The Pillars of “10 Minutes a Day Club”

How the club came to be, and why we do what we do.

I’ve always struggled with doing the “stuff I said I was going to do” even if it was something I wanted to do. Unless someone else needed me to do it, it didn’t get done. It used to frustrate the hell out of me! 

When I started teaching voice, my students were singing a similar song:
“I want to practice each week, but the days just get away from me and I don’t do it. I don’t even know why.”

It was becoming clear that this wasn’t a motivation problem, it was more of a habits problem. 

So I did a deep dive into behavior change and habit formation and found some themes that, when combined, organically became 10 Minutes a Day Club:

1. Small Daily Steps: Consistency is THE key to meaningful progress...and the key to consistency is repeated action…. and the key to making an action repeatable is…..by making it tiny! Then build from there. Showing up imperfectly is way better than not showing up at all. If you aim to get the ball rolling, start small (hence 10 MINUTES a day Club!)

2. Community: We’re better together! Many of us do our best work when someone else is looking. And that’s okay! We’re hard-wired to belong and be seen as trustworthy, hard-working, valuable members of society. So rather than trying to work against that aspect of our nature for our personal goals, we use it to our advantage by adding external accountability with joy and positive reinforcement. (hence 10 Minutes a Day CLUB).

3. Growth Mindset: In life, we are so inundated with people’s “final products” that we often forget all the steps involved in the creative process. Progress isn’t linear. It feels great some days and really hard other days. And if we’re growing it also means we’re probably stumbling (see Toddling is Harder than Sprinting). 

The growth mindset embraces learning and progress as the goal. We’re in it for the journey and process, not the destination or result. And there’s no such thing as failure as long as there is something to be learned and applied. 

The more we can seek lessons and celebrate progress itself, the more likely we are to stick to the practice. And if we stick to it long-term, there’s no limit to our potential.

4. Creativity: We serve artists and creatives because we believe meaningful change only happens when new ideas, tools, and stories are created and shared, which can only happen if the creator puts pen to paper and follows through. 

When we’re creating we are constantly iterating, tweaking, and experimenting. Here at the Club, we love to see the “works in progress” and celebrate it (and you) every phase, not just when it’s “shipped.” 

We also apply the creative process to habit formation itself. If we struggle to show up, we iterate, tweak, and experiment until showing up feels like 2nd nature 

so that those game-changing ideas can see the light of day.

So these are the pillars 10 Minutes a Day Club uses to help creatives “show up” and stick to the stuff that makes their visions and dreams come true. 

If you’re looking to make progress, or build a habit/practice, or turn an idea into a reality, I hope you keep these actions in mind:

-Make it small (and daily)
-Include others
-Seek learning and joy in the journey (and you cannot fail!)
-Iterate upon your “show-up” strategy. 

Try it on for size, and let me know how it serves you!

What did you think? Drop a line!