My heart broke. What ifs began swimming in my head and I tried to battle them with prayers and affirmations that he’d beat this.

His diagnosis changed from “you’ll die of old age before this kills you” (lovely wording, doc) to “this is extremely aggressive, we need to get it out now!”. He had surgery followed by some traditional treatments and went into remission pretty soon thereafter. Big sigh of relief. Then a few years later, it came back. My dad participated in clinical trials and various treatment options that seemed to keep it at bay for a while. He’s definitely experienced some ups and downs with some scares in between, but as of recently his numbers are continuing to drop, closing in on remission (I pray).

My Dad is one of the main reasons I am so excited to be partnering with Cancer Research Institute. My family and I have been donating to them over the past few years, primarily because they are dedicated to funding research for immunotherapy treatments for various types of cancer. The treatment that has my Dad nearing remission again…immunotherapy.

How it works is that for each book purchased here ($24.95 + shipping), I will donate $7.49 to Cancer Research Institute. So, if you haven’t gotten a copy for yourself or as a gift for a family member, friend, mentee, etc. order from this link and know you’ve contributed to an amazing non-profit organization.

Until next time, wishing you health, happiness, and a spirit of gratitude!

The 2 Human Emotions

You might have read that title and thought, “uh, I think you’re missing more than a few!” According to psychiatrists, there are 27 basic human emotions, all of which can be bucketed into “Love” or “Fear”. Any emotion that is negative or creates negative feelings is under Fear, while those that are positive go under Love. It’s important to understand and develop the ability to name the emotion you’re feeling as well as see whether it stems from love or from fear. Why? Because that recognition will allow you to determine how (or whether) you take action during that state.

Think of a time when you made a decision while experiencing a fear-based emotion (say anger, disgust, or anxiety). What was the outcome of that decision or action? Did it create more issues? Did it help or make matters worse? Quite likely, the decision or actions we take while experiencing any fear-based emotions will generate less than positive results. We often make decisions too hastily, create more work for ourselves, or miss out on opportunities that later leave us feeling more fear-based emotions.

This doesn’t mean every decision or action made out of a love-based emotion is going to be successful or have the most ideal outcomes. That said, they have a much greater likelihood of being positive, productive and effective. Our thoughts are clearer and more rational when we are feeling love-based emotions so naturally our actions and decisions are more thought-out and factor in the bigger picture.

Our emotions and our mindset go hand in hand. We can’t honestly say we are in a success mindset if we are holding onto anger or anxiety…or letting those feelings run the show. It’s ok to experience those emotions, but the key is taking the time to recognize what we are feeling and make a conscious effort to adjust our thoughts (or take a pause from action and decision-making) so that we can tap into the right mindset to ensure the best outcome.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a beautiful, happy, and safe Thanksgiving! I pray that no matter how/when/if you celebrated, you are reminded of all that you have to be thankful for. I pray that if life is tough at the moment, you can see the blessings all around you. Even if it feels like everything is in shambles, you are still alive. You are living and you are breathing.

When you are at your lowest, I pray that you can find a way forward. Day by day. Minute by minute. Continue searching for the good and seeking to learn from the bad. That is something you can do to strengthen your resolve and build the self-confidence that will allow you to find fuel in the hardships and press on to success and fulfillment.

And if life is going really great - amazing! - but remember to be observant and to acknowledge the everyday blessings you encounter. Filling yourself with gratitude can and will spill out on those around you, making your sphere of the world a brighter, more peaceful place.

As we move into the Christmas and Hanukkah season, may we all choose to focus on how much we have to be grateful for. Let’s aim to avoid the stress traps we can get sucked into during this time, and instead arm ourselves with good-seeker glasses to see the good in all of the little things. The joy. The laughter. The excitement.

Here’s to taking the stress out of the holidays and soaking up the beauty of togetherness and the joy of giving (whatever that may look like). And please know, I am truly thankful for you and I wish you abundant peace, love, and joy.

