You either will or you won’t. You’re either in or you’re out. You jump in with both feet or stand on the side wishing you could do something you really dream of doing.

We’ve all been there, stuck in the uncertainty between commitment and staying in a comfort-zone. But, if you are going to move toward your dream you must make a decision. You must commit or stay on the sidelines.

And I’m like everyone else. I sat around, wanting to complete a book and publish it. But I kept dithering about jumping in with both feet. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write the book. I had all the “what ifs” floating around my mind. You can make up so many excuses not to commit that you never finish.

For me, commitment to writing wasn’t in learning more or doing more. Instead, my avoidance took the form of waffling about building an author platform. Getting a domain and starting a website symbolized commitment to publishing. The cost held me back – or so I believed.

I muddled along with writing, lamenting that I didn’t have the money to really do anything useful with my book. I had actually convinced myself I couldn’t take it to the next level so I wasn’t doing near as much as I could. I was wasting day after day not writing, not improving, not stretching for my dream.

Instead, I found it easy to let other things get in the way of progress because I thought I couldn’t get where I wanted. These were activities that were easy and pleasant – things that didn’t really matter. But I let all those “fun” things stay in the way of pursuing the dream. I had to say no to everything that I let be in the way, even wrong ideas.

But here’s the thing; deep down I wanted to move past my muddle. Of course I did, it was my dream. However, I needed to start saying no to many things to get to yes – achieving the dream. With the idea that I needed to do something, I re-examined the cost of beginning an author platform and determined that I could start a basic site with little money. So, I faced my assumption born of avoidance, said no to what I wrongly believed and forged ahead.

But what other avoidances might we writers face? Not writing is a common one. If you are not writing for days, you’re avoiding the work. Are you allowing all kinds of unnecessary activities to hijack your time? I did because I had an excuse. Find ways to say no to them and say yes to your potential. What followed for me was a more than a year of challenge and growth but it was necessary to get to where I am – good or bad, better or worse. And now it’s time to have some fun with release day!

Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section. Sign up for my Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list to receive the forthcoming edition of my newsletter with announcements about upcoming releases and events. You’ll receive my a FREE coupon for my short story e-book, The Black Bag which contains a sample chapter of The Bow of Destiny. You’ll also be the first to have news about my books, especially some free offers this summer related to the upcoming release of The Bow of Destiny, the first novel of The Bow of Hart Saga. Speaking of which, it is now available for pre-release orders on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks & Amazon – Kindle. Additionally, September’s FREE book, What Is Needed is available at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks and Smashwords & Amazon.