Three Steps to Start a Daily Writing Habit - Jeff Goins
There are three steps, I've found, to starting a daily writing habit. Do this over and over and over again, as often as you can.
Fear
That sounds a lot easier than it is. So how do you get up every day and write? This is the question that plagues those of us who struggle to stay motivated in our creative lives. We know we have something to say. We're just not sure how to say it. <anchor>Fear</anchor> is often what holds us back. The solution, though, is not beat the fear but to trick it. To outsmart fear.
The One Fear That Will Destroy Your Art
The One Fear That Will Destroy Your Art

[![Jeff Goins](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/loho.svg)](https://goinswriter.com/)

- [About](https://goinswriter.com/about/)
- [Books](https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jeff-Goins/author/B005BH1OB6)
- [Newsletter](http://jeffgoins.substack.com)

## The One Fear That Will Destroy Your Art

> _The other terror that scares us from self-trust is our consistency; a reverence for our past act or word, because the eyes of others have no other data for computing our orbit than our past acts, and we are loath to disappoint them._
>
> **—Ralph Waldo Emerson**

I have one great fear. One haunting apparition. This nagging feeling lurks around every corner in life, waiting to destroy me.

[![Fear and Art](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/fear-art.jpg)](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/fear-art.jpg)

### The fear

What am I afraid of?

I am afraid to be myself. I am afraid to _write_. Nay, to consider myself a writer. I am afraid to be what I am. To try, to fail, to _grow_.

I am afraid to be wrong, to be humbled, to admit the truth. I've failed before, and therefore I will fail again.

I am _afraid_.

I am going to kick fear in the ass and do what I must do, anyway. I am going to write. Some good words, some bad. Some great prose, some terrible.

But I will write without complaint or apology as if my life depended on it. In fact, it _does_. My inner life suffers when I do not answer this call to be _me_. **_The cost of not pursuing a dream is greater than the cost of failure._**

### The resolution

I love what one person recently said about living out his calling as a writer. When a friend asked his mother-in-law, “How does he do it?” she replied, “The more difficult question is, how did he _not_ do it all these years?”

How is it that you have spent all this time, dodging your dreams? Are you afraid? Not of failure, but of [_success_](https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200312/the-fear-success "The Fear of Success")? Of being who you _really_ are? Of being exposed? You are not alone.

Not all failure looks like devastation. Sometimes, it looks like succeeding in the wrong things. Or deferring your hope for another day. Or letting fear hold you back from living an adventurous, creative life.

It's scary to be yourself. To be that raw and honest and vulnerable. That's why most choose to hide.

_Not me._ Not any longer. Here is my pledge: **Today, I choose my dreams.** **Today, I am a writer.** **Today, I face the dragon of self-doubt and step into destiny.**

This is the day that I will be myself. And tomorrow, I will have to do it all over again.

_If you want to make a similar pledge, join by clicking here:_ [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)

**What about you: What fear is keeping you from your art?** Share in the comments.

##### Articles

[![](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/mathew-macquarrie-u6OnpbMuZAs-unsplash-700x370.jpg)**The End of Blogging (for Me)**\
\
Years ago, I met a famous podcaster and introduced myself as a blogger. The first thing he said was, “People still do that?” This was 2015. At the time, I took offense...\
\
read article](https://goinswriter.com/end-of-blogging/)[![](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/yannick-pulver-hopX_jpVtRM-unsplash-700x370.jpg)**One of the Things I’ve Learned About Writing**\
\
One of the things I’ve learned about writing is that you can’t honestly write what you are unwilling to live. At first, this might seem preposterous. After all, J.R.R&...\
\
read article](https://goinswriter.com/learned-about-writing/)[![](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/todd-trapani-aVVAI7z0WoY-unsplash-700x370.jpg)**The Largeness of a Little Life**\
\
I wake up to birdsong and soft light washing in through a window that no curtain can cover. I drink coffee and read a book, easing into the day. Work starts with an in...\
\
read article](https://goinswriter.com/largeness/)

[more articles](https://goinswriter.com/articles/)

## Reader Interactions

Get a free newsletter on making your creative work succeed.

[![Jeff Goins](https://goinswriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/loho.svg)](https://goinswriter.com/)

© Goins, Writer 2022.
All rights reserved.

## Footer

##### Recent Articles

- [The End of Blogging (for Me)](https://goinswriter.com/end-of-blogging/)
- [One of the Things I’ve Learned About Writing](https://goinswriter.com/learned-about-writing/)
- [The Largeness of a Little Life](https://goinswriter.com/largeness/)
- [Let It Be Easy!](https://goinswriter.com/let-it-be-easy/)

#### Recent Podcasts

- [The Unfinished Symphony](https://goinswriter.com/episode/the-unfinished-symphony/)
- [It’s a Matter of Taste: Part Two](https://goinswriter.com/episode/its-a-matter-of-taste-part-two/)
- [It’s a Matter of Taste: Part One](https://goinswriter.com/episode/its-a-matter-of-taste-part-one/)
- [How to Finish the First Draft of Anything](https://goinswriter.com/episode/how-to-finish-the-first-draft-of-anything/)
- [The Creative Future of Money](https://goinswriter.com/episode/future-of-money/)

##### Quick Links

- [About](https://goinswriter.com/about/)
- [Writing](https://jeffgoins.substack.com)
- [Contact](https://goinswriter.com/work-with-me/)