American novelist John Grisham was an attorney who hated his job. He wanted to become an author, but he didn't know where to begin. Finally, he decided to start by writing a one-word message to himself on the early-morning squares of his monthly calendar: "Write." Grisham said to himself, "I'm going to get to work sixty minutes early each day, and I'm going to write just one page per day." And that's what he did.

He started getting up an hour earlier during the week and showing up at his desk an hour before the normal start time at his firm. He began writing … and he kept writing. Today, he is one of the most prolific and appreciated novelists of our day. That's the power of even a single word written on a schedule and lived out. What is the single word that you need to write on your weekly, daily, or monthly calendar?