796

Every so often I find myself reflecting on my “writing journey.” Journey is perhaps the wrong word, as most adventures have an end or finish line in sight. I do not.

I just keep writing. I just keep hitting publish, each and every day.

Today, as I am writing this, is day 796.

An individual post is no accomplishment, really. It is the sum of the effort for which I am proud of. But I do not deserve any external rewards.

796 days ago, I made a public commitment to begin writing. I had an audience of zero and had no clear route ahead.

I just started typing and hitting publish. Over the years, my writing style and content has changed slightly. I have written many things that I now completely disagree with. Sometimes I write short essays other times they are super long. Sometimes I get 100,000 views, more often than not I get tens or hundreds. Sometimes I get tons of responses, others I am alone.

But none of that is the point. And that is what many people miss.

I do not write to make money. I do not write for fame or whatever. If I were aiming for those things, I would accomplish them in a very different way.

Maintaining a daily blog – where you write literally every day – cannot be about other people.

I write to learn, not to give advice. Not to get famous. And certainly not to get money.

This blog is my gym. I show up every single day because I care a ton about my health. Exercising gives me energy. It pumps blood into my brain.

I start every day having accomplished something. While the feat may be quite small, especially compared to others’, it counts, to me.

It gets me going and headed in the right direction. Even if the rest of my day is terrible, at least I will have fulfilled my commitment and published something.

I also write to start conversations. I have met countless incredibly impactful people simply because of my content. Blogging and twitter, combined, have been two of the biggest accelerants of my growth.

But have never wanted to be a real writer. I say that, quite often, because it is important for me to see writing as a medium for exercise and communication – nothing more. I do not take journalism classes. I do not want to write for famous magazines. I really do not care if I make typos. I care about executing, thinking clearly and hitting publish.

Perhaps I will regret this style years from now. Perhaps I will wish I kept all of these essays and notes to myself.

But perhaps not.

Writing is a temporary state. I will.

If I find a better tool to train with, sure I will switch. Until then, I will keep at it on this blog.

Today, I am in Thailand. Last week I was in Seoul. The week before I was in Yangshuo, China. And the week before that I was in Cambodia.

Next week, I will be in Bali and the week after Japan.

I have had many opportunities to skip the “gym.”

I won’t.

Not because anyone will care if I do.