Season of Gratitude

I know I’m not alone in continually thinking, “how is it already November?” and “how are we already halfway through November??” This time of year always creeps up on me, partly because it comes right after our family’s birthday season.

That said, it’s one of my favorite times of the year. For the past 7 or 8 years, I’ve been on a mission to use this time of year to teach my children what it means to have an attitude of gratitude as well as live it myself. Out of that desire came our annual Jar of Thanks tradition.

During the month of November, I grab a vase, a giant stack of highlighter-colored 3x5 cards, and a pen and place it all on the kitchen counter. The idea is that each member of the family writes down what they are thankful for daily then places the card into the Jar of Thanks. We occasionally pull out a card and read it, but we mostly save them for our Thanksgiving celebration with family.

Similar to going around the table and sharing what you’re thankful for during Thanksgiving dinner, we pass the jar around (after our guests have had a chance to add some cards as well) and read each other’s thankful cards. Not only has it created some fun core memories - like when my kids coined the terms “Papa-glyphics” and “Steve-a-glyphics” after struggling to read the different handwriting styles - but it shows us all just how much we have to be thankful for.

There’s nothing like reading how thankful a child is for God, their parents, their grandparents, their siblings, their house, their neighborhood, their friends, and so on. While I often hear groans from my husband and children when they catch me fishing around the kitchen for the Jar of Thanks “ingredients”, we always wind up with a full jar and giant smiles when their names are mentioned in someone else’s card. And my heart is always so full hearing the thought everyone has put into their cards, especially the kiddos.

The act of purposefully thinking about what we have to be grateful for is transformative. So many times, I’ve had a rough day or am feeling stressed, but I’ll see the Jar of Thanks out and realize I haven’t written a card yet so I stop and refocus my mind on what I have to be thankful for. Every single time, my spirit is lifted and I feel so much better.

So, while the world around us is visibly preparing for Christmas-time, I encourage you to add having an attitude of gratitude to your daily to do list. And feel free to steal the Jar of Thanks idea.

For You

As I work on launching my own podcast and continue seeking to reach the people who will most benefit from my book and content, I thought it would be wise to share more about who I hope to reach.

• If you have ever dealt with bias and find yourself surrounded by self-doubt…this is for you.

• If you have never had a mentor and aren’t sure how to grow…this is for you.

• If you have ever had a terrible boss who never lifted you up but only ever put you down…this is for you.

• If you have only ever had a terrible support system who has made you feel worthless…this is for you.

• If you know you are meant for bigger and better things, but can’t seem to pinpoint how to make it happen…this is for you.

• If you are chasing after a new goal and just keep running into challenges and are beginning to doubt whether it’s even worth it…this is for you.

I could go on and on, but I hope that gives you an idea of who I hope to serve with my book and any and all content I put out there. There is someone in your corner. There is someone rooting for you. And there is someone who believes in you and wants nothing more than for you to believe in yourself.

You are worth it.

You are capable.

You CAN do it.

You just have to believe.

Keys to Success - Part IV

Over the past month, I’ve shared with you the first three keys to success: Faith, Purpose, and Discipline. Today, we are going to tackle the final and most critical key…Mindset. More specifically, a success mindset.

Mindset can be thought of as your outlook, your perspective, how you respond and react to what’s happening around you. The critical element is to be aware of your natural mindset shifts as you encounter both the good and the bad and to choose to focus on how you can look at the situation as one that will provide you with a learning opportunity and using that to make forward progress towards your goals. It’s true that you can’t control everything that happens to or around you, but you can control how you react and how you let it affect you.

As my career was taking off, I remember being so focused on keeping the momentum going that it rarely occurred to me to stop and consider my mindset. In hindsight, I think that was what let imposter syndrome take over. For most of us, the responsibilities that come with “adulting” are so numerous that it seems inevitable to get sucked into the vortex of the day-to-day with little to no time left for focusing on our own self-care, let alone doing the thought work necessary to pay attention to and adjust our mindset.

