Am I a Writer?
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

Last week, I wrote about the space needed in our daily agendas to allow time for processing information and switching gears. I also mentioned that it was Friday evening as I was struggling with my writing. Instead of spending time with my wife, I was working at my desk. As I pondered my writing dilemma, I started thinking about James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. Why does my writing get pushed to the last minute? What needs to change? According to James, tiny changes can equal remarkable results.

Perhaps the first thing I need to change is how I view myself. I have written over 500 blog posts and articles since joining MACNY. That totals 3.6 average business books, so it looks like I am a writer. Step one in new habit creation is to see myself as a writer. It’s not that I want to become one; I am one. How we see ourselves is how we view things. How we view things is how we do things. When we can change the way we see ourselves, everything will change. Once I make the shift in my thinking, I need to get busy creating two additional habits.

When I have a thought, I need to capture it and file it so it can be used as content at a later date. Throughout the week, I read, listen to podcasts, and have amazing conversations with people. I need to take the time to record my thoughts and file them in a place where I can find them later. My plan is to use the Evernote app. I still need to do some work on the filing and labeling part of my new habit.

I must start writing daily. In his book, James Clear shares about a friend who wanted to begin working out. To start building this new habit, he started going to a gym on a regular basis. He didn’t actually work out, but he created a habit of going to the gym. He also added that a writer needs to write even when they can’t think of anything to write. It might be something as simple as “Today, I don’t really have anything meaningful to write.” This helps establish the habit of writing daily.

So, there you have it. My plan to address the stress surrounding writing is to create three new habits:

• See myself as a writer.
• Develop a system for recording my thoughts.
• Write daily.

Feel free to check in with me to see how things are going.

Have a great week!