Experiment Done!!!!

So here it is. Day 30. Thirty days ago I woke up and said to myself, "today I'm going to take some kind of action towards writing a book". Remembering how quickly National Powersports came together once I actually did something, I decided to commit to writing every single day for the next 30 days. I have read that forming a habit takes around 21 days of repetition. I figured that if I can write something every day for the next 30 days I would be on my way towards writing that book. I also know that I tend to get wrapped up in my life and needed some way to be held accountable.

I told Amy that I was going to do a public post to all my friends on facebook and ask them to read my blog and hold me accountable. Since I have never written on a regular basis it was pretty scary to put myself out there like that. I did not have a very clear idea for the book, but had a couple basic thoughts of what it might contain. At the heart of it all I wanted to write a book that would help people realize that they can get whatever they want out of life and hopefully my story would help inspire them to realize that. I also hoped that I would be able to come up with a type of system to go along with that idea.

I have discovered some interesting things in the last 30 days. I have realized that giving people inspirational ideas is not as powerful as explaining how that inspirational idea was actually put in place and used to change my life. I have realized that what I went through with my Dad is far from normal. And believe me, I did not come close to going into the real nitty gritty. I learned that many of us have a hard time as adults separating how our parents emotionally control our actions vs. becoming confident in the person we actually are.

I have also found inspiration in many of you. Many of you emailed me with emotional notes of your personal lives. I'm honored that you shared them with me. The best thing that I got out of writing this blog is seeing some of you using it as an catalyst to take action in your life. I've mentioned it before, but I'm terrified of going to the grave without contributing something to others. Seeing people improving their lives is incredibly satisfying. It makes me feel like I have purpose.

So, I have moved forward in some aspects, and not in others. This blog let me get some basic thoughts down about my history as well as ideas and principals I have used to change my life. I have not been able through this blog to develop any type of system that would make it clearer to others on how to do it themselves. I am actively working on that with Amy. We are meeting once a week and writing down what she wants and the action steps towards getting it. I am pretty sure that I will be able to look back on the process and it will help define a plan that will be a good part of the book.

So what happens now? Knowing that people were reading has done a great job keeping me from slacking on my writing. All day, every day, for the last month I have realized that there was no way that I could go to bed without writing here. It created pressure for me, but it was exactly the type of pressure I needed to take action.

I am going to continue to write every day for the next 30 days. It will not be here in my blog, as I am now going to start to organize my thoughts and go into much greater detail. I will post at least once a week about my progress with the book so everybody here can see how I am progressing.

The most interesting thought I had when starting this commitment was that I was going to actively show anybody who was interested how to take action and work towards a dream. With this blog and commitment I took step one. There are more steps needed. Today I started researching the Internet on how to write your first book and how to publish your first book. They are two very separate issues.

I have been overwhelmed at the show of support I have received. My family has taken time to write me poignant letters and tell me that they are proud of me. How awesome is that? People who I have not talked to for years have showed me support as if they were family members. People who I thought were acquaintances turned out to be friends. I am sure that some of you got sick of seeing "Day XX is up!!" on your facebook wall, but nobody ever complained to me.

Thank you so much. Please keep in touch with me about your progress. I'll do the same.

p.s. I'm not sure how much I'm going to use facebook in the future for updates. If you want to be updated with whats going on send me an email to nsanel@nationalpowersports.net with the subject "update me"