On Writing

It’s Sunday and the “scaries” are starting to hit me as I begin to put pen to paper. I was originally inspired to write this by a few things I read recently that got my mind racing. The first was by a developer and blogger I have great respect for, Brandon Donnelly, who penned this story last week with his perspective on finding meaning in work and life — something that’s constantly on my mind. He talks about easily we can get caught up doing what we think we should be doing, rather than finding meaning in what we hopefully love doing. I was also inspired by another article mentioned in Brandon’s piece, A New York Times Magazine piece written by Charles Duhigg called “Wealthy, Successful and Miserable”…. you know, just a little light reading.

Both of these bring to light the notion of a greater life purpose through meaningful work, rather than getting caught simply chasing the mighty dollar. This is a BIG thing to think about! Articles on topics like this often get my blood pumping and send wild thoughts flying through my imagination. Am I in the right place? Am I doing enough? Or am I doing too much? Where should I be in five years… and what do I need to do today to ensure I am as successful and happy as possible?

Sometimes, in moments like these, I find it difficult to prioritize taking the time to just… think. When I kick back in my chair and close my eyes, or when my head hits the pillow at night, I struggle to gather my thoughts and think clearly. Being mindful and intentional about decisions — be it major life decisions, or minor routine choices — can be harder than it seems. Intentional thought and rational, clear decision making is something that I have been trying to work on in 2019 as I look to build habits that take me through the rest of my life. I have incorporated meditation into my life, which has been a learning experience, and that’s starting to turn into a powerful tool. However, I realized that there was more that I could and should be doing.

Enter into my life… writing. I started writing posts like this last year, but I noticed that I wasn’t doing it enough. I enjoyed and benefited so much from my writing that I needed to do it more. Writing had already had a powerful effect on me in terms of being able to take stances on ideas, articulate opinions and communicate with wider audiences. The more I wrote the more I realized… why am I not doing this more? And why aren’t more people around me doing this regularly?

There are a few key ways I have incorporated writing into my life that have been beneficial for me:

• Daily journaling: I had a conversation with my dad recently that triggered me to write down my life goals for the next five years. We talked about how to get there and what I needed to do professionally and socially to pave the way. There was one point he made that stuck with me: “as long as you’re doing one thing a day to move yourself in the right direction, you should feel great about yourself.” So at the end of each day, I have been writing down one positive thing I did that day in a journal. The positive thing can range in size and impact — no accomplishment is too small to be valued. Yesterday, for me, it was making an introduction to a friend that IIt’s great to then scroll through the pages and see how things compound and accumulate.
• Charting life events: Another great piece of advice I got from a friend was to write down all of the good things and all of the bad things that have happened to me in life. How can I step back and identify high-level trends? What was the source of each event? This was something I had never done before…and I have so far been beyond pleased with the perspective it has given me. We review patterns and trends in business all the time, but why don’t we do this in our own lives? For example, some of the best decisions I’ve made in my life (i.e. joining Floored in 2015) felt terrifying at the time… but looking back those were the moments I decided I would jump into the deep end and learn how to swim on the way down. I’m forever better for those moments. I am going to be making this at least a bi-annual exercise.
• Keeping to-do lists: This isn’t revolutionary… but whenever I’ve felt stressed with things to do I’ve taken the time to write them down. I cross them off one by one as I get through the list, and take a little sense of accomplishment away with each one. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Writing, in a sense, has forced me to hold myself accountable for my own thoughts. Thinking, writing and consistent self-reflection is the ultimate mental workout. Getting reps in as many ways as possible will only help me get better at the process. I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes me.