By Larry Leech @LarryJLeechII

Just Do It.

Three of the most powerful brand words ever used in advertising.

Those words made famous by a world-renowned apparel and sports equipment company has motivated millions of people to get off their butts and take action, whatever “it” might be.

Walking, Running. Lifting. Golfing. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? At least the ads featuring well-defined athletes can make a person feel that way.

Pushing your body to the limit—no pain, no gain, right?—is the obvious command of those three words. But those three words invoke more than something physical. Oh, so much more than putting on a pair of sneakers and hitting the pavement and pulling on a pair of shorts and T-shirt and heading to the gym.

On television, and maybe in the gym or on the running trail, how often have you seen an athlete with that “look” in their eyes? The look comes from mental preparation that they will not be denied in their effort to accomplish their “it.”

Mental toughness and mental preparedness are an unspoken important key to Just Do It.

Marathon runners talk about pushing through a wall late in the race. Other athletes talk about the mental aspect of success—envisioning making the putt on No. 18 to win the Masters or completing a last-second touchdown pass to win a game.

The mental preparation of an athlete often leads to great success in their sport. Being mentality prepared can lead to great success for us writers, too, when we put our fingers on the keyboard or grab a pen and paper. As nice as it might be, we can’t Just Do It when we sit down to write. Okay, pantsers feel free to prove me wrong here.

When I lived in Florida, I worked only in my “office” at home. I also worked at an internationally known “branch office” that serves hot beverages in green and white cups. At home, when I walked into my office, I shifted into work mode. I forgot about the dirty dishes in the sink, the yard that needed mowed, the clothes in the dryer that needed folded. At the branch office, I shifted into work mode while I set up my laptop, set my drink in the same spot near my mouse, and jammed in my earbuds.

A shift into this mentality stimulates focus and productivity. And, in the end, happiness. Sitting back after completing a writing session in which you hit your target of 1,000 words or 500 words or 10 pages or 5 pages, should bring a sense of accomplishment and maybe even put a smile on your face.

So next time you hear the words—Just Do It—shift into the right mindset to do whatever “it” is.

Writing coach of award-winning novelists, Larry J. Leech II has spent nearly 40 years working with words. After a 23-year journalism career that began in 1981, Larry moved into freelance writing and editing in 2004. He has ghostwritten nearly 30 books and edited more than 250 manuscripts. Larry teaches at numerous conferences nationwide and can be found online on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and his website, www.larryleech.com.