First Post: So It Begins

Small beginnings might lead to big changes and there’s only one way to find out. My beginning will be writing a blog.

Why start a blog? Because it’s a great way to share ideas. I want to learn to write and to write in English. Why not write privately? I do that too, but to get better, I believe I need the pressure of publishing the work.

Why writing? Writing is an excellent way to express yourself, think and form your thoughts.

If you can’t put your thoughts in clear writing, you don’t really know what you’re thinking.

Writing forces us to articulate whatever we think and feel.  

Why in English? It’s a challenge. I moved from Finland to Sweden a couple of years ago and although I have learned some Swedish, I communicate a lot in English at work. For right now, to write in English feels more relevant.

While learning to write, I’m also writing to learn. Writing is a great way to explore what we know and what we don’t know. What we understand and don’t understand. I plan to write about things I’ve come across in work: observations, situations, ideas. I’ll also explore and share some of the ideas from the books I read.

The blog. What is it? Who is it for? It’s a place to find ideas for creativity, marketing, sales, business, writing. It’s for my colleagues, customers, prospects. For people who want inspiration for life and work. Maybe I’ll find the niche eventually.

There’s something interesting in this direction, and I want to find out what it is.

Start from where you are. It’s the process of writing – or any work for that matter – that will take us somewhere. The meaning might change during the journey. The reasons might change. The content, the ideas, the purpose – everything might change during the journey because that’s what good journeys do. Home stays the same. It’s us who have changed on the journey.

This post might be awkward to read afterwards, but it doesn’t matter really. Maybe it feels like finding that old photograph where you have a weird haircut and that awful shirt.

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What’s the work? What’s the method? I plan to write 500 words at one sit, 2-3 times a week. Then I’ll edit, cut and post.

Why 500 words? It’s about one A4 page and takes 30-40 minutes to write. It’s long enough to get into the feeling of writing and short enough to get something done at one sit. The 2-3 times a week is more realistic than everyday but still often enough to gain and keep momentum.

To get started and especially to finish anything that feels difficult, it’s good to keep the bar low. Author Jon Acuff suggests to cut your goal in half. Seth Godin encourages to detach yourself from the outcome and focus on the process, the work. It’s more important to get the thing done than to get it perfect. That’s easy to say but hard to do. Do it anyway.

Start shipping creative work – Seth Godin

So, welcome. I hope you’ll enjoy the journey.