Learning new skills creates new realities. When I was 4 months into learning French, suddenly French newspapers had meaning, overheard conversations weren't gibberish, and navigating Paris restaurants went from stressful to fun practice. What skill are you going to use to unlock a new reality?

The editor who rejected my memoir years ago later gave me an $80K advance for a new book. You don't know what the future holds for your writing. That "no" might just be a "not right now."

Sold a book for a $125K advance, which is amazing, but the book proposal also took almost a year of development (before the book was ever written). Most writers rush from idea to draft, but successful books often need more planning before they're ready to write.

I set what felt like an impossible (to me) goal: run a sub-20 minute 5K (6:20/mile pace). Then six months later I ran a race: 25:33 (8:12/mile). Not even close. But the real win is that before setting the goal, I ran maybe twice a week. Now I run 6 times a week, 25-35 miles.

Learning a language, like learning everything, comes in waves, moments of breakthrough followed by long periods that feel like you're not making progress. I recently read several entire chapters of La Parole de Vie in French. All because I keep showing up every day with my flashcards.

Flashing back to a run last summer when it rained on me by the sea in northern France as I listen to A Year in Provence. Magic.

I read 45 books this year, nearly 20,000 pages of reading.

I'd quit writing books so many times that quitting became my identity. It didn't change until I stopped trying to be perfect and started practicing deliberately. Theory, goals, coaching, feedback, community. These five elements transformed me from a chronic quitter to a bestselling author.

That moment when you collapse on the floor sobbing because your work feels worthless isn't failure. For me, it was the doorway to breakthrough. I've had a breakdown in almost every major project of my life. Now I see them as promises that success is just around the corner.

You are not lazy. You do not have a discipline problem. The reason you sometimes fail to meet your goals is not because of your lack of willpower. You have a practice problem because you want to be great at more things than you have the time and focus to practice them.

We think success comes from talent or luck. But my breakthrough came when I realized success comes from practice. Not just any practice, deliberate practice with theory, goals, coaching, feedback, and community. Stop waiting for your big break and start practicing.

You can't be Michael Jordan AND Shoehei Otani AND Yo-Yo Ma. The fantasy of unlimited potential keeps you from the reality of actual achievement. Choose what to practice deliberately. You can be ok at many things or elite in a few. Either way, success comes through practice.

The point of practice isn't to get things (trophies, accolades, success, acheivement). The point is to GIVE things. When I shifted from writing to become famous to writing to serve readers, everything changed.

With any practice sometimes you have bad days, days when your game is so off you question everything. “Why am I trying to do this when I clearly suck? Should I quit? Whats the point anyway?”

You're always practicing something. Every day, every action creates neural pathways in your brain. Are you practicing inaction? Procrastination? Self-doubt? Quitting? Or are you practicing the skills that will get you where you want to go?

"'The desire of the sluggard kills him because his hands refuse to work," says the proverb. Endless desire without action leads to emptiness. But action without purpose leads to burnout. The secret is transcendent action, work that serves something greater than yourself.

It's so easy to get swept up in the novelty of a new project. Then comes the plateau. The point where what you were doing stops working. This isn't where you quit. This is where deliberate practice begins.

I realized I could quit my book and keep living in the fantasy of who I might become. Or I could compromise, allow myself to practice, and serve the world with whatever I had, even if it wasn't "genius." The reality of practice is humbling, but it's the best part.

The fantasy of success feels amazing. But the reality of deliberate practice, the learning, the daily work, the coaching, the feedback, the community, is worth so much more. Don't chase the outcome. Fall in love with the practice.

When you've nearly given up hope that you'll ever accomplish your goal, that's the moment when breakthrough is around the corner, if you can bear it. Keep practicing. The darkest moment often comes just before success.

Want to know the secret to completing difficult projects? Make quitting harder than continuing. When I co-wrote my first book, I created consequences for quitting that were worse than the pain of finishing. That's when I finally broke through.

Success isn't about willpower. It's about systems. When I finally finished my book, I had a mentor with deadlines, a coach providing guidance, a community believing in me, and consequences for quitting. Design your environment for the practice you want.

What separates those who accomplish their goals from those who don't? Not talent. Not luck. Deliberate practice. Study the theory. Set clear goals. Find coaches. Seek feedback. Build community. Show up daily. The results will follow.

Any time you fail at hitting a goal, ask yourself: "What do I REALLY want?" Didn't finish your book? Didn't hit your marathon time? Didn't get the job? Didn't make the team? The best goals are always about IDENTITY.

I lost 15 pounds from nerves when I first tried to get my now-wife to date me. Not because I was on a fancy diet but because I literally threw up before our conversations. That's how badly I wanted it to work. The things most worth having sometimes take everything we have.

