Yesterday, I published the 50th post on this blog. Actually, I have written hundreds more than that but they have been deleted since the many starts and stops of this site over the years.
But these last few weeks has been the longest stretch where I’ve been publishing daily, or at least close to it. I’ve missed a day here or there but it hasn’t deterred me from writing as often as I can and sharing my thoughts with the world, or at least the few people who consistently read them (thank you for that, by the way).
I’ve always found it hard to create momentum when it came to doing anything creative. Instead, I used excuses like not having enough time or having writer’s block, but excuses are all they ever were. I love writing, so I decided to change my mindset and decide what I would do to accomplish it.
My goals with writing daily are not to accumulate a large following or even change anyone’s opinions with whatever I’m writing about. My main purpose for writing is to get better at it, and communicating in general. The reason for publishing it somewhere public is simply for my own accountability, but it would accomplish the same thing if I kept it private in something like a journal.
For me, the purpose of keeping an account of my thoughts at the time is also so I can look back into the past and remember what I was thinking at the time. Maybe it will give me some perspective on how far I’ve come, or maybe it will serve as motivation when I’m feeling discouraged, and I will remember how committed I was to my goals at the time.
If it ends up helping anyone else find clarity or purpose or encouragement, that’s a wonderful bonus. But first and foremost, I’ve found the most helpful advice to be that if you want to accomplish something, especially if it’s difficult, you have to do it for yourself.
Secondly, you have to be persistent and never give up. That is often the difference between people who are successful and those who are not, which is encouraging because it means our goals are within reach. We don’t have to have been born with some special talent or skill, or any type of privilege. Our story begins with the cards we have been dealt, and it’s up to us to make the best of them.
So what I’ve learned in the last month is much of the nuance of the power of creating a daily habit. I have also applied this to other areas in my life, such as diet and exercise and have seen small but incremental results so far. I’m now more confident than ever that over a longer period of time, positive results will begin to compound and accrue, and new opportunities will open that would not have happened otherwise.
