It has now been over a year since I have been writing on this platform. Although it has had its fair share of disappointments, it can often be easy to neglect the good writing has done in my life.
As a writer, it is essential to separate your writing from the platform it exists on. Many writers are angry and upset because they ignore the beauty of the process of writing.
I do not blame them. For a long time, I was only focused on the money and fame I could potentially achieve through writing regularly. And although this fuelled me with initial ambition, I started to feel empty as my writing struggled to perform well.
Recently, I have been focusing on how writing has influenced my life. Fair enough, it has not made me rich, and I still work my 9–5, but there is still much to be grateful for.
When we spend a lot of our time reading articles like:
“How I made $1000 this month”
It is easy to forget your own successes. So, in this article, I want to highlight three ways that writing has improved my life. Hopefully, you can relate to at least one of them and be happy that you have stuck with it.
Self-Discipline
For the most part, writing has given me a greater sense of the self-discipline I had within me. Not only have I had to plan my day around writing, but I also have to make sure I finish my articles.
Unlike most things I do in my day, writing is one of the most self-disciplining actions I practice. When I look back at all the articles I have written, they are a testimony to my ability to stick with the task.
There have been times when I have failed to hit the flow state in my writing career. Not all my articles are wonderful free-flowing thoughts from my mind. In fact, very few are like that. Many are me struggling through each word and thought that comes to my mind.
Writing, like any creative endeavour, requires patience and resilience. Patience to get to the end and resilience to get through the clunky process. Regardless of what anyone says, writing has supported my ability to discipline myself.
In other areas of my life, such as my health, I have found it easier to cut out bad habits. Before writing, it would take me a long time to start a habit or stop one. However, writing has installed a discipline in me that allows me to get things done regardless of my own inclinations.
I can not count the number of times I have come back home and rathered lay on my bed and scroll through Instagram than write. But the writer in me does not allow me to do it. Instead, it calls me to my desk to produce an article. And I have never regretted it, not once.
Self-Reflection
Although I would have liked to think that I self-reflected often, I now truly understand what it means to self-reflect. Before writing, a lot of my self-reflection was surface-level. I would consider my decisions and how I went about my day.
However, as a writer, I have now accomplished a deeper level of self-reflection. Every instant of my day is a moment to self-reflect and think about what nature, myself, and others are trying to tell me. Every waking morning, I am now in tune with who I am.
Instead of waking up and rushing out for work, I now take time to be thankful for life. Opening my windows is no longer a way to just the light in. It is a refreshing moment that gives me a new start to my day. It is a time to reflect on who I was yesterday and who I may become today.
The process of writing does not start when I sit at my desk, it starts in my waking moment. And it is through constantly pursuing a deeper understanding of myself that I am able to write.
Self-reflection has given me the ability to uncover some of the pain and hurt I was covering in my life for years. And through doing so, I have been able to use these experiences as a creative outlet to inspire and encourage others.
So, writing has given me the ability to reflect on who I am and who I want to be. It has allowed me to think deeply about the person I am becoming. And it has given me a chance to express that to help others who are going through the same self-discovery.
Abundance
One of the most subtle ways writing has improved my life is giving me an abundance mindset. For a long time, I believed there was not enough to go around.
That is mainly because I grew up in an underprivileged household that struggled to make ends meet. A lot of my life was ensuring that I had enough for the next day. So, I was plagued with a scarcity mindset.
Although scarcity mindsets can help with your motivation and drive, it affects how you see others in the world. I believed that my success had to come as a result of someone else’s failure. And this led me to want to be the best in everything I did.
My results were great, but deep down, I felt empty. I had an unbearable amount of weight on myself to outperform the rest, and I never had to. Writing showed me that an abundance mindset is needed to be successful.
Through my writing, I found the countless possibilities of words to use, topics to write on and ways to say things. The creative pursuit of writing opened me up to a world of infinite possibilities. And it has changed the way I look at life and approach my success.
Now, I feel freer to achieve success in my own time and way. I no longer compete with others, but instead, uplift them. I now understand that their success is my success indirectly.
As we all push to become something and add value to the world, we can all reap the benefits of each other’s talents and output in the world.
So, take some time to think about how writing has impacted your life in a positive way. I would love to hear some of them in the comments.