Create The Social Contract

Some days, I sit and just stare at a blank screen, trying to figure out the words to put in this daily email. Sometimes I look all over the internet for inspiration, and other days the words just pour out based on a conversation I had with someone or an idea I had jotted down previously.

I did something stupid, or maybe genius, I don't know, about two years ago. I started writing daily, and then I started telling people they could expect an article from me every day at 5am PST. Ever since, I've delivered a piece of content on time, with very few exceptions.

I could stop writing daily, and a few of you have even told me I should. You've said things like, 'It's too much content, Scott, I can't keep up,' and I've heard, 'You should stop writing on the weekends.' Trust me, it's all great advice, but I don't feel like today I can stop, and I'll tell you why.

I love to write, and I know it's a muscle that must be exercised frequently. I know that if I stop and try to write only a few days a week or so, then I'll get out of practice and lose my edge on the content I produce. I also know that if I want to build a subscription base of readers, I have to be consistent, and the second I take my foot off the gas, then I'll consider quitting completely.

So I did what I knew would work to keep me consistent. I told everyone that I would write daily. And by telling everyone this out loud, I created a social contract with myself and with everyone who was listening, essentially forcing myself into the process.

It's a dirty little secret that I share with people all the time: speak your goals into existence. Actually, I tell them to take it one step further — go tell the five most important people in your life that you're going to do this thing. Then it becomes tough to back out of it.

Once you tell your mentor, your best friend, your partner, your favorite co-workers, and other people you care about that you have a goal you wish to achieve and that you're going to go do it, you sort of have to keep on that track. Otherwise, you have to answer the question you don't want to answer: 'Whatever happened to that goal you once told me about?'

It's simple. Speak your goals into existence. Tell people about what you want to achieve. Be open to sharing. You'll receive motivation, you'll create a social contract, and you'll create a space for yourself where it becomes really hard to all of a sudden just quit.

Plus, nobody likes a quitter.