250. Why I write

#MakingBetterDecisions, #Goals, #focusonwhatmatters, #Wealth, #Careers

“Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself…It’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.” – Harper Lee

My wife reviews all my articles before I publish them. Recently, she said that I should probably take a break from writing because the points I make in my articles have become repetitive. This was not isolated feedback. My close friend who has been a big influence on my life’s journey also said that I may be repeating points in my articles.

This made me re-examine the reasons I write. A fair warning: what follows may feel a little trite!

I write to develop my thinking

Many times, I think that a certain notion in mind may be informing my decisions but only when I sit down to write about it, do I really end up thinking that notion through. Whether it be thinking in terms of consequences or the essence of leadership or deserving to win, this is true for pretty much all my writing.

I write to journal how my thinking is evolving

Ever since I quit working actively for income over four years ago, I had been living at my life as an experiment. I have a hypothesis about how extraordinary success can be achieved. I am living this hypothesis and collecting evidence along the way. The main driver for my success is going to be how my mind is developing and my blogs capture this evolution.

I write to share my learnings

I’m learning constantly from the books I read, from the podcasts I listen to and most importantly, from their implementation. I believe that my learnings are universally applicable and hence I share them through my blogs.

Writing adds purpose in my life

Writing reminds me of my obligation to my readers. It allows me to acknowledge the privilege of time from my readers. The cadence of my writing forces a certain discipline on my schedule. It nudges me to be on “growth” path. It provides a bit of creative outlet and thereby adds quality to my self-view.

I’m sure there are a number of other reasons to write that are not coming to mind right now. But, perhaps more importantly, I hold myself to reasons for which I do not write.

I do not write to regurgitate the stuff that I learn elsewhere

I read a lot of books and listen to a reasonable number of podcasts as well. So, in terms of sharing, I have a lot more to share than what I end up actually writing. But that would be like sharing interesting things without backing them with the conviction of personal experience.

I do not write to increase engagement

I gain nothing in increasing the number of subscribers to my newsletter. My social connections largely do not know and even those who know, do not care that I write. My writing holds no currency in my social networks. And this is not a coincidence. I like to keep it that way.

Extraordinary Outcomes

It is my fundamental belief that the path to extraordinary success is not really very complicated or complex. The drivers of extraordinary success are “competency”, “calculated risks” and “playing the long game” – all of these in the context of a specific individual. Even “extraordinary” is essentially subjective, as in, extraordinary outcome for one may be ordinary for another.

Just these three drivers, nothing else. It is that simple. But simple is rarely easy.

The difficulty is not in understanding what it takes to achieve success but in staying on the path to success. For various reasons, we tend to stray or fall off the path of extraordinary success. In my mind, these reasons can be put into two categories: 1. our mental wiring, so to speak 2. Dynamism of the world… in other words, the complex nature of the environments in which we operate.

I mostly write on these categories only and almost nothing else. I share lessons from my own experience and from those of others that I see closely. I have been a beneficiary of reading blogs from strangers across the world who help me stay the course. The purpose of my writing is, similarly, to help my readers stay on the course.

“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.” - George Orwell

Surely, not all of my articles will resonate with you at the time you read them. But I know that some will because I hear back from some of you to that extent, either via comments or personal messages. When this resonance happens, I think it will nudge you back on the path. If you read them critically and question and understand their premise, I think that your mind will gradually get rewired. You will get comfortable with taking calculated risks and develop ability to postpone gratification. You will drive your efforts and energies through a meaningful structure and will become patient enough for extraordinary results to come to you. You will get closer to realizing your true potential.

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Thanks for taking time to read this article. In this newsletter, I share my learnings that could help you improve your decisions and make meaningful progress on your goals. I try to share stuff that I have personally experienced or experimented with. My views and perspectives could be (and some of them surely are) as flawed as any out there – please build your own conviction in all your decisions.

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