I’m starting to write more stuff. Why? That’s a great question. I’m not really sure why I’ve been writing more, but for some reason I have this urge to get better at it and to do it more and more. I’ve always enjoyed writing and have been doing it one way or another since I’ve been in elementary school. I can remember writing stories that I would read to the class and the teachers who encouraged it. Writing was fun back then and it was a great way to entertain the people around me.

As I grew older writing became less of something that I wanted to do and more of something that I was required to do. Other things like sports tended to take up all of my free time, so the only times that I would write was when it was mandatory for school. I still had fun with even the most boring writing assignments and even up through college I preferred a written test to one that was multiple choice.

Once I was out of school and got a job in the real world I found myself writing all the time, but most of it was communication based. One of my first jobs was an IT guy at a construction company in Indianapolis, IN and I lived in Microsoft Outlook sending out emails all day. I don’t mind emailing and I’m actually really good at it, but even though technically I was still writing I wasn’t creating any type of content that required me to get my thoughts together in a creative and thoughtful way. Don’t get me wrong, emailing requires thought, but it’s very reactive, technical and to the point (which is not that creative).

Here over the past few years I haven’t been writing much. Stephanie and I used to blog quite a bit before we moved out to California, but that has since stopped and with it my writing. Do I still write at isocket? Of course, but it’s not the same.

To most people this wouldn’t be that big of deal, but to me when I’m not creating content (both writing and video, which I’ve stopped creating, too) I feel like I’m off my game. It’s hard to explain, but without the creation of content in my life my mind just feels out of shape. In fact, that’s probably the best way to explain it — it’s like my mind is flabby and needs to be conditioned back into shape. Just like with running there’s really only one way to get to where I need to be and that’s with dedication, consistency and constantly pushing my performance. The more writing I do, the more conditioned my mind will be and the better (and easier) my writing will become.

Writing a lot of content isn’t easy and it takes dedication and time, but when I’m able to get my thoughts together and write them up into a blog post like this one things just start to become clearer. The ability to collect your thoughts and write them up in a way that makes sense to other people will spill over to your conversations with your friends, co-workers and even husband/wife.

I know that when I’m writing I’m a better communicator all around and all I need to do is keep going. Just keep writing and the rest will happen — you’ll see.