Anniversary of the Week that Changed All My Tomorrows

“Aspiring writer” is no longer part of my bio.

Want indisputable proof that we commonly overestimate what we can do in a day, but vastly underestimate what we can accomplish in a year?

I did too.

Another victim of good phrasing, a common cliché bandied about these days is that the journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.

A year ago today, I began my journey onboarding for an online writing cohort (#ship30for30) that would change my life.

That’s not hyperbole. It did.

Fast forward a year and I’m onboarding my replacement at work since I’ve now been promoted to lead my sales team, an opportunity I’ve long sought.

What a difference a year can make.

In a way it’s the ultimate validation that what we get by achieving our goals pales in comparison to who we become by achieving our goals.

I found a sticky note I posted to my wall on that day a year ago. It reads:

“Hit the publish button and change your life forever.”

It seemed ridiculous at the time, but maybe I knew myself better than I thought.

I set a tentative goal of writing and posting twice a week after the first 30 days.

I even naively wrote how having 100 published essays was a massive stretch goal for me.

What actually happened?

I blew through that “100-essay” mark over eight months, 260 essays, and 80,000 words ago.

Never in my life have I been so consistent, so steady, so focused, and so disciplined.

And I can tell you, without pretense and without hesitation that it’s quickly led to the one of the most interesting and consequential periods of my entire life.

Do you know what power and agency you feel from pursuing what really matters to you?

Before a year ago, I didn’t either.

I just spent my time trying to convince the world I already did.

Now here I am, like Marcel Proust, in search of lost time.

But I’m a year ahead of where I was.

And it was a hell of a year.

Go have you one as well.

It’s there if you want it.

If you enjoyed this thread, do all the normal stuff you do to threads you like!

For more like this and daily writing on philosophical dad stuff and sales leadership, follow me @dannyreeves1.

Thanks for reading!