Tag: Books

Day 13: One Brick at a Time (And Why Compound Interest Changes Everything)

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

One of the things I’m learning most on the 7-40 Challenge—and what excites me most—is seeing how daily goals turn into long-term progress.

Here’s the math: A 1% improvement every single day compounds to a 37x return in a year. That’s not motivation speak. That’s mathematics.

You can erode a foundation one brick at a time. Well, you can also build one brick at a time. The principle is the same—small, consistent actions create massive results over time.

The Thirty-Year Dream

I’ve wanted to write a novel since I was fourteen years old. That’s over thirty years of “someday I’ll do that.”

Thirty years of wishing. Failed attempts. Abandoned drafts. Good intentions that never materialized.

In the late 2000s, I wrote a small children’s Christmas book—about ten to fifteen pages. I was proud of it. I think it sold two copies. But that wasn’t the dream. I wanted a full-on, full-length novel.

Last year, I finally decided I was going to do it.

It didn’t take nearly as long as I thought.

How It Actually Happened

Here’s the thing about writing a novel: you write a scene. You read it over. You write some more. The story keeps building. You have a decent idea, you turn it into a better idea through revision and notes. And gradually, something really cool emerges.

But it still follows this principle: you have to have repeatable daily goals and tangible milestones you can accomplish every single day to build toward larger goals.

They don’t just happen. You have to actually make time for them.

I started small. One scene at a time. One chapter at a time. I kept building, and before I knew it, I had a complete first draft: 105 chapters.

Where I Am Now

It’s a YA novel about teens with superpowers in the nineties. I’m not going to tell you more than that yet—I’m in the editing process and want to roll it out properly. But here’s what matters:

I’m currently revising chapters 61 through 65. That means I’m over halfway through the revision process on a 105-chapter manuscript.

Thirty years of “someday.” One year of actual work. And now, halfway through polishing something I’m genuinely proud of.

Why The 7-40 Challenge Made This Possible

This is why the 7-40 Challenge has been perfect for this season. I work on seven daily habits. I’ll keep working on these seven daily habits. And in my creative hour, I continue to refine and revise this novel.

One chapter at a time. One day at a time. Compound interest in action.

By early this year, I’ll be working on getting it submitted for publication or publishing it myself. We’ll see what unfolds.

But what I know for sure is this: the dream didn’t change. My daily actions did.

For thirty years, I talked about writing a novel. Last year, I started. This year, I’m finishing.

That’s not luck. That’s compound interest. That’s one brick at a time.

Day 13 Scorecard: ✅ Bible study ✅ Exercise (Walking) ✅ Reading ✅ Calories ✅ Water ✅ Gratitude ✅ Creative hour (chapters 61-65 )

Thirteen consecutive perfect days. One brick at a time.

The best time to start building? Not looking back to what I should have done thirty years ago. Not someday. Now.

See you tomorrow for Day 14.

Day 12: More Than Just Checking Boxes (Why This Challenge Is Emotional)

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

I’m in the Emotional chapter of “Made to Stick” this morning, and something caught my attention.

The Heath brothers tell a story about a soldier cook. He had retired, but when offered an opportunity to cook for soldiers in Iraq, he jumped at the post. When asked about his job, he didn’t say “I prepare food.” He said: “My job is morale.”

He understood something deeper than the task list. Yes, he cooked meals. But his real job was building the strength soldiers needed to keep fighting, to survive, to stay mentally sharp in war.

That hit me hard. Because the 7-40 Challenge can’t just be about checking boxes.

The Real Job

Bible study. Exercise. Reading. Water. Calories. Gratitude. Creative work.

Seven habits. Forty days. Repeated seven times.

On the surface, that’s what I’m doing. But here’s the truth: my job is to be living proof that change is possible.

I was made to help people. To make their lives better, easier, more purposeful. I feel that call deep inside me—the need to take care of people, to build them up, to show them what’s possible.

But I can’t do that and ignore myself.

I have to fill my cup so I can fill others.

Why This Is Emotional for Me

This isn’t self-improvement for self-improvement’s sake. If the goal were just about me, it would be much too small.

I’m doing this because:

My family needs me healthy and strong. Fewer illnesses means less stress on my wife. More energy means I can be active, do the home improvement projects we love, spend time doing whatever activities we choose. Better mood means better interactions with everyone around me.

My son needs to see this. Not hear about transformation someday—watch it happen in real time. So when life gets hard for him, he knows it’s possible to choose differently.

The 1,000 people I want to impact need proof. By clearly defining the transformation I’m undergoing and letting people watch it play out in real time, I’m demonstrating the courage they need to name their own transformation—which may be completely different than mine. But watching mine unfold might inspire them to face theirs.

The Ripple Effect

When I’m healthy, strong, and energized, my world improves. And everything my world touches improves.

My marriage gets stronger. My parenting gets more present. My work gets sharper. My ability to help others grows exponentially.

That’s not narcissism. That’s stewardship.

I can’t pour from an empty cup. And at times over the past twenty+ years, I’ve run on fumes, talking about “someday” while my cup stayed empty.

