“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” —Freidrich Nietzsche

I remember the first time I saw the Nike slogan, Just do it. It shocked me. It was so simple, so obvious—it was such a clear piece of communication, cutting right through people’s resistance and excuses. Stop talking. Stop dreaming. Stop complaining. It’s in your grasp—all you have to do is get started. Just do it.

Many of us have a deep passion for writing. We feel the strange fire, the urge to create, and when we avoid it, the pressure builds until we start to squirm. We feel like there’s something we should be doing, and there is. 

But sometimes it’s hard to get going. And in these moments, Just do it can fall short. 

Do you have a personal mission, one that drives you as a writer? Mine is to honor the everyday lives of young people. To see the extraordinary in the ordinary, and to remind my readers that even small stories have value. In human relationships, even seemingly insignificant moments can have huge importance.

Every writer has a different why, one that helps us return to the page again and again in an effort to express our unique, strange fire. My mission is shaped by my own childhood, in which I often felt lonely and invisible. Your mission is, no doubt, shaped by your own personality and life experiences. Take a moment to write down your mission. And on those days when you can’t manage to Just do it, re-read your mission. It’s hard to say no to something that holds deep personal importance. 

And then just do it.

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