If you say you are not a writer, why are you writing?
I want to first start out and say that I am not a writer by default. I write out of necessity. I write to tell stories and get across my points, so I apologize in advance if this blog reads more conversationally and if there might be grammar errors. I will do my best.
I posed this question to myself - if I'm not a writer.... why am I writing?
The answer that I came up with was one that is pretty simple- practice makes perfect. I know that it is very cliché to say that but it is absolutely true. In my life so far I've self-taught myself many skills through countless hours of hard practice. Now do I think that after 10,000 hours I'll be a Pulitzer Prize winner, not hardly. However, what I do know is that after those hours of continued practice I will be able to develop the voice and style of communication that I want from the medium of writing.
So why am I writing this post you might ask. I am writing this post as practice for myself. Selfishly I am also writing this post because not only does writing daily make you a better writer it allows you to get the brain moving and the creative juices flowing. I am a huge advocate for the concept of daily journaling. I generally do that with pen and paper in my Moleskine and those entries tend to be more personal. The act of sitting down and writing daily allow me to take and have a retrospective look on that day. I get the opportunity to look at what went well and what could be done better. This task is a huge benefit.
As an entrepreneur, podcaster, software developer and xyz other things, time is one of my most sacred resources. I use the daily journaling exercise as an opportunity to celebrate small successes and also to bring light to problems or opportunities to work on to be able to figure out a way to course correct for better outcomes.
I have found that one of the most rewarding benefits of daily journaling and writing has been for me has come in the form of accountability. When I say accountability, I mean accountability to myself to achieve the goals I have set out to achieve. It is a remarkable feeling when you look back and see the growth as you are able to accomplish certain things you have set out to do. It is also a great way to keep motivated if you have not yet achieved what you have set out to do.
For example, a goal for me this year was to better use the audio medium for communication. This came out of my passion for music production, but over the past few years I have felt stagnant in those endeavors. By constantly reminding myself daily about my goal I was able to change idle thoughts into practical action. The practical action came in the form of starting 2 podcasts that are recorded, produced, released, and marketed every week. The benefits of achieving my goal and taking those steps to do so have been tremendous, but the main take away from this example is that without the daily reminder of the goal I would have not turned to action. The act of daily journaling kept that goal on top mind awareness.
Will this work for everyone? I don't know. I know personally that it has worked for me in taking and making progress on several goals I've set out for myself so I will continue to journal and write. Who knows..... someday I might get that Pulitzer Prize award, but that is not one of my goals. Becoming a well-rounded communicator is and will always be one of the goals that I will always have.
So if you haven't done so. Take action!