You heard me right. No more zero days.
Shared by Reddit user u/ryans01 over a decade ago (can't believe I've just come across this concept), the simple premise is that a day where you've not worked on a goal or target is a zero day:
What's a zero day? A zero day is when you don't do a single fucking thing towards whatever dream or goal or want or whatever that you got going on.
I've had a lot of those zero days. Whether it was trying to learn python, get out walking everyday, becoming less sedentary through the use of a timer, whatever... zero days aplenty.
It's not that I didn't value the benefits of any of those goals, it's that I found many ways to become self-defeatist or self-destructive. I focused on how many "zero days" there'd been and decided failure was the result.
But that isn't true whatsoever.
No more zeros. I'm not saying you gotta bust an essay out everyday, that's not the point. The point I'm trying to make is that you have to make yourself, promise yourself, that the new SYSTEM you live in is a NON-ZERO system. Didnt' do anything all fucking day and it's 11:58 PM? Write one sentence. One pushup. Read one page of that chapter. One. Because one is non zero.
For instance, earlier this year I decided I'd read every night before I went to bed. Didn't set a specific goal; just needed to read. Yet as I ran out of things to read - as if there were no more books in the World - I soon stopped. Strung many zero days together.
But after reading the reddit post last night, what did I do?
I read.
I grabbed a book that's been collecting dust on my shelf and read. Got a chapter in. And tonight, I'll read again. Maybe a sentence. Maybe a page. Maybe a chapter.
And if that book doesn't resonate, I'll find something else. There's plenty "to read."
Yet I feel I can apply this to many of those other goals I shared.
I want to learn Python. So why not work on an exercise every day? Even if only for a few minutes, that's a non-zero day.
And I'm diving into the world of HTML as I shared yesterday. Each day I'll plug away at something. Maybe for a few minutes, maybe even longer. More non-zero days.
Obviously I have to be realistic with my time and not put myself in a position of failure due to a thousand cuts, but a few minutes here and there are definitely possible.
No more zero days, Chris!