At precisely 4:01 pm, I parked my car, exited my vehicle, and walked into the climbing gym.

I pulled on my tight-fitting shoes, chalked up my hands, and climbed a few routes.

Then, at precisely 4:21 — just 20 minutes after arriving — I took off my climbing shoes, grabbed my backpack, and exited the climbing gym.

Why didn’t I stay longer?

Well, the short answer is that I didn’t want to climb.

I was tired, hungry, and a little sleepy after a full day of work.

The long answer is that when it comes to following through on my climbing routine — even when I don’t want to climb — I’m employing something called the “Two-Minute Rule.”

I originally heard this idea from James Clear in his book, Atomic Habits.

According to James:

“The Two-Minute Rule states 'When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.'

You’ll find that nearly any habit can be scaled down into a two-minute version:

'Read before bed each night' becomes 'Read one page.'
'Do thirty minutes of yoga' becomes 'Take out my yoga mat.'
'Study for class' becomes 'Open my notes.'
'Fold the laundry' becomes 'Fold one pair of socks.'
'Run three miles' becomes 'Tie my running shoes.’”

Or for me, “Climb for an hour” becomes “Climb 3 new routes.”

James goes on to talk about how the Two-Minute Rule is a sort-of gateway habit.

If you can get at least 2 minutes down, chances are you might go 20 minutes.

Or 40 minutes.

Or an hour.

But either way, you’re showing up consistently, and that’s what’s important.

Sure, you may not be where you want to be yet, but with consistency, proficiency follows.

Some of the biggest breakthroughs I’ve had as a copywriter have come from daily writing practices, or courses where I have to literally show up every day to write for a prompt.

Perhaps you also want to develop some sort of writing practice that helps you “show up” every day.

For 2 minutes. Or 20 minutes. Or an hour.

If that’s you, I recommend James Clear’s blog post on the Two-Minute Rule … and applying it to writing one new type of copy a day.

An ad. Or a headline. Or even a daily email (you can sign up for mine here.)

Here’s the post: stealthiscopy.com/2-minute

David Patrick