I had a goal for 15 years: publish a book. Then I did it before lunch.
It came from learning how to start small.
For 15 years, “Publish a Book” was a single heavy goal on my list.
The trick was breaking it into experiments.
I’d already written the material. The 100 Rules had traction and had been featured across multiple publications. The content existed. I just hadn’t packaged it as a book.
So instead of sitting down to “write a book,” I ran experiments:
- Can I sign into KDP? (3 minutes)
- Can I fill out the book details form? (8 minutes)
- Can I take the 100 Rules I’ve already written and format them as a manuscript? (20 minutes)
- Can I upload a v0.1 manuscript to see if it processes? (12 minutes)
- Can I get a quick book cover? (20 minutes)
Each experiment had one question and a time box. They required trying.
Calling it v0.1 changed the contract with myself. A first pass that allows errors, updates and improvement.
Most long-standing goals work like this. They feel heavy because they’re undecomposed. A single heavy goal has no handles. But experiments? Each one has a handle. You can pick up any of them.
The habit of breaking things down made this possible. A decomposition practice that turns “impossible” into “small enough to start.”
📕
What’s the oldest goal on your list that could fit in a morning?
