Why I'm joining this challenge

I’m joining this challenge for two reasons: a few deeply held beliefs about communication, and a spontaneous fuck-it-why-not impulse.

Tl;dr:

• Being a really good communicator, written and spoken, is extremely valuable.
• You can become a great communicator simply by practicing.
• I’ve wanted to write more for years but never managed to stick with it. Maybe this time will be different.

Writing is one of those obviously good things everyone knows they should do, yet most people don’t. It’s like living a healthy lifestyle: knowing what to do and actually doing it are two completely different worlds.

The first thing people overlook is that writing follows a power law: one with massive, uncapped upside and basically no downside. Once you publish something online, it stays there. It gathers views for years. You write once, and the benefits compound like interest.

Most pieces get a handful of readers, some get a bit more, and a tiny fraction get almost all the attention. Again, a power law. If you know how they work, you now realize now important it is to put your writing out there. If you don’t, you should watch this Veritasium video to get a better intuition of what happens in a game governed by a power law.

The second overlooked point is how much writing improves your thinking. Even as I’m writing this out, I’m already questioning I arguments made a paragraph earlier. It is ridiculously easy to fool yourself. Writing gives you a third-person perspective on your thoughts, a way to take distance and scan them. Do it. You’ll refine your ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Btw this is also why writing is so central in successful organizations; Stripe and AWS are famous for it.

Finally, you just have to get over the embarrassment of sharing your thoughts publicly. A challenge like this helps. It feels awkward, what if I say something stupid? But honestly, who cares? You’re almost always your own harshest critic. So push yourself. Do it. And once it’s done, you’ll be glad you did.