If we don’t take the time to recognize our mindset when we’re in this “adulting vortex”, we leave ourselves open for things like fear, imposter syndrome, and a whole host of other things to creep in and take over our mindset. So it’s imperative that we do this work. To start, simply observe your thoughts and responses to the situations you encounter. Maybe start with the most recent stressful or frustrating situation you experienced. How did you respond? What were your thoughts? Did it drag the rest of your day down and seep into other areas of your life?

It’s okay to acknowledge that a negative situation resulted in a negative response or mindset. The key is being able to recognize it. Next is where the tougher work comes into play. Instead of letting that situation pull you down, start asking yourself these questions:

• What can I learn from this situation?

• How could I have handled that better? Even if you weren’t the cause of the situation and there is every reason to want to place the blame on someone else, remember, you are in control of your reactions so identifying how you could have handled it in a better way for yourself regardless of any other party involved is important.

• How can I leverage what I learned to avoid the same negative spiral the next time I experience a similar situation?

The goal isn’t to blame yourself or be hard on yourself, but rather to flip your mindset from one of having something happen to you to being in control of how it will affect you and what will happen next. When we slip into a negative mindset, we can’t capitalize on the growth and progress we’ve made when it comes to our faith in ourselves, the ultimate purpose and fulfillment that we have for our lives, and can even become resentful of the discipline we’ve been developing because some one or thing got in the way.

Does it make sense to hand over control of your future success to someone else? No, not at all. That is yours. So don’t let any one or thing come between you and what you are hoping to achieve. And that means not allowing those outside influences to derail your success mindset. When you feel a negative mindset shift taking place, think about the work you’ve done to build your faith and self-confidence. Think about the ultimate purpose you are pursuing. Think about the discipline you’ve worked so hard to build to get you to your end goal. And then take back control by adjusting your mindset to be more in line with all of the above so that you can make your success inevitable. You got this!

Keys to Success - Part III

If you’ve been following this series, you’ll hopefully have done some work to strengthen your Faith in yourself and taken the time to identify your Purpose. With those two keys in place, you may be feeling ready to run after your wildest dreams. As you begin your journey (or restart it if that’s where you’re at), let’s talk Discipline.

The type of discipline I’m talking about isn’t about punishment. The Oxford Dictionary defines this type of discipline as “training oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.” It’s easy to get the ball rolling on your dreams to change the world when you are motivated, but unfortunately, motivation is fleeting. If you’re reading this, I’d venture to guess you’ve experienced that a time or two…or too many times to count like me.

When you haven’t developed the habits necessary to continue making progress, it’s all too easy to feel disappointed which makes you more likely to hit pause or simply give up. Motivation is great, don’t get me wrong! But what is needed to go the distance is the discipline to take the actions that will move you forward and do them consistently.

I’m a bit of a broken-record on this subject, but the simplest hack I’ve ever found for building discipline and creating habits in the least stressful way possible is micro-tasks. The Navy Seals coined the term and it’s something they use during hell week. The idea is simple: you start small and commit to doing one little thing every single day. It may sound too good to be true, but it is incredibly effective.

Why? Because the act of marking a task as complete releases dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. These are known as the “happy brain chemicals”. Study after study show that these happy brian chemicals not only make you feel good, but the reward you get from releasing them helps to build discipline, create habits, and strengthen motivation.

This little hack is what got me out of my “I don’t know how to make these words into an entire book” rut and helped me get it written in less than a year. The challenge is to:

1. Think of a daily task that will (over time) move you forward towards your goal

2. Set a laughably small time commitment for the task - for me, it was to spend 15 minutes a day working on the book.

3. Use a checklist (on paper, on a spreadsheet, an app, whatever works for you) and mark it as complete each and every day.

Especially if you are someone who has experienced burnout before, making the task laughably small is critical. It seems ridiculous, but the point is to put yourself in a position where you simply can’t come up with an excuse (often, “I don’t have time”) to get out of doing the task. This will set you up for success in being able to complete the task every single day.

