“The start of the New Year is when we all reassess and figure out where we’re supposed to be.”
Hoda Koth

Hoda is a talk show host and media commentator with a 100-watt smile. While she seems to lead a charmed life, like everyone she’s had her trials and tribulations — divorce, a battle with cancer. But through all of it, she’s remained upbeat and determined to find her right path in life. Hoda’s also an author with three books to her credit, including, Where we Belong: Journeys That Show Us the Way. In it she profiles both household names and unsung life explorers who’ve navigated rocky roads to find new and often surprising paths to purpose, happiness, and success. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?

In the book, Hoda shares a simple technique for making a change in life: “Someone once gave me good advice. Put 10% of your time and 10% of your money toward the dream you’re chasing. Maybe it’s just weekends you get to that thing. But maybe the next year you increase to 15 percent or 20 percent.”

What an inspired idea!  It’s one that we can fruitfully apply to making improvements in our writing, from literally getting a treasured project off the ground to attending workshops in order to meet professionals in publishing to sharpening our ability to pen dialogue or craft better plots. The payoffs can be very positive:

Being in motion matters: When we invest seed time and money in ourselves and our goal, we unleash hidden assets. As Hoda puts it, “Then you feel like you’re moving toward something and not just stuck.”

It gives you choices: When you’re taking definitive action, even on a small scale, to make a change, it’s liberating and energizing. Suddenly you go from feeling trapped to feeling empowered. As Hoda says so well: “There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re totally stuck and you have no options and there’s nothing you can do so you might as well stay where you are. We all have choices. We can all make changes.”

It signals your commitment: When you make a consistent, targeted investment in a cherished but undernourished aspiration, you make it a priority: Suddenly it’s off the back burner and on the universe’s radar screen — and anything is possible.

Is there some change that you’d like to make on the writing front? Maybe you want to launch a new project or even a first one. Or to move toward getting your novel published. Whatever it is, this “10 Percent Solution” might be just what you need to jump start your dream and start on the path to believing and achieving. If you decide to embrace this strategy, I’d love to know. Write on!