healthy Archives - Cameron J Quinn

In October I joined a 30 Day Writing Challenge,

run by two Story Grid editors, Valerie Francis and Rebecca Monterusso. To anyone out there who write, this might seem odd to do right before NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and to those of you who don’t you might ask why I don’t already have a daily writing habit. I’ve been at this for a few years now, what’s the holdup?

The answer to the latter is life mostly. Having kids can put a serious kink in even the best-laid plans. I’m finally starting to feel better after having my third baby (a little over a year and a half ago). So it was time to get back into the meat and potatoes of this job and get my stories moving again.

I chose the 30 day challenge becuase there is some science behind it. There are a few books out there on studies that showed if you could stick with something for 22 days you’d successfully formed a habit. So 30 is a safe bet to make a change. It’s not easy, especially around day 15 when fatigue really settles in. But it’s worth it. Becuase I’m now 10x more likely to hit my NaNoWriMo goal. I’ve already gone through the fatigue and have written consistently. I’m excited to work on my story for 30 consecutive days. Who knows maybe I’ll end up with a workable draft instead of pile of poop I have to sort through later.

As of Tuesday the 30th, I will have written every day for 30-days

I haven’t written fiction every day and that’s an adjustment I’d like to make in the future but I’ve so much for my career this month that I’m very happy with myself. By writing every day I’ve made progress in leaps and bounds. Arrested is almost ready for rerelease (my deadline for the draft is 10-31-18). Bite Me Once (my werewolf PNR is well on its way. And I’ve written consistent blog posts and started working on guest blog content for other blogs to lead people back to my nonfiction site. This is all huge for my business. Both author wise and Book Launch Coach wise.

In November, I’m going to start a new daily habit

Now that my career is on the right track, I’m going to make a change for my health. I started running a while back and I was posting to Instagram every day when I got up at 5 am before the run and after the run, I was posting to a fitness group. After losing 15 lbs in a week (I still had and have a lot of weight from my pregnancy) I hurt my foot and could barely walk around let alone run. So I stopped and its been nagging at me ever since.

Trouble is, our elliptical is in the basement and with fall comes cold cold weather and I know myself well enough to know that I will not go down in the cold basement at 5 in the morning (or earlier) to run. So instead I found short yoga video’s on YouTube. I created a playlist of 30 videos and I’ll be adding a morning yoga habit to my routine. And I can do them in the livingroom. Next to the pellet stove (but not too close).

Setting myself up for success

Like I mentioned in my Discipline Equals Freedom post, discipline is like a muscle. You have to work it out to keep it strong. When you just start out though, its easy to give up. It’s easy to give in to that little voice in the back of your head that tells you it’s ok to just turn your alarm off and go back to sleep, its OK to skip your work out, or eat an entire box of donuts. Becuase you haven’t built up the strength to push through yet. And everytime you give in to that little voice you weaken your discipline.

I know myself well enough to anticipate that little fucker. So here are the things I’m doing to set myself up for success:

Put my work out clothes right next to my bed:

If I have to do anything like look for clothes or the video I won’t do it. I love to sleep and the idea of going back to sleep is always incredibly enticing to me. Way more so than being fit and successful (in the moment right after my alarm goes off). So I make sure I have no excuses to stay in bed.
On the Sunday, I let myself sleep as late as I want. This might help or hurt you so test it out and do what works. But I need that one day to look forward too. And the important thing is that I set the day and don’t let that little voice decided for me in the moment when my alram goes off.
Listen to motivational speeches daily:

This helps me so much! For specifics check out my post Discipline Equals Freedom. The reason they work for me is I’m the type of person who needs someone to keep me on track but in a not making me do it kind of way. With these speeches, it’s like someone telling me why it’s stupid not to follow through with my goal. It’s hard but that doesn’t matter. That makes it worth it. And sometimes you need a Veteran Navy Seal to put all that in perspective for you. If Navy Seals are not your cup of tea, YouTube has these videos from all sorts of successful people.
Daily affirmations:

This is a physical way to retrain your brain towards positivity. And I probably wouldn’t have tried it if Tim Grahl hadn’t told us about how it changed his life. I used them to help my son get through a rough patch and I’ve used them to get myself off the couch and back to work. The way it worked for me and Tim was that I didn’t want to be lying to myself twice a day in the mirror. So I started getting my work done. That way at the end of the day when I looked myself in the eye and said “I am a hard worker” and “I am a writer” those statements were true.
You can use these statements from Zig Ziggler or write up your own. I started out with a list from Tim Grahl’s Productive Writer course and then changed them to fit my needs and wants. Some people only start out with one statement. One thing twice a day that they say to themselves to make a positive change. To help me continue my writing and get this yoga habit cemented, mine for November will be “I am a writer who writes every day” and “I am a health conscious person who does yoga every day”. Simple yet effective. Leave yours in the comments!
Write down my “Why” put it where I can read it every day:

This is key to helping you get through the bad days of a new habit. Mine for October was because I want to turn pro with my writing and I can’t do that if I don’t write every day. I have a lot of books waiting in the queue and the only way to get to them is to write this one. My why for November will be similar but more personal. I’m creating a daily yoga habit so I can be healthy and a better mom for my kids. It will also help me get more writing done because when you feel good the words flow so much better. At least for me.
Post to Instagram:

And lastly, I’ve decided to help myself succeed by raising the stakes. If I fail now, all I have to do is not tell you. And then my failure would be minimal and all my own. So I’ve decided to post pictures to Instagram using the hashtag #30daystonewyou. If I don’t post all 30 days, everyone on my instgram and facebook will know I failed. Which gives me a lot of motivation. I hate public failure. I chose the #30daystonewyou so A, you guys can join in and B, I can reuse it anytime I want to introduce a new habit (Also there are only 14 posts on this hastag right now). My pictures will be of both my word counts and my yoga mat or the video or selfies post workout. My instagram handle is @CamQuinnBooks. Come join me and make a change in your life! My pictures will also be shared on my Facebook page.

