Because It's Better Than Doomscrolling
I needed an image of someone writing. Don’t worry. I haven’t lost my mind.
A former colleague called me yesterday asking why I'm writing daily, and that surely my time would be better used doing anything else. I told him they aren't daily (learn how to count), and that there have been many times I've gone a week or two without posting. I also don't think my time would be put to better use.
I wrote about why I write almost a year ago. My reasons haven't changed.
- I want potential clients to know what I think before they contact me.
- I learn when I write.
- I enjoy it.
The second and third points are straightforward. I want to be smarter (who doesn't) and I enjoy it. It's also part of my daily routine. I get a post done every morning between five and six while sipping my coffee.
I want to focus on the first point. This site has helped a ton with finding potential clients and retaining existing ones. My thoughts are here and they're catalogued. Want to know what I was saying during the Tariff Tantrum last spring? Or my approach to retirement income planning? Or what I think of dividends? It's all here. And I'm adding to the catalogue almost every day.
I also get to write what could be considered an open letter to any question. This post is an answer to my former colleague. I'll forward it to him. And the difference between this and a private email is that everyone gets to see my reasoning.
Clients also ask me a lot of questions, and I can usually answer those questions in a minute or two. But I still write more detailed responses here. There’s more value in a thought-out written response than a bit of dialogue, or a two or three sentence email, or two-minute phone call. Spoken answers sound confident, but written ones force me to sit with a question until I trust my answer.
And knowing the answer to the question “why” lets me trust my response. Sometimes I can’t give a well thought out response in a meeting or a phone call or an email (but I still try). And I’m not talking about "the why" like every MBA talks about after they read Simon Sinek. I’m talking about "why."
Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. That's from Warren Buffett. I add "and why you're doing it" to that sentence. Writing here is my attempt at answering why.
Besides, this is a lot better than doomscrolling.