Listen, this post is a mere formality. Not as in showing up/write something for the heck of it, but to document what I learned from posting every day last year. It was inevitable. I’ve read numerous accounts across the web of people pushing themselves to blog every day for 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and even 60 months! And then document it for everyone else to learn something from their experience. I remember thinking, “what the heck, I’m gonna do the same!”
So, here I am, with all my wisdom on posting something meaningful (at least for myself) every day:
- You’ll run out of steam if you’re trying to do this for your business. And I’m not suggesting this isn’t a good idea, just not a good idea when it’s just you. Trust me, you’ve got better things to focus on than creating content. Like prospecting and building great relationships. (For Christ’s sake, think beyond content marketing.)
- Don’t have to do it every day. Just pick a frequency and stick with it. For me, writing every day is an outlet. It is therapeutic and makes me feel better. I also believe my urge to write (or express) is a direct consequence of consuming a lot of content, which includes books, magazines, training videos, interviews, insightful and/or coincidental meetings and everything in between. There’s a lot that goes on and I wanted a better way to document it all. At least the stuff that matters the most to me. (Someone else finding it useful is just coincidental. It’s not something I’m concerned about. I think of this as my body of work that my kids and their kids would someday come back to.)
- Got to be curious about yourself, your experiences, other people’s experiences, the world around you and life in general. It’s a “must-have” ingredient for you to actually enjoy the process. Failing to enjoy the process would inevitably make you quit and look for something else. I wouldn’t know what that “something” is because nobody does. For a change, I now consider that “urge to look for something else, something better” an excuse than a productive trait meant to accomplish anything significant.
- Being a good writer isn’t a criterion. Being willing to express and communicate your thoughts (no matter how mundane or silly they may sound to you or the rest of the world) is what that matters the most. Acknowledging this has been a freeing experience. It has allowed me to be more accepting of my own flaws as a communicator. I’m allowed to be not perfect, which means I can experiment, be bold and thoroughly incorrect (for some people). I no longer have a cap on my thoughts and opinions. Nor are they bound by someone else’s sense of style and language.
- You do “you.” It’s something that can literally save lives. Like the above, this has allowed me to love and appreciate some of my heroes and the (blogging/writing) authorities/experts I admire without succumbing to the false notion that I have to do what the “best out there” are doing. Being myself has given me the freedom to explore and find my own rhythm, style, and most importantly voice.
- It’s fucking hard! Yup. It is. It’s not easy to show up when you’re sleep deprived (getting up at 4 am), physically exhausted (thanks to the intense powerlifting training) and half-dead (after 14 straight hours of work). Sure, you learn how to prioritize but I think the most important skill that I picked up was juggling between my priorities and finding time to quickly churn out an observation or two in the form of a post that I would like to read (and I guess some of the people who follow this blog) myself. Being challenged every day allowed me to adapt to the stress and at times got me creative as well! Now, that’s a plus!
That’s it! I’m sure I can come up with a few more if I give it some more thought but I guess that could very well be another post for another day. I hope you can glean a point or two from the learnings above and apply it in your life — it doesn’t have to be just blogging or creating content. Like most of my content I create or document, these are universal principles that can be applied across the board. You just need to be accepting of the possibilities.