First Today, Then Tomorrow

Do you have a dream of doing something big, but don’t have a clue how to start? Or do you have that seed of fear that says, “Be serious. You can’t do that!”

I’ve got news for you. You can do it.

Last year I did something impossible. I wrote a novel.

In three months — a little over 90 days — I wrote the first draft of a novel. It’s very rough and will require a lot of work, probably a good part of this year to rewrite and polish it, but I did it.

Before I started I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’ve always dreamed of being a novelist, for as long as I can remember. But writing a book always seemed like an impossible thing to me. I secretly suspected that novels I’ve read weren’t really written by the alleged author. It seemed more likely that they were manufactured by some occult method or dug up like coal. How could something that wonderful and that LONG be possible for a person to write?

But a couple of years ago Penny, my editor, lent me a copy of Walter Mosley’s This Year You Write Your Novel. It’s a slim little volume and I took it with me on vacation and read it while sitting on the beach. Mosley lays out the process of writing a novel and the work of a novelist so simply and beautifully that some of the doubts I had fell away. I purchased a copy of the book for myself and thought on his words and about writing my own novel.

And late last year I decided that it would be my year. And I did it.

I might never sell it. No more than a handful of people might ever read it. But it doesn’t matter. I have done something impossible. And now I wonder about what other seemingly impossible things out there that I might also do.

I challenge you to ask yourself about those dreams and desires for things that you’ve thought impossible. This could be your year. It might not be your dream to write a novel. But it may be your dream to start a business, to learn to play the piano, maybe to climb Mr. Everest. It doesn’t even have to be something big. It just has to be something that you really want. Something that you’re not sure that you can do.

Mosley says about writing,

“I’m sure that if you write every day and take these lessons to heart, you will write a novel that works. This process will transform you. It will give you confidence, pleasure, a deeper understanding of how you think and feel; it will make you into an artist and a fledgling craftsperson.

Maybe it will do more.”

He’s right. I’m a transformed person. I believe that you can be too. If you plan to do that impossible thing, follow your plan and work at it every day, you’ll not only accomplish what you set out to do, but you’ll change. You’ll grow. And your confidence at achieving your goal will carry on to every other part of your life.

This is your year.

I invite you to leave a comment and share your impossible dream with me.