The beauty of this hack is that there is no stress involved. Surely you can find 5, 10, or 15 minutes to spend on something that will get you closer to your goal. And bonus, you get all the happy brain chemicals delivered as soon as you mark it as complete. Over time, you’ll find that you happily spend more time on that task or even layer on others, but it’s not something you are forcing yourself to do so you don’t encounter resistance or stress. And voila, you’ve created a progress-oriented habit without stressing yourself out. Give it a try and let me know in the comments how well it works for you!

Key to Success - Part II

Oftentimes, there is a tendency to simply think too small when it comes to our goals. No matter how seemingly straightforward what you want to achieve is, there is a greater purpose to it. Failing to identify that purpose prevents you from arming yourself against the negative influence of fear, doubt, obstacles, even failures that you will more than likely encounter along the way.

Think of the goal journey as a building project. And I’m talking from scratch. If you bought a piece of land and planned to build a house on it, would you start by framing the walls? I hope not. There are many things that have to be considered and done before you even begin to acquire the materials you will eventually need. You have to create a plan, get permits, build a foundation, etc. etc.

I’m certainly not a building expert, but I am well-versed in the art of building foundations for achieving goals. This is why the first key is faith - you have to believe in your ability before you can take on such a large project. And yes, I use this approach on every goal I have, even if the “project” seems small. Trust me, it comes in handy.

Purpose is your goal’s solid foundation. Without it, you may well get that house built, but it could be on shaky ground and unable to withstand the test of time (or the slew of other tests that can come your way). This is where people tend to get uncomfortable. It’s all too easy to think small when we are chasing after a goal. A symptom of that is thinking, “this goal is so simple, it seems pointless to tie it to some big, meaningful purpose.”

It’s ok if those thoughts crossed your mind as you read this. It is normal, in fact. But…your purpose is how you connect the dots from ambition to meaning. From simply going from A to Z to finding fulfillment. And purpose also tends to generate accountability, which I’ll get to in a second.

The first step to identifying your purpose is to spend some time thinking about what you desire. If you already have a goal, fantastic. If you don’t, take the time to really consider what you would like to accomplish. Are there goals you’ve been debating going after? Are there dreams you have that get you fired up, but perhaps that fire is immediately extinguished when you think you simply can’t make it happen? If so, go back to first key and work on your inner faith. And then continue with the second step (below) for establishing purpose.

In order to move forward with your purpose, you need to take the time to develop at least 2-3 whys (your reasons) for achieving this goal or dream. At least one of those whys has to be about something outside of yourself. Think about it, how easy is it to give up on a goal when you’ve only considered the impact it will have on yourself? Pretty easy, in my experience. When you’ve come up with a why that considers others, you create an accountability hack. It’s far more difficult to give up on something when you have connected it to the potential to impact or serve others.

Stay tuned, next week we’ll be diving into the third key…discipline. Until then, I wish you clarity as you develop a meaningful purpose.

Keys to Success - Part I

Over the next month, I’ll be posting about the keys to success I discuss in my book, Faith Over Fear. Those keys are Faith, Purpose, Discipline, and Mindset. These are the tools I’ve discovered throughout my life and career that make achieving success inevitable. This week I’ll be diving into faith.

What do I mean by faith? At the bare minimum, this means having faith in yourself and your abilities. It can also mean having faith in the outcome of what you are charging towards or having faith in something greater than yourself. By no means am I prescribing any specific religion or any religion at all. Think of this as me simply encouraging you to open your mind and your heart to believing in yourself as well as something bigger, whatever that may be for you.

Why is faith so important? For starters, without faith in yourself, dealing with the challenges and obstacles that arise on every success path will almost certainly guarantee failure. How can you muster up the strength to overcome when you don’t believe you can? Second, having faith in something outside of yourself - be it God, the Universe, Humanity, what have you - makes it a lot easier to tap into the second key (Purpose).

Let’s start with inner faith. If you have been in a cycle of giving up when the going gets tough or feel like you simply can’t overcome the obstacles that pop up every time you are chasing after a goal, you are likely struggling with faith. When you lack faith or belief in yourself, maintaining self-confidence is impossible. This is where identifying your inner dialogue is critical.

