My impulse buy has me putting pen to paper, thank goodness

Have you ever put off doing something? Something that you really want to do, but something just stops you from getting it done? It is not laziness, or procrastination. It is as if there is something missing, but you do not know what it is. Well, that has been me for the past 18 months.

While travelling around South East Asia in 2019, I decided I would write about my 550-mile walk up the French Pyrenees mountain and across the North of Spain to the Atlantic Ocean in 2018. I made a good start, writing up my 40 days of journal notes at the National Library of Singapore, but then life got in the way as I tried to seek employment so I could stay and live with my other half.

Then, last summer, back in Scotland, I started to write a couple of chapters, but the memories got a bit too emotional to continue and much of that I attribute to be being in lockdown for months and feeling trapped. It was a bit too difficult to think about happier times of being free to roam around the world.

So, it was not until a couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through Instagram and Facebook that I started to be targeted by an ad for Joshua Sprague's 30-Day Book Writing Challenge. He is the man that wrote a bestseller book in 21 days after being challenged to write his book sooner or forfeit $250.

Something made me spontaneously click on the ad, add the service to my cart, and pay for it. Something within me said this was the right opportunity. Maybe the talk in Scotland about the country-wide lockdown ending was the encouragement I needed.

The way the challenge works is that once you sign up for it, the next Monday the challenge begins and for five weeks Joshua shares his experience layer upon layer. To get the most of the experience, and to ultimately write the book, you really do have to go all in. Really commit to the process.

So far I am 6 days into the challenge and I already have my chapters and outline in place and written up a few stories. I did a word count this morning, and I had just under 15,000 words - in a week! That's more words than I wrote for my degree and that took me months!

The effect of me signing up for the Challenge, has given me back a sense of routine which was lacking - and I know that after a few weeks of doing this, and writing every morning, it will give me a good habit and encourage me to write more and to do it without procrastinating or having to think about it.

In addition to the above, when I came across an Instagram ad for vocal.media, I knew then that the platform would be the right fit for me and encourage me to write even more. I am now writing content and taking part in challenges right from day one in signing up.

Sometimes, when your gut tells you to do something, like buy that course or buy that gift for your other half, then you should, even if it means having to work really hard to pay it back. For as long as we are motivated to work for something, or pay something off, or see a smile grow on a face we care for then we are living as we are growing.

Just like when I added Joshua's 30-Day Book Writing Challenge and my first month's subscription to Vocal to my credit card. I'll also need to work hard at writing quality content to get the very best value from my investments and to deliver the best content to my readers. Because when you are happy with my work, then I am happy.