What habits do want to create? What changes could you make in your life by resolving to do that for 30 days?

Writing is a really unhealthy occupation. Unless you make an effort to get a workout or hike in, you’re sitting in front of the computer. Whether you’re writing, editing, or marketing you’re sitting on your butt. And if you have a laptop, you probably have bad posture to boot. It’s not your fault, you’re laptop wasn’t designed with your back in mind. Ya know, or your neck and shoulders.

I wasn’t just missing exercise in my life either

I’ve been struggling to get my work done. Writing was not happening, I was easily discouraged in my book marketing business and I found myself worrying everytime I sat down to do a task that it wasn’t the right one and switching before it was complete. And everyone I talked to said, “You need a schedule” literally everyone. But I had a schedule. I have notifications that pop up on my phone for everything from making sure the kids have breakfast to reading before bed. and I had designated time for writing and other tasks I’m responsible for like doing the dishes and vacuuming. So that wasn’t enough.

How do you fix it? How do you add something to your schedule when you have no time?

New work out — Day 2. I was exhausted but feeling pretty good overall.

You get up earlier. For a while, I was getting up at 5 am and trying to write. I’d end up falling back asleep then feel like shit for not getting my work done. And then I’d be frustrated and grumpy all day because I feel like a failure.

The worst part? I’d done just this, successfully not too long ago. So why couldn’t I do it now?

Fast forward a few months,

I’m driving down to visit my brother in Connecticut and the radio station starts to cut out. I’ve done this drive many times and as soon as Rock 101.1 fades, you’re in for a scanning nightmare. My husband was listening to podcasts in the passenger seat so I asked him to put some on the radio. He asked what I wanted to listen to (He had political stuff on and I can only take so much of that, even if they do make it funny) so I asked to listen to Jocko Willink. I’d heard a piece of an interview with him while I was doing other things and My husband seemed to like him and he’s an author I’d like to work for.

“Do you want to listen to Jocko motivation?”

At the time I groaned. Not really. But whatever. We ended up on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience after Jocko’s motivation but that stuck with me. The video was Discipline Equals Freedom. People are motivated by one of three things, money, freedom, or fame. I am motivated by freedom. (I mean I want to live on a sailboat so I have the freedom to travel the world and bring my family and house with me).

We listened to Jocko’s bit again on the way home, then they played Joe Rogan’s motivation next and I think Echo’s and by the time we got home, it was decided. I’d start running at 5 am every morning and working until the kids got up.

Enter the resistance.

My husband asked me that night if I was going to get up and run in the morning. I said I didn’t have sneakers. I was tired. If I showered I’d wake up the kids and then I wouldn’t be able to get my work done anyway. Might as well sleep.

My husband wasn’t having any of it. So I found a pair of minimalist sneakers in my closet (I still need to get regular ones for the elliptical) set out my workout clothes and everything I’d need to shower, set my alarm and went to bed.

Good

That night I got no sleep. And I’m a person who needs sleep. But I kept hearing Jocko’s voice in my head.

just do it — Day 3. Literally fighting to keep my eyes open. Took me longer to get on the elliptical but I did it.

“You didn’t get any sleep? Good. When you do it’ll be easier and you’ll appreciate it more.”

“You’re exhausted? Good. Now you know exhaustion isn’t an excuse”

“You didn’t get the job? Good. Now you have time to better prepare.”

“Don’t believe the lies, that little voice in your head that says it’s ok to quit, it’s ok to roll over and go back to be, that’s a liar. Don’t listen to it.”

“Once you give in, you give that weaker part of you, power and then you can’t stop”

“Discipline. Equals. Freedom.”

Just Do It

I was exhausted when my alarm went off. I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. I didn’t give myself that option. I got up. I put Jocko’s motivation on my phone and I got to work. I did it. And then I did it again at 7 pm. And I’ve run/lifted weights, every day for the last five days. That’s not very long in the grand scheme of things, but since I have been trying to get up at 5 am for about three months, I feel pretty good about it.

The exercise

Healthy writer — Day 4. The first and only morning of the five that was it was easy to get out of bed.

What you do doesn’t matter. Just start moving. Eventually, I’d like to find a yoga class I can go to once a week and maybe join a gym so I can keep up the momentum in the winter. I’m also hoping I can get someone to join me so I have an accountability partner. I know myself and old habits are too easy to fall into.

I decided to share this with you for a few reasons. One, I don’t think anyone wants to be lazy and unsuccessful. But we get stuck in that mode of eating junk (that tastes so good!) and binge-watching shows (that are so entertaining) and we end up letting life pass us by. Even when we want to get better sometimes we need a little boost, a little help along the way. And Jocko’s videos did that for me. So maybe, they can do it for you too.

Side Note

I’m a mostly healthy adult in my late 20’s. I have a history of DVT but other than that I’m pretty average. If you’re not, you can still do things to get healthy. Just make sure you ask your doctor and find out what’s best for you. Don’t let something you can’t control, control you. Don’t let that little voice say “That’s nice Cameron, but I’m different.” It’s a liar. Your path will just look different than mine. It’s out there, it just might be harder to find.

Forming a Habit

In October I joined a 30 Day Writing Challenge,

As of Tuesday the 30th, I will have written every day for 30-days