Not anymore.

Motivation and Movement

The soldier cook understood: his real job was giving soldiers the strength to keep fighting.

My real job? Giving people stuck in “someday” mode the courage to actually move. To break from routine’s gravity. To start now instead of waiting for perfect.

And I can only do that if I’m doing it myself.

Day 12. Twelve perfect days behind me. Not because I’m special, but because the mission is bigger than me.

Day 12 Scorecard: ✅ Bible study ✅ Exercise (Workout B – back, biceps, legs) ✅ Reading (Made to Stick – Emotional chapter) ✅ Water ✅ Calories ✅ Gratitude ✅ Creative hour

The best time to fill your cup? Now. Not for yourself alone. For everyone who needs you at your best.

My job isn’t just the habits.

It’s to be living proof that change is possible.

See you tomorrow for Day 13.

Gratitude Sunday: My Mom and George Bailey

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

One of my favorite Christmas movies is It’s a Wonderful Life.

When I was younger, I liked it because an angel comes down and helps a guy get through a hard time. You get to see his whole story unfold and figure out who he really is. I didn’t see the deep significance as a young person watching this movie for the first time.

As I’ve gotten older, George Bailey’s story has become far too familiar.

I see it in life all around me. People—many wonderful people—don’t realize the good they do. They don’t understand how their influence has shaped the world around them far more than they know.

One person I can see this to be true about is my mother.

A Life of Selfless Love

My mother is one of the most selfless, wonderful people I have ever met or had the pleasure to know. She is kind and caring and deeply concerned with the well-being of others.

This flows from her relationship with God, which has been solid for as long as I can remember. She loves Jesus dearly. And because of that, she has consistently, over the years, shown people God’s love in countless ways.

I’ve seen her stop in the grocery store and share God with people or stop and pray with them just because she knew they needed it. I’ve seen her give of herself and run herself ragged to make sure that the people she served and the people she loved were taken care of.

But I’m going to tell this story from my perspective, from what I’ve seen in my own life.

Songs and Stories in the Early ’80s

My mother, in the early ’80s, started telling me stories about Jesus. She would sing songs and read the Bible with me. She was very involved in making sure that I knew that Jesus loved me—and also building me up to be a confident and strong young man.

She was consistent in her love.

I reminded her the other day that she’s the reason I know Jesus, just as she’s the reason many other people in this world know Jesus as well. She’s the reason people have found hope when they didn’t have any. She’s the reason people have found kindness when they most needed it.

She has been God’s love to people repeatedly throughout her life.

And just like George Bailey, I don’t think she understands just how far her influence has gone.

The Billy Graham Question

It makes me think.

If I asked you, “Do you know who Billy Graham is?” most of us—whether we are Christians or not—have heard the name. We know he was a very famous minister. We know that he touched countless lives with the love of God and with the message of God’s salvation.

But if I asked you, “What was the name of the man who introduced Billy Graham to Jesus?” I don’t think many of us would know who that is.

You never know the effect you have on someone’s life. You never know the influence. You never know the good that you do. You’ll never see the full picture.

But that shouldn’t stop you from doing good.

My Gratitude

So to say the least, I’m grateful for my mother.

I’m grateful for the way she’s loved me and taken care of me. Even though it’s been many, many years since I’ve lived in their home, she still loves me and prays for me to this day like I’m her baby boy.

Her influence on me has been outstanding.

And I can only imagine the influence she’s had on others—the people whose names I’ll never know, whose stories I’ll never hear, whose lives were changed because she stopped in a grocery store or prayed with someone who was hurting or sang songs about Jesus to a little boy in the early ’80s.

She’ll never know how far her influence has gone.

But I do know this: I wouldn’t be here without her. I wouldn’t know Jesus without her. I wouldn’t be attempting this 7-40 Challenge without the foundation she helped build in my life.

So thank you, Mom.

For being God’s love when I needed it most.

For never giving up on me.

For showing me what it looks like to live a life of purpose.

You’re far more influential than you know.

And I’m forever grateful.

#ThankYouCampaign #GratitudeSunday #ItsAWonderfulLife #GeorgeBailey #MothersLove #Faith #Jesus #Grateful #FamilyLegacy #Influence #740Challenge #Purpose #ChristianLife #Thankful

Day 9: Twenty-Seven Years and Just Getting Started

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

Today is my 27th wedding anniversary.

Twenty-seven years ago, I married my best friend. And sitting at the table with her this morning, talking about all the unlikely things that had to align for us to even meet, I’m reminded why Day 9 of the 7-40 Challenge matters more than any other day so far.

This isn’t just about me. It never has been.

The Butterfly Effect (Or God’s Perfect Timing)

April 1, 1998. I walked into a church in Bethany, Oklahoma, volunteering with the college minister—for what, I don’t really remember. As we walked in together, a beautiful lady with blonde hair walked toward us.

The minister introduced us. She quickly said hello, then politely ignored me. Talked with the minister and was on her way. Little did I know I had just met my future wife.

