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Transcript

Follow the 30-Second Rule · The Daily Writer

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider, where we share a lesson each day to help you build the habits for riding success.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever tried taking a cold shower?
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's kind of a weird question I know to start off a podcast episode with, but apparently cold showers are all the rage these days.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to spend a couple of hours going down a weird rabbit hole on YouTube, hop on there and watch a few videos where people are experimenting with taking cold showers and talking about the positive effects, such as helping them wake up faster or having more energy.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I can tell you from doing cold showers myself, sometimes, that it does really, really work, even though I don't particularly like doing it.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I've got to admit that it does work.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you watch any of those videos or you decide to experiment with taking cold showers yourself, you're gonna find that just jumping into the cold shower and just going all in is a lot more effective than gradually just sticking one body part in the shower at a time.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's way better just to get the discomfort over with as soon as possible and just get on with the cold shower.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's better just to jump in so you can immediately start experiencing the benefits and also so you can get over the discomfort as fast as possible.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think the same thing is true for writing.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Writing takes mental energy and we sometimes have trouble just getting started.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: We piddle around for a few minutes, we check email, we check Facebook, we check social media, we go get a snack downstairs, we do a lot of laundry, we take the dog for a walk, we do all those things and we have a few false starts, and then we decide the effort just isn't worth it because we're not getting anything done.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, treat writing like you would treat jumping into a cold shower.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I like to follow something called the 30-second rule when I don't feel motivated to write.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, it's true, I don't always feel like being motivated to write either, even though I do this for a full-time job.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So the idea here is just to write for 30 seconds without stopping.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: 30 seconds is enough time to switch your mental focus and get you into the groove enough so that it'll keep you going for a little bit.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, it doesn't work to just write whenever you feel like it because there's a million things to distract us and there's a million excuses we can offer for avoiding writing.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: So try writing for 30 seconds to give yourself a little jump start when you don't quite feel motivated.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your daily question: are you willing to jump in and write for 30 seconds to kickstart your writing today?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been listening to this show for any length of time, you know that one of the four practices of a great writer is creativity.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to stay creative, you've got to have great input.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where writing prompts come in.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: A writing prompt is a sentence or two that helps you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Writing prompts are an awesome creative tool for journaling, storytelling, creative writing, stress relief, social media posts, and so much more.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But the great news is that you don't have to create these yourself.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: We've put together an amazing package of 365 daily writing prompts.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So every day for the next year, you can have a shot of inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out at dailywriterlife.comslash writing prompts.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.