Why Create a Blog?

The best way to get started on the path to sharing your work is to think about what you want to learn, and make a commitment to learning it in front of others.

Don’t think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine.

Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon

Time to stop procrastinating, self-doubting and agonising of wanting to write a post and becoming afraid and avoidant. It is time to start drafting and writing about topics that come to mind.

Writing, in the form of a blog, is a creative outlet. An expression of one’s mind that can be practiced and improved upon like a skill. A blog has the potential for a worldwide reach. The audience is anyone with an internet connection. Taking into consideration the words of Austin Kleon, a blog is an excellent way to communicate ideas to a large audience. It works the creative muscle of writing in front of a global stage.

So here we are, my first post.

All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

The most important thing is creating a habit. This is hardly anything new, but we get stuck in perfectionism. The idea that the blog post has to be perfect or knowing the perfect topic to write can halt your progress for weeks and months. Instead of sitting in front of a screen creating, I would do anything but create. The idea is to simply start and continue on a regular basis. It does not have to be perfect; it just has to be done.

Ali Abdaal in one of his recent email newsletters discussed the concept of the flywheel (original content). A flywheel is a weighted wheel that stores rotational energy. It can be difficult to start spinning, but once you have started spinning the wheel, it will be easier to continue spinning. Applying this to the creative process, it can be difficult to start the blog, but once it gets going, it will not be as difficult as starting.

Let’s see if I can build the habit of blogging on a regular basis and keep going. And I hope to do this in front of you, my audience. If you are planning on starting something, utilise the same concepts. Focus on starting small and building the habit through repetition. Remember it is about starting and doing rather than perfection.

I hope I can help you with snippets of my thoughts in what I write. Thank you for reading and write to you again soon.