It Will Change You

It wasn’t long ago that I struggled to create written content for this blog. For three years, I would maybe publish 1-3 posts per month. That is if I published anything at all. The most I ever published in a single month was 7 posts (which felt like a massive accomplishment). I simply didn’t have enough content or enough time to do more than 3 posts most months.

Fast forward to September 2022. I was having a coffee with my friend and mentor, Gary Hoag. I was asking him some questions in preparation for introducing him as a keynote speaker for the event we were hosting that night. I wanted to mention his blog, as it’s a major part of his life and ministry. In this conversation, it was revealed to me that he’d published daily for approximately 13 years. That’s more than 4,600 consecutive days!!!! What?!?! Oh yeah, and he’s also one of the busiest people I know and travels the world monthly. Yet, here he is cranking out tons of amazing content. Of course he has a bunch of future posts in the tank and pre-scheduled, right? Nope! He writes each post daily. As he was explaining this to me, all I could think about was how crazy this friend of mine was (not the first time I’ve thought that about Gary!). Then, he added, “Writing daily will change you.”

I didn’t know what he meant at the time, but I would soon find out. It was shortly thereafter that I decided to start publishing The Daily Meaning 7 days per week. Considering I struggled to post even 1-3 times per month, the idea of posting 365 days per year sounded insane. Many trusted people in my life advised me not to do it. But I had a little Gary on my shoulder, repeating the phrase, “It will change you.”

Today marks the 150th consecutive day of publishing this blog. Gary was right! It has changed me in so many ways. I no longer write if/when a good idea strikes me and I have ample time to do it. Instead, I write every single night because hundreds of people are expecting to open their e-mail to find a new post tomorrow morning. After you do that enough times, it’s amazing how the time and the ideas magically start to appear. That rhythm, habit, responsibility, and opportunity has profoundly changed me in so many ways.

This post isn’t really about writing a blog. This post is about something in your life that feels so close, but yet so far. Something you really want to do, but it’s too scary to actually pursue. It’s something you want to be, but imposter syndrome prevents you from allowing yourself to go for it. The rhythm, habit, responsibility, and opportunity. These things are so powerful. Here’s my promise to you (if you decide to actually go for it): it will change you!

No Longer Interested

Many people have this blog delivered to their inbox each morning. It’s free to subscribe and you should totally do it! The platform I use to distribute it provides me with a lot of insights and data. How many people are opening the e-mail, what links they are clicking, what other articles they are reading. So. Much. Data.

However, there can be a downside to all this info. A few days into this new blog format, I noticed someone unsubscribed. This was of course someone who doesn’t know me and doesn’t realize how valuable all this content is, right!?!? haha! I clicked into it and saw the name of a close friend. Wait, a close friend unsubscribed? It wasn’t enough to just ignore my e-mails and maybe come back down the road if/when they’re curious? Nah, they took an intentional step to rid me and my content from their life. Ok, now I’m just being dramatic.

When they unsubscribed, the chosen reason was, “no longer interested.” Double ouch!

I learned long ago that many people in my life don’t much care for my work or my perspective. For a while, it hurt. I was confused. Why wouldn’t they care about what I have to offer? Well, they just don’t….and that’s ok! About twice per week someone will say to me, “sorry, I don’t listen to your podcast.” My response is always, “that’s ok…..I don’t follow you to work, either.”

Many of my close friends don’t read, listen, or watch ANY of my content. My own wife doesn’t even listen to the podcast. On the other hand, we have listeners all over the world and we periodically rise up the charts in Italy and Belize (no idea why!).

All we can do is share our passions, ideas, and gifts with the world, and let the chips fall how they may. When we have the courage to do so, the right people will find us. Our people. The audience we were meant to serve. If you’re one of them, I’m grateful for you. If you’re not, I’m still grateful for you and hope you’ve found your people.

The world deserves what you have to offer!