A common theme in the Praxis community is the idea of Non-Zero Days. This concept is simple: do one small thing every day to advance your goal. It’s helpful to break goals down into small activities that can build on each other rather than try to knock out your ideas as grandiose entities.
Many of us set huge, abstract goals: get fit, write a book, or learn an instrument. While these goals may be good, they aren’t actionable.
For example, if you want to publish a book, don’t simply make the goal of writing the book. There’s a high chance that you’ll set a lofty objective only to drop it in a short time. Books happen when authors write consistently, every single day. If you want to publish a book, set a number of words to write every day, even if it’s just 100-200. You’ll consistently grow the amount of content you have, and before you know it, your book will be in front of your eyes.
Why does daily action have such value?
- It forces you to examine your goals regularly. Doing something every day makes you re-evaluate yourself and the ideas you pursue.
- It gives you the chance to hone your creative process. When you are working every day on a goal, it’s obvious which processes work and which ones don’t.
- It increases your skill. You can’t help but grow when you are consistently creating!
We’ve talked about this concept on the Praxis blog for years. Isaac Morehouse, founder and CEO of Praxis, found huge benefits from blogging every day for a year. But what if it’s just a theory? Just because it worked for Isaac Morehouse doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.
We’ve seen it work.
Time and time again, participants and alumni in the Praxis program prove that doing one thing every day makes a world of difference in the long run.
Here are some of our favorite projects, completed one day at a time:
- Chaz Stead spent a month creating a graphic every day to promote his brand as a graphic designer. He made designs used by the Educationeering Podcast, the Backpack Program, Maison Designs, and other sites.
- Randalynn Hill is doing 365 days of portraits. She releases one portrait per day, building her photography portfolio and her skill as a photographer.
- Austin Batchelor is currently posting at least one Youtube video per day on his art channel with the goal of growing his subscriber base.
- James Walpole wrote every day for a whole year, and is continuing that trend indefinitely. He’s honed his brand as a writer, drawing readers in with his relatable stories and advice.
- Emony Anderson works every day on a new animation, which she posts on her Youtube channel.
Daily action is not just a great theory. It’s theory in practice, and that’s what we’re all about.