When I first started working for myself two years ago I started a weekly blog post series. It was helpful for me to sit down and reflect on the week behind me. I would find myself learning things I never expected about working for myself. And I tried to keep it on a very personal, down-to-earth, level. I wanted, more or less, to let people in on what the journey was really like switching from a 9-5 job to total freelance.
As the series continued throughout the year I was so pleased to hear from others how it helped encourage them in their own professional journey. It helped me to keep writing and sharing my experiences. The weekly updates would ebb and flow right along with the work I was doing. Some weeks would be really intensive in one area, and other weeks would be really short and to the point. But the length of these updates was never the point, only that I would sit and write.
Then I lost my motivation. The engine ran out of steam. Only now, looking back on it, I see it as a great disservice to myself and my readers for not finishing what I started. It's an all too common pattern in my life that I want to change. And that's what this introduction is all about I guess. An attempt to redeem myself, and breath some new life into some of my old writings. But first, I need to tell you what got me excited to write again.
Earlier this year I had the chance to sit down with the one and only Shawn Blanc while he was in town visiting. I had only met Shawn once before, at Circles Conference 2012, but we had kept up with each other via twitter and our blogs. Anyways, through our conversation I came to find out that Shawn had recently released a book (okay, an eBook to be exact) based on a blog series he had written. Check it out here: Delight is in the Details. But not only that, hearing how Shawn makes his living from writing his blog and doing a daily podcast was super inspiring 1. because of his determination and 2. because he is a loving father and husband on top of all that. I drove home that day feeling more inspired to write again than I had in over a year.
Going back through the archives and pulling down all my weeks of writing was refreshing, and often times humbling. It reminded me of looking through old sketchbooks. But it was healthy for me to re-read all my old updates and see how much I had grown. And then I started to notice a pattern forming. In the later posts I started to group my writings into three categories; On Work, On Life and on Faith. I remember the decision to write about each topic on its own, but enjoyed how much they each overlapped one another. This got me thinking about how I could revisit the same writing but with a much more focused approach.
That bring us to today and the beginning of something new. Every Friday my goal is to publish a post on one of the three main topics: Work, Faith and Life. Each post will explore one area specifically related to the main topic. For example, I've already begun writing about "personal vs. professional" and "comparing vs. celebrating" on work. This kind of focus is what I hope to bring to the table every week this year. My hope is that it would encourage us all to dig a little deeper into our lives.
Thanks for listening.
