While I don’t remember where I’d first read the analogy of writing as planting seeds, I do remember how I was feeling right before I stumbled onto it — down and depressed. Because my post wasn’t a hit, it didn’t go viral, nor was it “liked” by people within my network.
Looking back, I must say I was naive and borderline stupid to be thinking in those lines. Have things changed now? Nope. My posts still aren’t a hit or go viral or are “liked” by people who read them. And that’s alright because I could care less about what people think than show up to write what I think is important to me.
Over the years, I’ve come to realise that writing is a selfish act. You show up every day to hone your craft: one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one post at a time. And you keep at it not because you want people to like it, but you want to get better at it.
Sure, you might not want to become a blogger, author, novelist, or a ‘content creator,’ but there are many other reasons why you might want to get better at writing. Including the following:
- Writing helps you to reflect better, which is a powerful tool for self-development.
- It helps you communicate better, much more deliberatively than speaking, no matter how good a speaker you are.
- It helps you get clarity. People think they need ideas to write, but any seasoned writer will tell you that they get tons of ideas when they write. They write, therefore they believe. Not the other way around.
- It helps you develop a sense of style that’s uniquely and unmistakably yours.
I can go on, but that will beat the purpose of this post. The big idea here is to stop obsessing about your ‘external’ goals when writing.
Treat it like planting seeds. You sow them today for the person you eventually want to become. You might not reap anything today or tomorrow, or even the day after, but if you show up every day to water the seeds, they will grow into something beautiful.