The tempo of living we plug ourselves into nowadays, the hectic schedule, career, plans for the future, constant social buzz and the minutia of mundane things which go a long way in making us distracted, we find very little time reflecting back, contemplating.
“We don’t have the habit of doing so” a one year younger version of myself would say. But when we bring to the table the argument that deep reflecting happens in doing not just merely in perceiving, the premise becomes fairly simple.
In order to reflect more, to contemplate more, to connect more with oneself, one should not arrange an escapism ordeal by plugging out of the everyday, but instead try and add activities that possess the inherent ability of making us think deeper. The stress then goes on making these activities become an act of habit and, through their repetition, allow us to reach deeper and struck a chord.
What I discovered, from people much smarter than me, is that writing daily can easily pass the criteria of being one such activity and, in fact, can influence segments of our life as important as prioritizing, decision making, perceiving certain scenarios one way or another…
What happens when you write every day?
When we go through our day in an autopilot mode there is little chance to actually savor moments or really reflect upon something.
Contrast this with the idea of writing every day and you get a somewhat different situation. Namely, writing is a process of thinking which craves intention; lots of it, in fact. In turn this provides for the most fertile soil in making deep and meaningful changes in perception, in noticing what you have previously missed, and in allowing you to reflect back and contemplate.
Here are some of the benefits you get when you write every day:
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1. Writing helps you put your life and the current curve it is taking into perspective.
This applies, but is not limited to personal-journal-style of writing. You see, even if you write fiction or whatnot you contrast words which provide context, argument upon ideas, inevitably making connections with what you are currently going through.
When I started this blog, writing every day allowed me to see my life through a different lens. Things instantly become easier to objectively analyze, easier still to approach them without any reserve.
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2. Writing daily allows us to better reflect upon every change we are making in our life.
We are somehow becoming prone to objectively judging, and tilt towards truth rather than creating stories that go layers deep, or not noticing at all.
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3. Writing for an audience allows you to tap into a different state of mind.
Namely, you get to question your arguments, your ideas, your opinions. And this usually leads towards them becoming more refined and ultimately rock solid.
No matter the size of the audience, whether we are talking about a subscribers list of 5000 readers or a single person, the shift in perspective is apparent. Not only you develop a higher degree of empathy, but you also become better at influencing other people.
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4. Writing every day refines your arguments, makes you pull out information from various sources, allowing you to connect the dots.
Over time this inevitably transforms you into a more authoritative person, someone more resourceful in general.
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5. Writing regularly influences your thoughts in terms of making them more concise, imposing order.
Contrasting words one against another asks for tapping deep into your vocabulary, for finding new and new ways to connect various words which provide context. This sharpens your reaction time when it comes to thinking, responding, putting your thoughts into order.
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6. Writing every day makes you good at writing.
And writing is a very, very powerful skill to be good at nowadays. Career wise, taking into consideration the demands of our digital age, and even as a social tool, having in mind how often we connect with one another via social networks and how, in lack of other tools to use in our interaction, we turn to words.
As these quotes for athletes by athletes will tell you, persistence can definitely change the game. The more you try, the better you become. After a while, you’ll develop your own tone and voice, and language will never betray you.
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7. Writing daily offers you the unique opportunity of being able to not only discover, but also influence your voice and your tone.
Namely, we are talking about how you conduct yourself. Whether you approach with confidence, humor, strive for eloquence, the very way you plan and carry out your arguments.
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8. Writing daily solves the problem of having trouble coming up with ideas.
You see, when you write every day you force your brain to look for new patterns, new concepts, broaden your analogies, connections, reach further.
When I started writing on this blog it was both hard as well as awkward trying to figure out how to present different concepts; how to come up with them in the first place even. After a while it became easier to generate ideas to the point of constantly writing for other sites, other internet projects, creating and even executing some start-up scenarios.
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9. Writing daily calms everything down a notch allowing you to, at least for a moment, enjoy the intellectual sport of deep thinking.
Learning to put yourself into such state of mind on daily basis, and at will, makes you more relaxed, objective, mature in your decisions.
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10. The very benefits writing daily provides are quite dispersive over every other segment of your life.
It is one of those activities which percolate and influence the way you perceive, the way you think, the way you express and the way you reflect upon everything else.
As an activity in itself the benefits are much more visible on the surface. However, even if taken out of the context of what it really is the benefits it provides in other segments of our lives are equally tangible as well.
Writing every day is a habit, and as a rule of thumb when it comes to repetition the more you do it the better it gets, hence the better and more numerous the benefits are.
Start writing guys, it is one of the best lifestyle updates. And it only gets better.