It was like we were destined to meet. But here’s the thing: I was only at that church because of a singing scholarship that brought me to that university where the college minister was a student. My bride had only transferred to that university three months earlier because she wanted to be closer to home. I’d been at a different church where I was the youth leader until just a month before. Then a rappelling trip in late April. A whitewater rafting trip in June.

Every random piece had to fall into place exactly right.

Twenty-seven years later, we’re still here. Still talking. Still building a life together. I can’t even describe how grateful I am.

Here’s the truth: I’m 47 years old, staring down the reality that 27 more years won’t be enough time to know her, to be her friend, to do everything we still want to do together. It just isn’t long enough to love her completely.

But I’ll take every second I can get.

Why I’m Doing This Challenge

For years, I’ve worked on bettering myself in various ways—career, faith, creativity. But I’ve simultaneously neglected things that matter just as much. My physical health. My strength. My energy.

And here’s what crossed my mind this morning: I have to be here. Not just alive, but present, capable, and strong. I want as many more years as I can have. God willing, that’s a whole bunch.

We love being married. We love building our family. We love being creative together. We love working on homes together—improving things, building things, creating beauty out of work. That requires strength. Stamina. Being physically able to show up and contribute, not just watch from the sidelines because I didn’t take care of myself.

I need to be a helpmate to my wife—not a burden she has to accommodate because I let myself fall apart.

I need to be an example for my son. I want him to see his dad doing the hard thing at 47, not talking about it someday. I want him to watch me transform, so when life gets hard for him, he knows it’s possible to choose differently. To start now, not later.

I want to see my grandchildren. I want decades more with my best friend. I want to keep growing, keep achieving, keep building.

The best time to start taking care of myself? Not someday. Not when things settle down. Now.

Because 27 years from now, I want to be sitting at that same table with her, talking about all the things we built together in these next decades.

And that starts with Day 9.

Day 9 Scorecard: ✅ Bible study ✅ Exercise (Workout A) ✅ Reading ✅ Gratitude ✅ Water ✅ Calories ✅ Creative hour

Nine consecutive perfect days. For her. For my son. For the life we’re still building.

Happy anniversary, my darling. Here’s to 27 more—and I’m going to be strong enough to live every one of them well.

The best time to start is now. Not for yourself alone. For everyone counting on you to be here.

See you tomorrow for Day 10.

Day 6: When Knowledge Gets in the Way of Starting

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

Challenge update: Down 3.7 pounds in six days.

My shoulders are still protesting yesterday’s first free weight workout—incline press, standing press, the whole deal. Good sore, not bad sore…but still sore.

Here’s what’s been rolling around in my head during my 30 minutes of reading today.

I’m working through “Made to Stick” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath as part of my daily reading habit. Today I hit a concept called the “curse of knowledge”—and it punched me right in the gut.

Here’s the curse: Once you know something, you can’t un-know it. You forget what it’s like to not understand.

The Heath brothers describe this experiment: Someone taps out the rhythm of “Happy Birthday” on a table. The tapper hears the full melody in their head—lyrics, tune, everything. But the listener? Just random knocks. The tapper predicts 50% success that the listener will know the tune. Actual success rate? 2.5%.

The expert can’t imagine the beginner’s confusion anymore.

And that’s exactly why so many of us never start.

For over twenty years, I had lists. “Someday I’ll get in shape.” “Someday I’ll write that novel.” “Someday I’ll build better habits.”

But I was waiting to know enough before I started. Waiting until I had the perfect plan. The right program. All the answers. I was waiting until the perfect time.

Here’s what I’m realizing on Day 6: The curse of knowledge works both ways.

I’ve spent 18 years in data management. I know how this curse shows up professionally—I’d stand in front of rooms explaining concepts, watching eyes glaze over, thinking “Why don’t they get it?” Because I’d forgotten what it’s like to be confused.

But I’ve also let other people’s expertise paralyze me. All those fitness gurus who’ve already lost 50 pounds. The productivity experts with their systems perfected. The writers with published novels.

They made it look so obvious. So simple. “Just do these seven things!”

And I’d think: “If it’s that easy, why can’t I do it? What’s wrong with me?”

Nothing was wrong with me. I just didn’t know what Day 6 felt like for them.

They’d forgotten the confusion. The soreness. The scale moving too slowly. The creative hour that produces three decent pages instead of a masterpiece. The moments you want to quit.

That’s why I’m documenting this challenge in real time. Not after I’ve succeeded. Not when I have all the answers and can package it nicely.

Right now. Day 6. Still figuring it out.

Because the best time to start isn’t when you know everything. It’s now. Messy, confused, 3.7 pounds down with a long way to go.

You don’t need expertise to begin. You just need to begin. The best time to start is now.

Today’s scorecard: ✅ Bible study ✅ Exercise (yoga + walking) ✅ Reading (Made to Stick) ✅ Five novel chapters revised (30 total now) ✅ Water ✅ calories ✅ gratitude

That’s Day 6. Not perfect. Not polished. Just real.

What’s been stopping you from starting? Drop a comment—I’d love to hear what curse you’re breaking.

See you tomorrow for Day 7.