Why I Still Write

I launched Practical Eloquence eight years ago this month, and since then I’ve produced 672 articles, one full-length book and an e-book, 31 podcasts, and recently approximately 40 videos.

At the time, I wrote that I had three reasons for starting my blog:

• To get noticed in support of my marketing and selling efforts
• To become a better trainer and coach
• To make a difference in the lives of others

Certainly those three reasons still apply today, although if I ever calculated the actual financial return from all the time I’ve put in, it would probably be far below minimum wage. Yet, while I haven’t gotten rich from writing this, I’ve certainly enriched myself in other more important ways.

But as the years have gone by, the ink has flowed and the keystrokes have been tapped, there are three other reasons that have emerged to not only sustain but also to reinforce my efforts.

First, I’ve met smart, caring and outstanding people in many different walks of life and spots on the globe. I’ve corresponded with a lot of them, spoken to others on the phone, and even had the pleasure to meet some in person, but the dialogues we’ve had have been fun, they’ve been instructive, and I trust have left both parties better off. (Hard to think of a better description of effective communication that that!)

The second reason is that I can’t not write. If I go just a few days without putting something on paper (and yes, I like to start almost everything I write on paper first), I find that my head gets filled with a lot of ideas, observations and questions—and I frequently find myself waking up way too early with an immediate yen to get something down.

The lesson in this, of course, is that willpower is hard, but if you do something routinely and determinedly for enough time, you no longer need discipline.

The third reason, and this one was totally unexpected to me, is that some of the advice and admonitions I’ve given out have actually rebounded and stuck to me! In other words, there have been times when I’ve stressed that my readers should do something, and I’ve caught myself and realized that I don’t follow my own advice as much as I should. Cognitive dissonance can be a powerful spur to personal improvement.

So, yeah, I definitely plan to keep writing, keep learning and keep making new friends—and I hope you keep reading.