On Writing
Saturday, Sep 21, 2019

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed with TODOs that you just grab a pen and a blank sheet of paper and start scribbling? No worries about whether your item is a project, task, or goal. No paralysis of analysis over what platform to use. No notifications to distract you. There is power in the constraint of only using paper. And with constraint comes clarity and focus.

Yesterday marked one month since I made a silent and unceremonious commitment to myself: I would write one new blog post every single day. When I commit to writing every single day, I am imposing limits. I have, at most, 24 hours to get the next original thought clarified and written up.

The benefits are perhaps subtle, but real. I spend less time aimlessly browsing the web, and more time creating. I now tend to find myself actively thinking about what lessons I can learn from various situations I encounter, and how that might relate to previous experiences or lessons.

And I find myself encouraged and emboldened. From the start of this blog in 2015 to August of this year, the posts were few and far between. But if I have proven that I can continuously overcome writer’s block, day after day, and push myself to regularly create new content, what else can I accomplish? What else do I already have the capability to achieve, but simply have not put my commitment and determination behind?