Every week for the last two years I’ve been creating online. I sit down in my office, bed, or patio and start to write down ideas, sections to new articles, video copy/sketches, and create something new. Some of these efforts have lead to exciting opportunities, others have not been seen by many.
Why do I do this each week? What keeps pulling me back to do this?
- First, I write for myself. If you see an article that has advice or some lesson in it, it’s most likely a reminder for future me to see how far I’ve come or how naive I was in the past.
- Second, I write for feedback. I always want to learn more about the world and share my thoughts with everyone. Most of the time I’m pondering a concept or idea and want to get words onto paper to help clarify the ideas to the best of my ability.
- Third, I write to build a business. Writing is my passion. I want my passion to become my livelihood. With how connected the world is, the business of internet writing, and having had 5 minutes of internet fame, I’ve seen just how powerful writing is as a tool to build a sustainable lifestyle.
As I write more, I start to see it as a different form altogether, and that is as leadership.
It’s not just that writing helps form ideas into more concrete or tangible entities, rather it’s more that writing also scales in comparison to most things. To take writing seriously as one’s passion also has the potential to reach thousands of people just by publishing something each week.
I’m able to create my own little piece of the world right here from my office and still affect many people’s lives. Writing single-handedly can carry my work and ideas further than anything else.
You also get to see the magic of an article being viewed by hundreds of people from around the world. Some from the US, some from India, some even from China! It’s remarkable that something I write from the comfort of my house can reach a curious reader somewhere in the world.
Not Being Afraid To Share
When I started this journey, I was afraid to share much of my writing. I would never post blogs. I would delete tweets when I was inspired to say something, and always dreamt to live off my writing.
It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I woke up from this nonsense. It wasn’t that I was afraid of people criticizing my writing. It was because I was not ready to become what I was born to become. When I started to see what writing could really accomplish in this world is when everything started to click. I’m about to turn 30 years old and it’s become part of my identity. If I stood up and shared my perspective on things I believe in, shared my mission with others, and helped others who believe in what I believe, good things will follow.
We all have the power inside us to change the world with our words. Our words can bring joy and happiness to some, inspiration and growth to others. But only when those words are shared and realized is where the power is unleashed. When you realize this power, you’ll wish you had started to build in the public much sooner.
So go on. Share your work. Share your writing. Let the whole world see it. And take the lead by getting started today.