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The Danger of “One” – and How “One” Impacts Your Writing

How many times have we given ourselves this excuse…

It’s just one day.

As in:

  • I’m only skipping ONE day of writing; I’ll catch up tomorrow.
  • It’s only skipping ONE week of sending the newsletter; probably nobody will notice.
  • It’s only ONE email that I should have sent… but haven’t.

It seems so easy. That missing just ONE time won’t really matter.

Except it’s never just ONE.

Much like a potato chip, when you let a commitment to yourself slip, it’s all to easy to justify it again the next day. And the next. And the next…

  • And then weeks go by and you haven’t written on your project.
  • Months pass and you haven’t emailed your list.
  • That email you didn’t send turns into a huge THING hanging over your head.

Recovering your momentum after even ONE day off is hard.

Today was one of the few days I seriously considered NOT sending the newsletter. I’m hot, tired, and dizzy. I’d love to say I am a woman who loves being pregnant… but I’m really not. Eight more weeks to go and I’m very much OVER a summer pregnancy. (When the monsoons start in 2-3 weeks, I’ll be far less hot and grumpy, I’m sure!)

So as I was floating in my tiny pool at my parents’ house, toes hooked over the inflatable side, I was thinking about YOU.

Would you notice if I just… skipped this week?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But as I systematically was sticking one arm or leg above the water at a time, to catch a breeze, I remembered something…

It only takes ONE miss to start down that slope of telling myself, and then believing,

It doesn’t matter. It’s only ONE. I can “catch up” later.

I won’t do that to you. And I won’t do that to myself.

So today, no matter what time it is when you’re reading this message, decide that today is NOT your ‘one’.

Decide that you WILL write today. You don’t have to write a lot (see mini-goals) and you don’t have to write WELL.

But promise me, that you’ll write.

Kim Galloway
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