731 Days in a Row
On February 24, 2016, I published my very first public essay on Medium.
In it, I naively outlined my plan to “write for 30 days, in a row” about things that I was interested in: “technology, travel, food, startups, building things…” For context, I was in my first year of College (in St. Louis).
Like many my age, I really wanted to do “things” but I had no idea what to do. I had never had an internship. I had no “connections” to the types of people/things I was interested in. I had no audience. I was doing a lot of schoolwork.
Honestly, I was in a slump.
The one thing I did know was that I needed to find a way to start. So I found the most accessible form of ‘mental exercise I could: writing.
But why write? My answer, I wrote at the time, was to find a way “to refine my thoughts and become a better storyteller.”
This simple mission has blossomed into a fundamental component of my life.
I write every single day. Today marks day 731. Two years of publishing (at least one) essay every single day.
I emphasize that I am by no means an excellent writer or thinker or philosopher. I am not a professional, nor do I want to be one (not that you would think that anyways). I have published things that I now disagree with and surely will continue to in the future.
I do not write for views or subscribers or followers. I write as exercise. I write to become a better thinker. I write to better understand myself, my perspective, my bias and my learnings. Selfishly, I write for myself.
Sharing my thoughts and ideas publicly has been perhaps the single biggest driver of my personal and professional growth.
Daily blogging is not a prescriptive formula that will bring you to wherever it is you want to go. I am not an evangelist for blogging. Rather, I am an advocate for people exploring their ideas and chasing things they care about with passion. I think we need more of that in the world: people doing things because they want to do them.
I write transparently and publicly so others can watch me explore my own thoughts. As a by-product of consistent publishing, though, I have met (often virtually) hundreds and hundreds of strangers who have greatly accelerated and amplified my wildest dreams. I have met co-founders, mentors, enemies, customers, bosses, employees, friends, etc. through this channel.
And it all started by starting. It all started by hitting publish.
You can read every article that I have published on my blog here.
To get caught up to speed, check out a few of my favorites:
2017 Year-in-Review
1 Year of Daily Blogging
2016 Year-in-Review
Why Write
I have no idea how much longer I will be writing for. A week? A year? A decade? Until then, living in the present.
Thanks John for the initial spark.
Thanks for reading! I also write a newsletter that many people enjoy, you may like that too!