I am now a writer, here’s to 200.
“If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in… you will interest other people.” — Rachel Carson
When I started writing my first piece in November of 2018, I never anticipated that less than two years later I would have 200 standalone pieces of writing and my own website (HarrisonWendland.com) displaying them all prominently.
But here we are.
I thought that I would just start writing and maybe I had something worth saying.
Now, I’m a writer.
It’s become not only a part of my weekly routine to write, but a true part of my identity and I write often.
I’ve connected with a variety of people as a result of this writing, and positively impacted others.
Some people I’ve met have been in Norway. Eduardo provided some great encouragement and shared, “It is time to write your story.”
Other people shared, “I read every one of your Medium pieces, keep going!”
Someone else said, “I love what you share on LinkedIn, I often benefit from the writing that you share.”
One person shared, “I really enjoyed a recent post you shared, I’m going to use those questions on a date tonight.”
WOW.
I knew that some people might read what I write here and there but that type of affirmation and confirmation is incredible.
I’m a writer.
I didn’t expect to be here.
I have so much writing out there and honestly… I just write it and post it, I don’t even edit or reread, so when people compliment specific segments, I regularly have no idea what they are talking about and once seeing what they referenced I think, “wow that’s pretty good, I can’t believe I wrote that.” But again, it’s not from me, and that’s why this continued action has become so important to me and vital to what I do.
All of my writing goes first on Medium as I love their platform and the ease of creating powerful presentations within each writing piece. Then I also have my writing linked to my website and I’ve introduced weekly newsletters that share the latest pieces of writing (since I post every Tuesday and Thursday).
A few of my favorites
Now, of course, I’m at 200, this is the 200th piece of writing that I’ve written so I had better share a few of the personal highlights.
Here are 5 of the ones that I most enjoyed writing. These 5 might be some of my longer pieces but at the same time, they took me half as long as the shorter pieces. There are certain writing times where everything just flows and as I say in the first piece below, the message does not come from me.
1. This was a piece that was on my mind as someone else had a conversation with me and asked about why I believe what I do. We spoke about eternity and about what we think this world is all about. At that point in time, we closed the evening but it was heavy on my heart to provide more and to dive deeper. I needed to share more context so I started writing and then God did the rest and provided some of the most important aspects of this piece.
Subtitle: 5 Bible Verses that Changed My Life Why am I a Christian? What do I believe? There are many different ways…harrisonwendland.com
2. The second piece here, about compounding, is something that I’m incredibly passionate about. A few of my favorite books, The Slight Edge, and Talent is Never Enough, go in-depth on this concept and the importance of it. Everything that we do has an impact on the direction that we go in life and where we end up. I often spend time reflecting and assessing and evaluating my life, today, last year, and five years ago. I’ve changed so much in the past five years — and mostly for the better — but I need to understand what decisions I made and actions I partook in that led me to where I am today. What has God been revealing to me? What are the next five years going to look like?
Albert Einstein coined the phrase, "Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world." So many people today seem to…harrisonwendland.com
3. This piece is something that is core to who I am today. I’m someone who spends time digging into the data and looking at everything objectively where possible. I think of myself as someone who’s sensitive and easily touched by the emotions of others and very sympathetic yet still centered enough to remove the emotions from the situation in almost every single circumstance. I’m rarely ever angry, I don’t even use that word to describe my behavior. Occasionally, there will be things that knock me off-kilter a little bit but nothing is ever allowed to dramatically impact me either positively or negatively — only I can do that.
I'm going to kick this off with a bit of a self-assessment that I underwent in the past week or so. I strive to post…harrisonwendland.com
4. I often tell people that while everyone does, yes, want the tallest building in the city, there are two ways to get there. Some people think that the best way is to knock down the buildings of others, that way you will remain the tallest — at least for a while. Other times, you can spend all your energy building your building the tallest and you’ll eventually have the tallest building. But… what if you can help others build their buildings taller? Often, people need our help and always, we need theirs. We are never the best at absolutely everything (as much as I love to win, I know I cannot win everything), so we should strive to connect with others and give to them without expectation.
Your plan, your implementation. Why would they be excited when you're succeeding and excelling? Their STAGNANCE is no…harrisonwendland.com
5. We are constantly communicating with others. Whether we admit it or not, we have some thoughts, verbal communications, and nonverbal communications. There are so many different things that we do, and often things that we do not even realize we are doing, that there is almost always some sort of back and forth. For example, if I don’t text my mom for a few days, that communicates something, and probably not something good. If I call her two days in a row, that also communicates something, and probably something much much different. No matter who we are talking to, we can provide value and we can also provide value.
Where do we go from here?
Now, I think that I’m going to maintain what I’m doing; writing one day a week at the pace of two writing pieces a week.
One other thing that I’ve done also over the course of the past two years is write about the books that I’m finishing. Last year, I completed 81 books and have posted writing pieces about each and every one of them.
This year I’m just about on pace for 100 and need to get back on track for the regular writing pieces about them also.
I’ve been spending time reading and listening to audiobooks and doing the other writing as I spoke about already, but not a ton reflecting on the books that I’ve been finishing.
I take notes throughout each book that I finish and whether reading, and writing in the margin, or listening to an audiobook, and sharing the notes that I takeaway in the bookmarks of the application, I have extensive notes from each book.
That was the revelation that I had at the end of 2018 when I finished 117 books in a year. I realized that while I was learning and growing a lot, most other people wouldn’t do the same things or benefit in the same ways. As a result, I expanded on my writing and often use key points from those books as the inspiration for the writing that I do regularly.
One of my friends, Jess, gave me an incredible compliment the other day. She shared that I’m someone who just makes you want to be better and do better. She said that I have so much drive and am just a very good person to be around. She said that I get others to want more out of life.
WOW.
Talk about humbling. I looked right at her and said, “that’s really what you think and how you’d describe me? I can’t take credit for that.” I told her, “Look, you know this already but I’m just looking to become all that God has created for me to be, I need to fulfill my purpose during this short life on earth.” But she knew that already.
So where am I going?
That’s something that I don’t really know. I know that today, this month, this year, I’m a writer.
Maybe I won’t be a writer in a few years, and I can live with it. I don’t always like writing but it’s what I do and however small, it’s creating a positive impact, so I will continue it until God directs me elsewhere.
“If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in… you will interest other people.” — Rachel Carson
Where we are is not where we were and where we were is not where we are going.
“It is much harder to stop something already in motion than it is to start something that is stopped. It is even harder still to induce motion into something that is without movement.” — Harrison Wendland
It’s tougher to get started again once we stop. If you need a visual of this just go ask some people who were consistently going to the gym in early 2020. Are they going now? Have they been working out? I know a TON of people who used to be people I would admire for their fitness routines… but they stopped and have NOT restarted. They stopped. It’s hard to get going again.
Don’t stop.
So, I’m a writer, and I won’t stop because I have something to say. But it’s not always for you, sometimes it’s for me. That’s okay, I don’t expect anyone to read my writing, I do it because I have something to say and a message that could be positively impactful for others. And the truth is… if I’m not positively impactful for others, it positively impacts me and that right there is already a WIN.
Keep going.
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” — Lao Tzu
“You’ve already won. You were born a winner. Consistently executing at your true best will ensure success.” — Harrison Wendland
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