Lessons Learned From A Year Of Daily Writing

Today marks the 365th post of blogging/writing daily.

Hold up. Sorry, I shouldn’t conflate the two – let me clarify. 

I started writing daily in April of 2020 and wrote every day for six months. I’ve since laxed a bit on the daily writing, as I’ll occasionally write a few blog posts in one day when I know that I’ll be swamped with other work for the next day or two. But I have blogged every day, and if I haven’t, it was because I finished at 3am and forgot to hit publish until the next day.

I’ve come to learn that once you make something enough of a habit, you take what you need from the habit and learn that you can ease off of the gas, because you know if you miss a day you’ll make it up on the next. 

So the big question I’m sure you’re asking is “Has blogging daily dramatically changed my life?” 

I think I’m generally more articulate and confident in making assertions, and I think that I’ve solidified my voice in a lot of ways. But have I drastically grown my mailing list? Have I suddenly been invited onto podcasts or been sought after for consulting/speaking/coaching gigs? 

Nope.

So if we’re going by external metrics of growth, my life has definitely not changed. 

But while external validation is always nice, that’s not why I did this in the first place. I started this to build a habit, and to see if I really could ship a blog post every day for a year. 

I’ve realized that I think I’m a pretty decent writer, but I’ve come to understand I’m still honing my craft. I’m a better writer than I was a year ago and I’m proud of that progress, but I still have a long way to go to where I’d like to be.

I’m also less scared of shipping out work to the world. 

If anything, sharing your thoughts for a year helps one truly understand the massive amount of content out there you’re competing with. While I might not have 10,000 (or even 10) “social interactions” with most of my work, the process has helped me reframe my metric of success and build up resilience to the feeling of shouting into the void. 

So has blogging really changed my life? 

Definitely.

I started writing daily to show others and myself that it can be done, and whether anyone else notices or not is besides the point. I’ve built trust in myself, resilience, and my skill, and for someone as undisciplined as I am, this is groundbreaking. 

So I’ll congratulate myself on making it to this milestone, and now that this habit has been well-grooved, I’ll contemplate what I can add on top of it.

I also would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of you who do read these daily entries. Thank you for sticking around, and I’ll do my best to provide more value going forward.

Here’s to the past year, and onwards to the next. 

See you tomorrow.

2 responses to “Lessons Learned From A Year Of Daily Writing”

  1. Jemma Balmer Avatar
    Jemma Balmer

    I’m three weeks late in catching up on your work Rick, but want to offer a huge congratulations regardless. This is an awesome achievement and I love how you’re just “pressing the buzzer” to see what comes next. I’m inspired by your ethic, your wisdom and your “screw it, let’s just give this a go” attitude. Thank you for showing up and being here, monsters and all xx #23forlife

    1. Rick Avatar
      Rick

      Thanks so much for the kind words, Jemma! It’s been such a pleasure to grow together after alt23 and thank you for all the support 🙂

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