“We must believe that we are gifted for something,
and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” — Marie Curie
Marie Curie didn’t discover radium because she had a perfect plan and a clear path forward. She discovered it because she kept showing up, day after day, in a cold, damp, leaky shed, doing the little bits of the consistent work that eventually changed the world.
She believed she was gifted for something. And she refused to stop until she found it.
That’s the vibe I invite you to join me in bringing into June. This is one of my favorite moments of the entire year. There’s something about the start of a new month, halfway through the year, that feels both grounding and reflective. You still have six full months of the year ahead of you. And you have everything you’ve already learned behind you.
We’re Choosing One Thing. Not three things. Not a complete overhaul. Not a new morning routine with seventeen steps.
One tiny habit.
Something small enough that you could do it even on your worst day. Something specific enough that you know exactly when you’ve done it. Something you can anchor …attach to something you already do… so it has somewhere to live in your life.
That’s the whole challenge! Pick one tiny habit. Anchor it. Show up for it every day in June.
I’m doing it right alongside you. Consider it an experiment we’re running together.
If you’re not sure how to choose your habit or set up your anchor, I’ve got you.
Check out my post below on how to get started.
The reason most habits fail (and how we're doing it differently)
We are just a few days away from June 1st.
It walks you through exactly how to pick something that will actually stick and how to build the anchor that makes it automatic over time. Read that first, then come back here.
June is the perfect time to pause and recalibrate, because something went wrong but because checking in is how you make sure you stay headed in the right direction.
Halfway through the year, I like to ask myself three honest questions…
What have I actually done so far this year that I’m proud of?
Don’t skip this one. Give yourself credit before you give yourself notes.
What have I been telling myself I’ll “get to”… and why haven’t I?
This is where things get read. Not judgment. Just honesty.
What do I want the second half of this year to feel like?
Not just look like. Feel like.
Your answers to those questions will point you right to the tiny habit worth building this month.
Be reminded that Marie Curie didn’t doubt that she had something to offer the world. She just kept doing the work until the world caught up with her.
You have something too.
Maybe it’s the book you haven’t let yourself read yet… or write. Maybe it’s the version of yourself who moves through the day with a little more intention and a little less scrolling. Maybe it’s something personal than that, something only you know you’ve been meaning to do.
June is the perfect time to get one step closer to that person.
One tiny habit. One anchor. One month.
Pick your one tiny habit. Decide what you’ll anchor it to. Then come tell me in the chat… because saying it out loud is the a great way to show commitment.
What’s your one tiny habit for June and what are you anchoring it to?
Drop it below. I want to cheer you on.
Read. Move. Build the habit. Change your life.
Looking for something new to read? Check out The Night the Bells Burned (The 500 Year Journey Book 1)
Before America was a dream, one Dutch father made a vow: his children would live free.
1544. Utrecht. The Spanish Empire is watching.
Cornelis Schutt keeps a forbidden book hidden beneath the floorboards of his shop. Its words are written in Dutch. To own it is dangerous. To read from it is defiance. To teach it to a child can mean death.
When a baker's family is burned alive in the square for reading in his own language, Cornelis sees what obedience has become: a fire at the stake, a warning, and a silence forced on every family in the city. He wants only to protect his wife, Maria, and their children. But protection is no longer simple. Soldiers patrol the streets. Informers listen behind shutters. Neighbors vanish by night. Faith becomes a crime. A father’s love becomes an act of rebellion.
As plague, persecution, betrayal, and Spanish violence close in, the Schutt family is driven from the life they know. They carry what they can: tools, grief, memory, and a vow that will shape every generation that follows.
The Night the Bells Burned is a sweeping historical thriller of faith, family, love, loss, and survival set during the opening fires of the Dutch Revolt and the Eighty Years’ War.
From candlelit shops and hidden books to burning squares, storm-lashed roads, forge fires, forbidden worship, and the first acts of rebellion, this is the story of ordinary people forced into extraordinary choices when empire comes for conscience, family, and faith.
This is not only a story of war. It is a story of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and the terrible cost of keeping a family alive when power demands silence.
Across the Low Countries, the first sparks of revolt are beginning to catch. What starts in one shop, one family, and one hidden book will become a legacy tested by fire, exile, faith, trade, war, and the dangerous hope of freedom. The Schutts are not kings or generals. They are merchants, smiths, mothers, fathers, children, and survivors. History will remember the battles. This novel remembers the family who had to live through them. Rich with danger, atmosphere, and emotional stakes, this opening volume is written for readers who want more than dates and battles. It is for readers who want to feel the cost of history at the table, in the street, beside the cradle, and at the door when soldiers knock.
For readers of Ken Follett’s historical sweep, Kristin Hannah’s emotional power, James Michener’s generational scope, and Edward Rutherfurd’s richly layered past, this is a family saga with the urgency of a thriller and the heart of a legacy novel.
“The Night the Bells Burned is an ambitious and gripping historical thriller that brings Reformation-era Europe vividly to life. William H. Brothers writes with a strong command of tension, creating a story rich with urgency, atmosphere, and emotional stakes. A compelling and immersive novel that will resonate with readers of historical suspense.” – Colin Mustful, Founder of History Through Fiction
“A compelling and emotional story that will live in readers’ minds long after they’ve turned the final page.”
— Jennifer Kay Davies, The History Quill
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Thank you for highlighting Marie Curie today. I love her, but then again, who doesn't? I remember a visit to the Pantheon in Paris some 20 years ago, her crypt had the most flowers and other offerings left by visitors, by far.