6 Lessons You, the Reader, Have Taught Us

Being consistent in our daily life is a challenge. The urge to take a day or two off is natural. These proposed off-days come with the hope of renewing our energy to make the return better than ever. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it’s unnecessary. For us here at The Daily Coach, pursuing a writing project for 365 consecutive days can be revealing and enlightening. We don’t know what will resonate the most with our readers every day. We can hope that we’ve taken your feedback to heart, but we don’t always know what pieces will be most successful. It’s the consistent effort and short feedback loop that enables us to improve in the margins.

The journey toward mastery within ourselves, our teams, and organizations is a marathon, not a sprint. When we embarked on this endeavor of The Daily Coach, we never could have imagined the abundance of discovery that awaited. Yet, we had to take that first step into the future, into the unknown.

The self-discovery has not been a one-way street of us teaching and the reader learning. Not at all. The journey has been enlightening for both. Here are 6 lessons we have learned from writing every single day:

1. Our observational skills are keener, more alert, and more adaptable. No longer do we hear or see something in passing. There is an application to most everything we see and hear.

2. Communication becomes easier. The ability to share information in a clear, concise manner allows for better conversations. Thoughts from our head to the paper become more natural to explain. Not fewer words, but the right words always help.

3. Subconscious time is the best time. Right before falling asleep, the mind is super active and creative. The best ideas flow right before we fall asleep, which makes having a pen and paper near our bed vital.

4. Search for knowledge. When we want to provide information, the search for knowledge and learning becomes more important. One piece of information leads to another, and before long, learning, unlearning, and relearning takes place.

5. Being disciplined to a routine makes life better and more enjoyable. When you have a responsibility that matters, you make the time to handle your work. It forces you to understand that the “why” in what we do is way more important than anything.

6. Writing allows us to develop greater mental clarity to act. While we cannot always control what happens to us in life, we can control how we respond. Writing this past year has allowed us to choose to see obstacles as opportunities for growth. We are the problem and the solution. We have intentionally strived to be part of the solution in our storytelling.

For us as leaders/teachers/parents, taking time to write every day will make us better writers, communicators, and, more importantly, provide a journey into knowing ourselves. After all, how can we perform our best if we don’t understand ourselves? Committing to cultivating the habit of writing and uninterrupted thinking each day can begin to manifest the seed of a dream into a harvest of realities.

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