Day 31 of the 7-40 Challenge
Saturday, January 31, 2026

I’ve been carrying a book title in my head for five years: The Light Bearer.

Not just the title. A specific scene. A climactic moment I could see clearly—the kind of scene that makes you think, “That would be an amazing book if I could figure out the rest of the story.”

For five years, I tried. I attempted to develop it a few different times. I could never come up with the story elements I wanted. The pieces wouldn’t fit. So it sat there in my head, filed under “someday.”

Today, during my creative hour, The Light Bearer unlocked.

The Holding Pattern

Right now, I’m in a holding pattern with my novel revision. My wife and son are reading through the manuscript, and I’m waiting for their feedback before I dive back in.

Some of what they’ve told me so far has been necessary—things I know I need to fix. Other feedback has made me smile because the story is doing exactly what I intended it to do.

But while I wait, I’ve had time. Time I’ve been using for social media tasks, writing blog posts, working on other creative projects.

This being the weekend, I had a little more leisure time to think outside the box. And on a whim, I started working on an outline for The Light Bearer.

And because I’ve been taking time every day to do creative work, that session moved so much faster than I expected.

The pieces started pouring out. Story structure. Character arcs. How the climactic scene I’d been carrying for five years actually fits into a larger story.

It was like turning on a faucet that had been stuck for half a decade.

What Changed?

Before Day 1 of this challenge, I had been doing creative writing in the later part of last year when I started my novel. But before that? I hadn’t done hardly any creative writing in a long time.

My creative hour—and my creative bursts—really started when I began working on my novel. And they haven’t stopped.

The daily hour I spend for the 7-40 Challenge is only making it better.

Here’s what I’m realizing: I attempted to work on The Light Bearer a few different times over those five years. It never worked. I couldn’t find the story.

But since I’ve been writing fairly consistently over the past few months—daily novel revision, daily blog posts, daily creative output—it was much easier this time.

The creativity muscle got stronger. And when I turned it toward an old idea, that idea finally cooperated.

Creativity Begets More Creativity

I’m certain that other dormant ideas will float to the surface. There are projects I’ve filed under “someday” that are going to wake up just like The Light Bearer did.

Because here’s what I’m learning on Day 31: Practicing creativity begets more creativity.

When you show up daily to do creative work—whether it’s writing, painting, music, building, whatever—you’re not just completing that one project. You’re training your brain to generate ideas, connect dots, see patterns.

And then one day, you sit down to work on Project A, and Project B—the one that’s been stuck for five years—suddenly unlocks.

Almost all of my creative endeavors have been locked up in “someday.” But I keep stressing with the 7-40 Challenge that the best time to start is now. And that includes this too.

The Light Bearer didn’t unlock because I waited for inspiration. It unlocked because I’ve been showing up every single day for 31 days straight to do creative work.

The Lesson: Lightning vs. the Wall Socket

Here’s what Day 31 taught me:

Plan the time. Show up. Do the work. Creativity will follow.

Sometimes creativity hits like lightning—sudden, electric, out of nowhere.

But most of the time? You have to plug it into the wall and pull the power yourself.

You don’t wait for the muse. You show up at 9 PM and open the laptop. You carve out the hour. You do the work even when you don’t feel inspired.

And then—then—the ideas start flowing. The stuck projects unlock. The dormant stories wake up.

Not because you got lucky. Because you built the habit.

What Happens Now?

I plan to keep developing The Light Bearer as I have time between my other creative tasks. My novel revision will resume when I get feedback. The blog posts continue daily. Social media keeps rolling.

But now there’s another project in the mix. Another story demanding to be written.

And I’m not scared of that. I’m excited.

Because I’ve proven over 31 days that when you make space for creativity every single day, the creativity keeps coming.

Five years of “someday” became one Saturday morning of “today.”

That’s what happens when you stop waiting for inspiration and start building the habit.

Day 31: Complete ✓

All seven habits executed, even on an 8-degree day with ice-covered streets.

Round 1 Progress: 31/40 days (77.5%)

Nine more days until Round 1 is complete.

Day 29 of the 7-40 Challenge
Thursday, January 29, 2026

I’m reading Carmine Gallo’s Talk Like TED, and today I learned something that made me laugh.

Aristotle called it “pathos.”

I’ve been calling it “finding the hook.”

Same thing.

What Pathos Actually Means

Pathos is the emotional appeal in a presentation. It’s the moment when the audience stops analyzing and starts feeling. When they see themselves in your story. When they care.

Gallo breaks down how the world’s best TED speakers use pathos. They don’t lead with data. They lead with stories that create emotional hooks.

And I realized: I already do this.

“There Is Always a Story”

In 2016, I gave a Toastmasters presentation called “There Is Always a Story.”

I opened with a mistake: As an 18-year-old college freshman working for the student newspaper, I brought a date to cover a guest speaker. I cared more about her than doing my job, so I snuck out early.

The next day, my advisor asked, “Did you get my story?”

I said, “I listened. I just didn’t think there was much of a story.”

She exploded: “Are you out of your mind? He was a rescue worker at the Oklahoma City bombing! What do you mean there’s no story? There is always a story.”

That was the hook.

I called the man. He was a youth pastor who loved his life. When the bombing happened, he wanted to help. But at the site, he wasn’t prepared—rubble, bodies, parts of bodies. The team’s morale was crushed when they learned it was an American who had been the cause of the carnage..

Not long after, he found himself on a dark highway at 118 miles an hour, hands white-knuckled, heading for a bridge embankment. The pain had to end.

But the wheel pulled back. Again and again. Someone was praying. Their prayers were answered.

He realized he needed help. Eventually, he started helping others with his story.

When I told that story in my presentation, I wasn’t talking journalism. I was asking the audience: “What story are you telling with your life?”

I used the emotions of the story I told to challenge others to use their stories for good. That’s pathos.

How This Applies to the 7-40 Challenge

I’m creating content every day now, and I’m realizing:

The 7-40 Challenge isn’t compelling because of the system. It’s compelling because of the story.

People don’t care that I’m doing seven habits for 40 days. They care that I’m a 47-year-old two-time cancer survivor who wasted 20 years writing “someday I’ll…” notes and finally started.

They care that I fell in a winter storm but didn’t quit.

They care that I’m doing this for my wife and son—not for fame.

They care because the story is really about them and not me. Hopefully I am just giving an example of something that they could do. Maybe even better than I am doing it.

That’s the emotional hook. That’s pathos.

What I’ve Been Doing Without Knowing It

For years as a Toastmaster, I’ve made people feel before I asked them to think. I opened with relatable human moments, then built to the bigger question.

Today, Gallo reminded me this isn’t accidental. It’s Aristotle’s framework. It’s how the best communicators make ideas stick.

And it’s what I need to keep doing with the 7-40 Challenge.

Find the emotional hook. Connect the audience to the topic. Make them feel before you make them think.

That’s how stories stick. That’s how transformation becomes contagious.

And that’s what Day 29 taught me.

Day 29: Complete ✓

All seven habits executed (walking + reading + creative work done).

Round 1 Progress: 29/40 days (72.5%)

You can watch my Toastmasters presentation “There Is Always a Story” here: https://youtu.be/9-HtN0kA3pI

See you tomorrow for Day 30.