The Magic of Breaking Zero

TL;DR: You don’t have the time and resources of an elite athlete or artist. But your time and resources will grow when you put them to work.

Sometimes I get pissed off at the “no excuses” people.

You know, the kid living in his parent’s basement who hops on TikTok and berates anyone who says:

“I don't have time.”

“I have too many responsibilities already. “

“I don't know where to start.”

“There are too many other things I need to do.”

Those statements are not “excuses.” They are real challenges that every normal human being has to face.

So instead of preaching the No Excuses dogma, I’m going to show you a realistic way to deal with these challenges.

A New Approach to Old Problems

I call this technique Breaking Zero. Let’s look at what this does not mean.

Bestelling author Brandon Sanderson has his entire life optimized so he can write for hours every day, undisturbed, exactly when his energy and creativity are at their peak.

Bill Gates used to lock himself in a cabin in the mountains for two weeks every year, surrounded by books and notepads, free to brainstorm and dream up new business ideas.

Elite athletes train all day and build almost superhuman skills, while nutrition experts prepare their food and assistants handle all of their legal and financial affairs.

It seems you need massive blocks of undisturbed free time if you want to be one of the top performers in any field.

So what do you do if you want to start a business, create a masterpiece, run a marathon, or do anything else that requires hours of careful preparation and hard work stretched out over months or years?

The rule is this: “Just start.”  The tiniest bit of time and effort is infinitely better than zero.

Just put in 5 minutes today. You just need to break zero.

Someday you’ll be free to block a weekend in a mountain resort to concentrate and muster your creative efforts.

But most people get caught up in what they should do someday when the game is big enough. If you’re daunted by the time and effort you’ll eventually have to put in, you’ll never get past zero.

Whatever you think about J.K. Rowling, remember that she was once an impoverished single mom who was juggling multiple jobs. She wrote the first Harry Potter book on trains and in laundromats whenever she could snatch a few minutes of time.

Eventually her efforts brought her grants, a small advance, and even financial support from friends. She was able to write the rest of her books in style.

Break your zero, and eventually your efforts will snowball.

Think about your most wild, audacious dream. Figure out a way to move forward, just a millimeter a day, by breaking zero.

Once you break zero, you start to build habits.

You show your unconscious mind that this is something important.

You gain momentum and attract resources.

Soon that millimeter a day becomes an inch, then a yard, and then a mile.

If you want to do a triathlon someday, just run to the end of the block and back today. Or do five push-ups. If you can't do five push-ups, just do one.

Start your novel by writing one sentence. Tomorrow you'll write another sentence and it will be better.

Outline your business plan and tell one person about it. Tell one person a day until you make your first sale.

I'm creating a vast empire of groups who go on amazing quests and help each other achieve audacious goals like biking around the Mediterranean or transforming our educational system.

I just broke zero last week by starting the first online community. I'm not even charging for it yet.

Tool of the Week: Breaking Zero

1. Choose a wild, ambitious, even audacious goal that is close to your heart.

2. Do one tiny thing today that will bring you closer to realizing your dream. (The Circular Outline I showed you last week is a good tool for surfacing tiny, high-leverage steps.)

3. Devote just 5 minutes a day to your cause. Or even one minute.

4. Know that anything greater than zero is a success.