Write, Thrive, Repeat
How writing and publishing can pave the way for a great day
In late 2012, James Clear began writing about his personal experiments with habit formation. Quite fittingly, he formed a writing habit to aid this endeavor: publishing a new article on his website every Monday and Thursday. Thanks to this small-but-steady habit, within three years he gained two hundred thousand email subscribers and landed a book deal with a major publisher. Since then, his book Atomic Habits has become a phenomenon, selling over twenty million copies.
Writing regularly not only led to the liftoff of Clear’s career, but has also served as a source of uplift for his day-to-day life. “The quality of my life,” he wrote, “is significantly higher on days that I publish an article. The creative process and well-being go hand-in-hand.”
I have experienced a similar pattern. Clicking publish on a piece I’m proud of generates positive vibes that propagate throughout my day. This effect is especially powerful when I post early in the morning, prior to entering the workaday fray.
What makes writing so conducive to contentment?
To be well, we must do well—and to do well, we must be creative. It takes creativity to think up ways to achieve our goals and solve our problems. And writing calls forth creativity better than almost any other exercise. Creative juices, once they are flowing, can be redirected toward any endeavor: from coming up with project plans for work to brainstorming gift ideas for loved ones.
In addition to stimulating our creativity, writing sharpens our judgment. It helps us, not only to have ideas, but to discern between and improve upon them. A good writer rereads his copy and refines its content, structure, phrasing, and vocabulary; he strives to find something worth saying and the best way to say it. Writing with such exactitude primes a person to be more discriminating and precise in his thoughts, words, and deeds. As Sir Francis Bacon wrote, “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”
Recall that James Clear specifically said that it was publishing (not just writing) an article that made for better days. Similarly, I have found that when I finish and share a piece, my day gets a bigger boost than when I only chip away at an unfinished work. By polishing and publishing a piece, I prove to myself that I am capable of delivering excellent work. And that instills in me the self-confidence I need to tackle the tasks of my day head-on. That being said, a longer written work (like a book) is often worth more than the sum of its parts, as the breakout success of Atomic Habits demonstrated. Perhaps the ideal day would include writing and publishing a shorter text, plus making progress on a longer one.
One of the best things you can do for yourself is what James Clear did: start a blog and/or newsletter (Substack is great for both) and make it a habit to post on it frequently. The acts of writing and publishing activate human faculties—creativity, judgment, and self-efficacy—that are instrumental to having good days. And good days are the constituents of a good life.
Now I consider this essay polished enough to click publish. Sure enough, having reached that point, I feel quite resourceful, sharp, and confident. Next, I’m off to have what I hope will be a good day. May it be a blessed one for you as well.
This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
–Psalm 118:24 NKJV