Don't Give Yourself the Out.

This awesome spreadsheet was created by Sam Goldben in my Prose and Cons discord writing group. You can join up and access it too! :D

In January, with my awesome writing group Prose and Cons, I challenged myself to complete 1,000 sprints in 2025. A "lofty" goal of 3 sprints a day-or so I thought.

As April drew to a conclusion, I realized that though I'd sprinted, I was extremely behind. I'd complete 191 Sprints in four months. I needed 309 sprints in 2 months to stay on track.

I felt defeated.

I have three amazing, brilliant, wonderful daughters. "Don't give yourself the out," is a saying we use in my house ALL the time. Don't give yourself an excuse. Don't let yourself off the hook by explaining it away. So, I practiced what I preached, toyed around with numbers, and realized if I could complete 7 sprints a day, I could catch back up. 7 sprints, at 15 minutes each, was less than 2 hours of focused writing every work day.

Assessing our goals, saying "How Can I?" not "Its too much!" is the only way we can achieve the impossible.

I've had so many people say,"I wish I could be like you, Letia, free to write all day long!" And perhaps I have more time than some, but I also prioritize writing. I prioritize motherhood. Prioritize family. In the past two months I've had the end of school (for any parent you will understand what all that entails), two sick days, a week long camping vacation and the week of cooking, gathering, and shopping prep for it. Yet I still found the two hours of focused sprints a day to achieve my dream, because I refused to give myself an out.

What's your dream? How can you achieve it?