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Writing Habit #1: Create a Goal for Your Writing · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyWriterLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing a short series on writing habits, and we've been talking about several practices to help you build a writing habit.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive in with habit number one, which is create a specific goal for your writing.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if you hang around other writers long enough, you'll hear a lot of talk about habits.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: However, the point of developing a writing habit is not the habit itself.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: The habit is just a mechanism to help you get the writing done.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: But the question is, what are you writing?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: What's the end product that this writing habit should be producing?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the reason that I encourage you to set some type of goal since that's really the point of doing all the writing work to begin with.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Stephen Pressfield in his amazing book The War of Art said this.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is the other secret that real artists know, and wannabe writers don't.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: The muse takes note of our dedication.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: She approves.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: We have earned favor in her sight.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Ideas come, insights accrete.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I love that quote from Stephen Pressfield.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the truth is that there is real power in simply doing the work.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So my question is, what are you working toward?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a book?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a weekly blog post?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is it maybe podcast episodes that you're writing like the one I'm doing right now?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Is it freelance writing or maybe ghostwriting work?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no matter what it is, I think it's vital to have something that you're working toward, some type of tangible goal that's important to you.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's challenge.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Decide on a writing goal that's important to you.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Probably because you're listening to this podcast and you're interested in books.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: I would say probably for most people it's going to be a book.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So grab a journal or a piece of paper and write it down so you can set your intention and make it concrete.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Just really simply on that piece of paper or in that journal, write down, this is my goal.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want to write this book on this topic or whatever your goal is.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Don't make it complicated, just write it down on paper.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the act of you doing that makes it more concrete and much more likely that you're going to follow through with it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode is an excerpt from our free ebook, How to Build a Writing Habit.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can get this for free along with six other ebooks on writing as part of our free Daily Writer Starter Kit.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Just go to dailywriterlife.com slash free.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Also, a big thanks to today's sponsor, which is the new book, Monetize Your Book with a Course, your guide to quickly creating a profitable and impactful course from your book.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, most authors stop when they have written, published, and marketed their book, but there's one final step, which is creating a course to build an additional stream of income and help your reader engage at a deeper level.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: In Monetize Your Book with a Course, my friend Lucas Marino teaches you how to determine your ideal student, develop your curriculum, implement a learning management system, market the course, find your students, and much, much more, even if you've never taught a course before.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're ready to take your book to the next level and learn how to launch your course, visit DailyRiderLife.comslash monetize to grab this incredible resource.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's DailyRiderLife.comslash monetize.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.