From 500 Days of Writing to Hibernating Like a Bear

I wrote and published for 500 days straight. Then like a bear after hiding away food for the winter, settled into a deep hibernation.

I thought writing for those 500 days would provide the answers to my most compelling questions.

Questions about what’s important to me and why. Questions about life, joy, and fulfillment. Questions about legacy and the measure of our days.  

And to be fair, I found a lot of these answers.

Daily writing was enormously clarifying, but the regular discipline and focus was the real benefit that came with it. I’ve always been a decent thinker, but not always the best doer. In fact, I’ve often been crap at executing those though-about plans.

Then came the daily writing project.

Suddenly, brutal consistency became my new calling card in a life filled with half-hearted pursuits of the shortcut.

Many things happened and many things changed over the time it took to write 500 essays. But the biggest change of all was me.

The crazy thing was those changes were apparent to everybody. I also realized these leaps in focus, discipline, and ability are available to anyone who’s willing to get uncomfortable and then stay there for a while.

Daily writing was like exercise to the mind. When I did it, everything else worked better.

My thoughts were cleaner and distilled, my actions were focused and intentional.

As a result, many aspects of my life were elevated. Like Zig Ziglar said, “What we get by achieving our goals is less important than who we become by achieving our goals.”

Forever seek new frontiers and who knows who we can become.

Keep going.