The Role Belief Plays in Winning NaNoWriMo

The first step to achieving any kind of success in life is embracing the belief that achieving the goal you have set for yourself is actually possible.

In The Miracle Morning for Writers, author Hal Elrod describes this mindset as a state of “unwavering faith,” and he argues that it’s a key component to achieving greatness.

What that means for a potential National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) participant is that you don’t want to go into November just ‘hoping’ to win. You want to go in knowing that you can win… that you WILL win.

You need unwavering faith in your ability to write 50,000 words in a month.

And that faith is not about talent or skillset. It’s about mindset.

Think mindset can’t impact the real world?

For the first half of the 20th century, it was a common held belief that a human couldn’t run a mile in less than 4 minutes. After Roger Bannister did just that in 1954, dozens of other runners did the same thing in the following months. It wasn’t a physical limitation that had been holding them back; it was their mindset. It was about believing it was possible.

Belief is a surprisingly powerful thing.

While I’m not a proponent of “the rule of attraction,” which suggests one’s thoughts can impact the external world, I am a firm believer that our thoughts absolutely have real world impact on our bodies and our actions.

That’s why it’s important for you to believe writing 50,000 words in 30 days IS possible.

Every year thousands of writers create the first draft of their novel in a month’s time. While most of those manuscripts end up in the trunk, or, worse yet, the trash bin, many NaNoWriMo manuscripts have gone on to become published novels.

Author Hugh Howey has stated, “I don’t think I’d be a professional writer were it not for NaNoWriMo,” and several of the books in his smash hit series Wool began as NaNoWriMo projects.

(For more examples of successful authors who have participated in NaNoWriMo, check out this Publisher’s Weekly article.)

I wrote the first draft of my novel M School in 30 day.

I have friends who have won NaNoWriMo and clients that have done it.

Now it’s your turn.

I’m positive you can achieve this goal, but here’s the truth:

What I believe doesn’t matter.

YOU need to believe.

You need to embrace the potential within yourself and know, without a doubt, that it’s possible.

Before you do anything else to prepare for NaNoWriMo, take a moment to look within yourself and do the mindset work necessary to ensure success.

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