Before a soldier learns to use weapons... before they even learn how to march, they start to learn one of the most important lessons in their military career. Discipline. New soldiers go through initial training that establishes a routine right from the very first day. Week after week, those new recruits get up at a specific time every morning. They shower, shave, get dressed, make their beds, and prepare for inspection. They go about the tasks of the day with meals at exactly the same time every day. At the end of the day at the same time every night, it's lights out and off to bed.
For years after basic training, I would get up at 5am every morning, shower, shave, and straighten up my room. Did I need to? Nope, but it had become a habit. In six weeks, they had instilled something in me so thoroughly as a habit, that it took me years to break. In six weeks, I developed a discipline that stayed with me for years. Six weeks.
And guess how they accomplished this so quickly and effectively. Through fear. That's right. They harnessed the power of good, old-fashioned, living-deep-inside-us-and-never-going-away fear. They made us fear the consequences of not following that routine so much that it reinforced their efforts to build discipline in us. Threats of court martials and having to start basic training all over from the beginning really kicked the brain into fight-or-flight/do-or-die mode. It was no longer a common, everyday routine (get up, get ready, go to work/school)... now it was survival.
This is your key for developing that powerful weapon discipline. People talk about establishing a routine and doing it every day to build discipline, but you really have to fear the consequences of NOT keeping up with your routine so much that your psyche primes itself for making it a habit. Why do so many people get up each morning, fight traffic, and put up with horrible jobs? Fear of being unemployed... fear of losing all the material wealth they've built up over the years. Why does it take a heart attack or stroke to get people to finally establish healthier eating habits and regular workout routines? Fear of death.
Through most people's life, they've been told things like "show no fear" or "don't be afraid" by parents, teachers, mentors, coaches, peers, and more. The echoes of their anti-fear statements still echo through most people's heads to this day. Well, I want you to do something about it. I want you to toss those people out of your head. I want you to be afraid because fear is your ally. And you want that fear working for you rather than secretly working against you.
Look at the power fear already holds over writers when they try to establish their writing discipline. Afraid the story will fall short. Afraid what you write will be too cliche. Afraid people will tear it apart. Afraid you won't be able to make a living writing. Afraid you don't really have what it takes to be a writer. Afraid of failure. Writers will come up with excuse after excuse to avoid sitting down to write... to run from their fears. And as long as that fear is stronger than the fear of not writing, it will always hold you back.
Sure, there are other factors besides fear--willpower, perseverance, and (in my case) inherited Irish stubbornness. They work, and they'll get you started. But when the time comes for tough decisions... they might not be enough. If you aren't afraid of the consequences, how much easier will it be to put that writing off until later... tomorrow... this weekend... next week... next month?
But what consequences are there for not writing? Let's look at some possible outcomes. If you don't write that story right now, someone else will. If you don't write today, you'll have even more that you'll need to write tomorrow. If you don't keep up with your writing every day, your skills in the craft will diminish. If you love to write and you don't get something down on paper every day, an emptiness will build up inside you that will slowly start to sabotage the rest of your life. And think about this for a moment, how would you feel if you could never write another story for the rest of your life?
Yes, some of those are extreme circumstances, but they're phrased that way to help build up that fear of NOT writing. If that fear overpowers your fear of writing failure, guess which path becomes the easiest to walk down? Find something to be afraid of... something that makes you eager to get into that chair and get writing whenever you think about it. Get creative if you have to... give one of your family members permission to take away one of your favorite treats/sodas (or DVD player or video game console or anything that you'd hate to do without for a day) if you don't show them proof that you put something down in writing that day. Keep that up for six weeks until it becomes so habitual, that you just keep writing every day without giving it a second thought.
