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Daily Disciplines Add Up (Or How Kim Waddles to Her Folks’)

I’m sure you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule. It boils down to 80% of the [fill in the blank] comes in 20% of the time/effort.

And let me tell you… pregnancy is feeling like it’s fitting that perfectly!

At 40 weeks, 6 days, I’m still walking 4-5 days a week. Just a mile from my house to my folks. Where I have breakfast and then dad drives me home. Wow do I love that drive! I love zipping past all the homes in his neighborhood, tucked safely into the front seat of his car, thinking about the laborious effort and time it took to WALK by them.

But there’s something I’ve realized…

No matter how slowly I’m walking (waddling!) these days… I still get to my folks.

When I started walking about 3 weeks ago, after the swimming pool closed for the season, it took me 17 minutes do walk the mile.

Yesterday… it was 38 minutes.

Same walk. Same me.

What would happen if you wrote every day for 15 minutes? #amwriting Click To Tweet

Very different speed.

But the results are really the same:

I feel better on the days I exercise than on the days I don’t.

And that 20% of my day makes me feel better!

The same is true for your writing. You feel better on the days you write – even for 15 minutes. Even for half a page. Walking this mile every day is my exercise mini-goal: just make it happen. Yes, I’m walking slower and slower. Yes, lately I’ve had to stop for a micro rest break at the top of my hill (and again in the shade before the last descend to my folks’ house) but I keep going.

And the cumulative efforts of the summer-long exercise is adding up. As the baby gets bigger, I’m not really. I can see it in my face and arms that I’m not packing on too many extra pounds.

Imagine if that was a book…

Imagine if every day you put 15 minutes or half a page into YOUR book.

15 minutes isn’t EVEN 20% of your day… It’s just over 20% (25% actually) of just one HOUR of your day. But it adds up – day after day after day.

If this was your writing habit, think about how much further along on your book you’d be!

Because it’s not about the speed (although I really don’t think you book needs to take a year or three or longer to write!) but about the compounding effects of your efforts.

So keep writing! Every day. All that slow progress – where you feel like you’re lurching as much sideways as you are forward – really does add up.


What about you? How are you holding up to your mini-goals?

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Kim Galloway
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