A consistent writing habit will open you up to true business success.
Our world gets faster with each passing day. It ain’t slowing down. Yet, our mind gets less effective with more information and a faster pace. Our biological evolution has stalled.
We’ve reached what seems like a clear limit. Now, we are evolving in other ways, like AI and robots. Our technological evolution has greatly surpassed our biological evolution.
I believe that true wisdom and great business success comes to those who can slow down, pause, and leverage empty space. Solitude, a blank page, meditation, thinking, and stillness will be your most powerful and underestimated tools.
This article focuses on why writing, in particular, will always be a weekly (often daily) practice for me, and should be for you if it’s not already.
Slow Down there friend
If you want to grow your coaching business, you’ll need to slow down. If you really want to do this, you’ll need to go all in. Going all in requires thinking. It requires a powerful ability to focus and not get distracted by the 27 things that may feel like great options.
Your business success will require reflection. Knowing where you’ve been and where you need to go. Writing is a powerful vehicle for this to take place. Have you ever journaled?
I started writing consistently about 5 years ago on Quora and my blog at the time. Over the years, it’s come and gone. I can confidently say that I’m a wiser, happier, and more productive person when I’m writing.
Have you ever used a blank sheet of paper or a document to think through a complex or unorganized thought? It’s simple yet powerful right?
Writing pulls things out of you that otherwise lie dormant in a dark corner of your mind or heart. Instead of allowing all the thoughts to overwhelm you, write them down, let them marinate, then clean them up so they can be useful to you and others.
How I apply writing to my life and business
We know how powerful writing is, but how do we apply it to our daily and weekly routine consistently. Here are ways I use writing to grow my inner-state, think through challenging problems, plan for the the future, overcome emotional lows, and grow my business.
Journaling
I try (but fail) to journal every morning. I will take any emotions, thoughts, ideas, concerns or stressors that are holding me back and write them out. I’ll have a brief conversation with myself via an online journal I love called Penzu.
What’s great about Penzu is it’s super simple and easy to use. They will email you with journal entries from the past, which really puts things in perspective. I save my online journal to my browser for easy access and aim to at least write one sentence a day.
Daily Business Download
The penzu journal is mostly for personal stuff. For business, I created a doc I call the ‘Daily Download.’ It’s a simple google doc that allows me to reflect on my business.
I often think through challenges, reflect on wins, organize my thought, and overcome distractions inside of my Daily Download sessions. It’s also great to document your journey so you and others can look back!
Notes App
I also love using my notes app on my phone for quick thoughts that hit me while I’m not on the computer. If I have an idea or need to overcome an emotions challenge with my partner, I will often step away for a second and start typing.
In my experience, it’s the quickest way to let the wave wash over you quickly so you can think and act clearly.
Content Marketing
Content, content, content. This article you’re reading now is a combination of two things. 1, attempting to create insightful content that you can use to enhance your life and grow your business. 2, exercising my writing habit and thinking through my thoughts so that I’m not just regurgitating someone else’s content, but instead being a leader with my business and my message.
Recommended reading
- The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection Paperback – by Michael A. Singer
- The Road Less Stupid – by Keith J. Cunningham
- Stillness Is the Key – by Ryan Holiday