On writing in 2022

Around Twitter, a large number of people advocate writing daily to achieve greater success in life. This could amount to success in career and psychological improvements over time.

It's clear that writing is a great mechanism to spread ideas and opinions yet also reaps many rewards for our brains. "Getting it out" often helps me release some pent-up feelings, thoughts, or maybe something new I learned recently. I think it's similar to the effects of getting a good workout in.

In this publication, I tend to write tutorial-based content but I'd like to also get into a streak of traditional long-form prose caring less about the accuracy but more on execution and consistency while learning and sharing.

Some inspiration comes from Twitter-famous folk including:

Sahil Bloom

Jordan O'Connor

While fake internet points (likes, retweets, quote tweets) are often a good sign for people to pay attention to, the real writers are hidden often away executing and not trying to necessarily build their way to the top based on impressions alone.

Famous authors we know today only succeeded after many failed attempts. It's often a matter of quantity of tries combined with the execution of an idea that shows the most merit to consumers or businesses in need. Writing seems to get you there. But how?

What is it about writing that makes a human excel?

That's a loaded question. To me, it's more than execution. With writing, it is also a matter of consistency and focus on what you're knowledgeable about. Add in the fact that you'll need to share these things to learn and grow from others and I can see why for many, writing on a regular is very hard.

In the investing/finance world, most moves that make a significant impact are over the course of a long period of time.

You put in money in to back companies and over time they grow, increase profits, and ultimately kick back dividends. Tactics here include dollar cost averaging which means you continue to buy stocks or assets in small but consistent doses. Over time, this pool of assets amasses a greater yield based on the typical returns in the market. Assuming you get what you put in plus interest, you're bound to see success.

I think the same philosophy applies to writing. While actively writing daily you may see little to no benefit, but the more you do and share with like-minded individuals the more chance the universe awards you with new opportunities. It did for me.

How writing has changed my professional life

In my own practice, I started a blog called Web-Crunch. It's a publication I used as a launchpad to learn new things related to web design and development. When I launched it I worked full-time as a designer making less than half what I make today. I hustled on the weekends to create a blog post about a topic I was interested in and published it as consistently as possible. Starting out I wrote and published once a week with the hope of gaining traction over time.

I took inspiration from those I looked up to like Dan Cederholm(an avid blogger/writer/designer) that just putting stuff out there yields gains down the line. If you aren't sharing in some way there isn't a mechanism for feedback and/or self-improvement.

After writing for a while I learned that teaching is also a powerful tool to utilize even if you aren't the best teacher for the job. More often than not a novice teacher will have more empathy toward the student than someone highly advanced in a field.

You can teach through writing or other mediums. Assuming you have knowledge on a topic people are interested I've found this is a quick way to increase your network of followers/advocates.

Without writing I wouldn't have been able to learn as fast I have. Having a background in design I was always constrained by code. Getting fed up with that issue I commit to finally learning enough to build my own ideas rather than relying on anyone else. This pursuit is full of hurdles but it got me extremely far and even got me hired at more senior roles.

Goals for writing in 2022

Over the holidays in 2021, I took an extended break from publishing content on web-crunch.com and the YouTube channel. It was a lot of work to contribute every week that was ultimately making me less happy.

I sacrificed time with family, friends, and some other hobbies to sit even longer in front of a computer after finishing work at the day job. I do love learning, teaching, and writing/recording but the amount of work that went into it was just exhausting. I found it was easier to take a brief pause to recharge before matters got worse.

This year I plan to get back to writing more. My content is usually in the form of both writing and video. I may mix this up a bit more to avoid burnout. Either way, I plan to write daily where possible to stay fresh.

Consistency is huge in the content marketing world. If you stop you put it all at risk which I'm currently doing. I don't like this feeling but burnout also sucks too.

Part of my drive for coming back into the publishing patterns of last year is to not give up and quit for good. What I'm doing has potential and I won't be able to truly know that if I quit.

Another factor is my wanting to learn more. Web3 is all the buzz and I sort of feel like I'm clueless on where to even begin so I'm hoping to explore more.

There's so much to do and learn. I'm excited for the new challenge of writing more. The content for web-crunch.com will come but maybe at a more relaxed pace. Follow along if you're interested. To those that have been here for the long haul, I thank you 🙏.