300 and something

Time flies when you’re daily blogging.

I’ve written over 300 posts for this site and I’ve manged to not run out of ideas.

If you’d have asked me 300 days ago what I’d be writing about towards the end of 2019 I’d have said ‘I’m not sure’. But something I’ve realised is that each blog post is simply the expansion of a thought and humans have tens of thousands of thoughts a day so I’ll never need to worry about running out of ideas.

And I find that the more I experience, grow and explore the more my perspective shifts and I’m able to expand on things I wrote previously or write them with a more developed mindset.

I also find that because I write each day I’m not so focused on the stats. However, what I do notice is familiar usernames that regularly read my posts and that is something I truly appreciate.

Who’s it for?

The answer might surprise you, or not.

By ‘it’ I mean this blog, the words, my writing.

I used to think that it was for you, that I was doing this because I had some great message to share with you and that it would hopefully inspire you in some way (or something along those lines).

But then I started reflecting on what I was writing about and how I was feeling each time I let the words pour out.

That’s when I realised that it was for me. I write for myself. Sure I want you to read it and I’m happy when you do but my musings of fear, challenges and the dreamlife are things I write because of the life I have lived.

I find it helpful to write a couple hundred words on overcoming a difficult situation because it serves as a reminder that not only is it possible, but that I’ve actually done it.

And when I think about all the pieces I’ve written it’s a reminder of the journey that I’m on and all the ‘gemms’ I’ve learnt along the way.

Some days the ‘gemm’ might be something I noticed whilst I was on the train and other days it’ll be an epiphany that changes the way I live my life.

And perhaps a few years ago I wouldn’t have had the confidence to share these random short pieces but I’m glad that I decided to start doing it.

Aspirations, assurance and an abundance of ideas

A few months ago I had an idea for my book and I planned to spend my summer writing in-between picnics, parties and Prosecco.

But summer came, summer went and nothing ever came of that book idea. Infact, I don’t even remember the idea that I had.

But then a few days ago I had another idea and I thought about how great it was that I have ideas in abundance.

And perhaps this current book idea will just become a series of blog posts but it could also become my bestselling debut.

Either way this situation of forgetting a good idea and quite seamlessly moving on to something else I’m just as happy with has served as important reminder.

First of all to follow through with my ideas but also that I’m full of them and I want to share them.

It can be difficult to admit that because it feels a bit showy to put yourself out there but it’s also necessary.

What I think of my old blog posts

The words I shared in January weren’t perfect. In fact they’re on the opposite end of the scale and I winced last week reading through them.

My writing style was not where I thought it was. It’s wasn’t witty, clear, concise and well written like I had hoped.

It was scattered with errors and I’d forgotten to take words out so some things didn’t quite make sense.

However, I was doing something new and getting the hang of writing something I felt comfortable sharing everyday.

But the beauty of doing this daily blogging thing is, each day I have the chance to write something better.

And then bit by bit (or even drip by drip – a reference to something Seth Godin has said many times) I’ll improve. Maybe practice won’t ever make perfect (what would the perfect blog post look like anyway?) but it will (almost) always make me better.

Have I said this before?

Umm, actually that’s kind of the point.

I used to think it was weird that people I followed online were always saying the same thing.

I’d read a post or watch a video and think ‘you’ve said that before’.

And they had. But then I gave it more thought and realised that it makes sense to say things you’ve said before. If you want to spread a message of course you won’t only say things once, some people have careers spent saying the same thing 101 times in cities across the globe.

How are you meant to get a strong message across if you only say something once?

A few months into this blog I realised I was writing about things I’d written about before but it’s not a bad thing.

My core message is still a work in progress but if you’ve been reading this blog regularly (even if it’s just one post a week) you’ll notice there are common threads.

I mostly write about the dream life, overcoming challenges, fear and getting to know yourself.

I guess I’m just like anyone sharing a message, whether it’s Gary Vee, Simon Sinek or Seth Godin.

Gary talks about kindness, leverage, etc…
Sinek talks about leadership and the golden circle etc.
And Seth talks about generosity, fear etc…

From them, I’v learnt that I need to have my own core themes and not be worried about saying something I’ve said before because in a lot of ways it’s actually a good thing.

You can’t bypass the brunt

I’ve learnt a lot by simply looking at my own behaviour and assessing what does and doesn’t work.

That’s a large part of what I write and something that begins as why do I always xyz turns into me learning about a psychological theory, brain stuff and people stuff.

Recently I’ve been learning through practical experience that when you have an issue you can’t bypass the main bit of it, the brunt of it.

It’s one of those things that I know but at times still try to ignore which results in un-ideal circumstances.

Which is just a reminder that what you resists persists, you can’t bypass the brunt.

Maybe writers should try painting

For about a decade I’ve written almost daily and in the past 7 months I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t written.

But I recently started to wonder if I should stop writing. Not altogether but to simply take a break. I’m not sure what the benefits would be but it would definitely be a challenge.

Writing is embedded in me, it’s part of who I am. It’s the thing I do when I’m bored, inspired, overwhelmed, thinking, planning or looking to capture a moment or feeling.

I suppose like with any creative thing it’s good to take breaks and refresh your mind. Or even try creating in a new medium, painting for example.

How strange it would feel to pick up a brush instead of pen. It would be like flexing a new muscle or an old one in a new way.

But perhaps in that space of strangeness, newness and unfamiliarity there’s something worth exploring.