How do you speak to yourself? What are the thoughts that run through your head when you feel overwhelmed or are doubting your abilities? Whether you’ve been paying attention to these thoughts or are going to start after reading this (please do), it is quite likely you will notice how negative they are. Would you let someone else speak to you that way? I sure hope not.

To prevent your mind (whether conscious or subconscious) from keeping you down, you have to identify those negative thoughts that erode your inner faith and self-confidence. Then you have to replace or flip them. Let’s say the thought is something along the lines of not being worthy of whatever you are seeking. Flip it by thinking or even saying out loud “I am worthy”. It may feel silly or out there at first, but eventually you can retrain your subconscious to be more positive, which is key to developing both faith and self-confidence.

As far as the greater faith I mentioned, everyone has their own journey with that if and when they are open to it. My suggestion is to be inquisitive. Think about what you currently do and don’t believe in. Consider exploring both. Be open to changing your mind or finding a new path. If that path is positive and leaves you with a sense of peace, comfort, and greater faith in yourself, then my opinion is that it’s a great path to take.

Now go and believe in yourself my fellow goal-getters! You’ve got this! And if I can help, just reach out.

Becoming An Author

The journey to becoming an author was daunting. I’ve known since I was 17 years old that I wanted to become an author and a speaker who inspires others…just like a speaker did for me when I was a senior at Tustin High School. I remember daydreaming about having the same effect on others that the speaker had on me. My next thought was, “nobody is going to listen to a 17-year-old, I need to have more life experience first.” So, the dream got put on a mental shelf.

Over the years, I would remember that dream and felt the same longing to make it happen as I did when I was just a teenager. Each time I thought about the dream, my rational brain would push it into the “someday” category. Someday…I’ll make it happen. My career and my family were growing rapidly. I barely had time to read a book, let alone write one. So, back on the shelf it went time after time, hoping that eventually “someday” would come.

As an early employee at ZipRecruiter.com, the dream rolled around in my head more frequently as I realized the company’s success could put me on a path to early retirement. In May of 2021, it happened. Suddenly “someday” became “today”. I found myself at a loss. Where do I start? What should my writing process look like? Can I even write enough to call it a book?

I spent weeks researching the best writing process for writing a book in a timely manner. Each time I tried to implement the strategies I’d read about, I found myself frustrated. Being newly retired but still having my home office, I attempted to write where I used to work full-time. Nope. That didn’t work. I attempted to write for a set block of time each day. Nope. That was a no-go also.

I couldn’t even decide on the right medium to use…pen and paper, laptop, digital notebook. At one point, I realized I had outlines, ideas, and full paragraphs on a combination of all three mediums. Trust me, I was not thrilled to have to spend my writing time finally combining them all into a digital document.

It was at that moment that I decided to let my intuition guide me on where to write (short story: anywhere but my office). And I leveraged the lessons I’d learned from a mental toughness challenge (75 Hard and Live Hard) I was in the midst of completing. The game-changing lesson I learned through Andy Frisella’s challenge was the power of micro tasks. Essentially, it’s just completing a daily task each day with a minimal time commitment. For me, that task was to spend 15 minutes a day on the book.

Yes, it seemed absurd. But I’d already learned through the challenge and my own research that the act of marking a task as complete releases what are known as the happy brain chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin), which help to develop discipline and strengthen motivation. During the challenge, I realized how quickly the chemical response to checking off tasks allowed me to create new habits and feel motivated to continue doing so.

Day after day, I tackled my daily task. Some days, I only worked on the book for 15 minutes. Most of the time, I spent considerably more time. But either way, as long as I worked for at least 15 minutes I got my happy brain boost, felt accomplished, and felt great for maintaining my habit and continuing to make progress. It wound up taking me less than a year from start to publisher submission.

Lesson: Micro tasks work.

If you’re struggling to make headway on a goal, or just don’t know where to start, I highly recommend starting with micro tasks. They are so minimal that you can’t come up with an excuse not to get them done, so you build discipline, motivation, and amazing habits in the easiest way I’ve ever known.