The year I started dating my wife, I wrote my first book, launched The Write Practice, became a bestselling author, and reached 100,000+ readers. Was it because of her? Absolutely. Finding a partner you admire forces you to become someone worthy of them.

Growing up, I quit everything. Sports. Music. Writing. I was convinced I lacked the discipline to truly be successful.

I wrote books that were complete flops. I started blogs that reached 5 people. I created businesses that lost money. The path to success isn't about avoiding these moments. It's about having people who help you get back up when they happen.

When I failed, the most valuable feedback I received wasn't "try harder." It was "try something different." Failure rarely comes from one big thing. It's a thousand tiny miscalculations adding up. More effort with the wrong approach just gets you to the wrong destination faster.

If you're not hitting your goals, look around you. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Or are you surrounding yourself with anyone at all? Isolation is the enemy of growth. Community requires honesty about where you are so others can help you get where you want to be.

Nobody accomplishes anything truly meaningful alone. To reach your potential, you need coaches who've been there, peers walking alongside you, and supporters who believe in your vision (even when you don't).

I didn't date my wife so I could become a writer (obviously). But I wouldn't be a writer without my wife. The people in your life are both the journey and the destination. They shape who you become far more than any goal you achieve.

Should I quit _____ (insert goal)? I ask myself this all the time. Is my goal realistic? Worth the effort? Is it even possible? I'm not always sure, to be honest, but the answer I keep coming back to is that the goal itself is just a starting point.

My goal for running is just to run as fast as a baseline high school athlete. From that perspective, as an almost 40 year old, it feels both humbling and ambitious. Humbling because I'll never be 17 again. Ambitious because I'm not 17 anymore!

I believe you can achieve anything with deliberate practice. But does it actually work? I'm testing it. After 30 weeks of running training: • Consumed countless books and youtube videos • Followed a structured process with clear goals • Ran 30+ mile weeks for 6 months • Had a team supporting me

I "failed" at my running goal. After 30 weeks of training, I ran a 25:47 5K, nowhere near my sub-20 minute target.

7 months ago I set out to run a sub-20 minute 5K. I just ran 25:47, still almost 6 minutes off target. But the numbers don't tell the whole story:

I'm thinking about re-launching my wild travel memoir where I let the internet dare me through Paris (from trespassing through illegal catacombs to eating cow stomach). New cover, new title, new edits. It's been almost 7 years. Should I do this?

How many cups of coffee do you drink on an average day? I drink 4. That's a normal amount right? RIGHT?!

I've watched brilliant writers never finish their books and eventually walk away from writing altogether. I've also watched less talented but more determined writers build thriving careers. Talent is nice but persistence always wins in the long game of being a writer.

Hi, I'm Joe. I have some new followers, and so I thought I’d re-introduce myself. I'm a writer who lives in Atlanta. I write my own books, but I also coach writers and do a little ghostwriting.

6 months ago I set what felt like an impossible goal: run a sub-20 minute 5K (6:20/mile pace). Today I ran a race: 25:33 (8:12/mile). Not even close to the goal.

150 days of French. Which is nice. But the real wins: ordering dinner for 8 in France (no English!), reading B2-level texts, and actually understanding French podcasts. One hour a day for almost half a year = mostly conversational French.

Here's my 30+ mile weekly running routine: M: Hard intervals (e.g. this week is 10x200m) T: 6 mi easy W: 5 mi + strides Th: 6 mi + soccer F: 5 easy mi S: Long run (8 mi usually) Sun: Rest Not an expert, but the biggest thing I've learned is consistency matters more than any single workout.

"I couldn't have done it without you," a coaching client told me in the book they just published. Writing isn't a solo journey. Whether it's a coach or a community (or both!), we all need people who believe in our work even when we don't.

I’ve had some of the biggest breakdowns in my life while editing the second draft of a book, times when I’ve wanted to quit everything, quit the book, quit being a writer. But I’ve always found that whenever I have a breakdown, I’m days or weeks away from a breakthrough.

AI companies say their models learn from books "just like humans do." Which, fine... But here's what human writers also do:

At least two of my books were proabably used to train Anthropic and other AI companies' models. As an AI user, I have mixed feelings. I use AI for brainstorming, project planning, search, creating AI agents.

Most writers assume: Write book first, then try to sell it. For nonfiction, reverse that. Write proposal first. Get the deal. Then write the book. I know it sounds weird, but knowing this one thing about nonfiction publishing can save you YEARS.

Anthropic is worth $183 billion, built partly on patterns learned from authors' work. But (human) writers have always supported the writers they learned from: - Aspiring writers pay for books - They join writing groups - They attend workshops - They support their peers