I am of the strong opinion that writing is the most powerful catalyst to an individual’s success.
Why?
Because good writing is always needed, regardless of the industry it’s being applied to.
Writing is the foundation of pretty much every communication medium. The only exception to this is perhaps in improv, but even improv requires a good amount of reading and writing behind the scenes I’d say.
It’s a personal goal of mine to not only be a great writer, but also a prolific writer.
The former is subjective, but the latter is pretty concrete and definitive.
Because of this, I wanted to put together a public display of my writing to not only hold myself accountable, but also to have my future readers (you?) hold me accountable.
Considering the 4 components of habit-building that I outlined previously, I figured it would be a good idea to practice what I preach to see how I’m applying each of these 4 habit-building components to my writing practice.
My Writing Plan
500 words a day is what I’m aiming for.
This is not only a specific goal, but it’s also both measurable and hopefully, achievable when considering S.M.A.R.T. goals.
Skin in the Game
Although I don’t have any skin in the game at the moment, I’m considering some negative reinforcement options to discourage me from not meeting my goals.
I’ve heard of services that allow you to donate to charity of your choosing if you don’t meet your goal.
I like this idea, because it’s a “punishment” that can at least be used for good.
Still, I will need to find some way to put skin in the game to develop my regular writing practice.
Feedback
For now, my feedback will merely be a growing log of quality posts.
Unfortunately, this will largely have to be regulated by own feedback at first. An honest assessment of whether my writing has improved or not over the course of this practice.
At the very least, keeping track of my monthly posts should be plenty of direct, non-subjective feedback for starters.
Time of Day
I’d like this writing practice to occur every day after my meditation practice.
Given my late starts lately, this might be tough to pull off. However, this might give me some good motivation to start regularly waking up at 6am again.
9am seems like a good target here, as it will give me plenty of time to go through a morning routine (which includes meditation) without having to lose work hours.
Personal Writing to Business Writing
My hope is that once I’ve gotten into a writing flow for personal stuff, I’ll be able to transition to business writing for Search and Perch and The Coffee Concierge (my current businesses).
In many ways, the lifeblood of both of these businesses is writing. So it’s important to not only develop a personal writing habit, but to also apply it to my businesses themselves.
How Do You Keep Up With a Regular Writing Practice?
I’d love to hear about your experience developing a regular writing practice. What has worked for you? What hasn’t worked for you?
Leave a comment below!