Why Am I Starting A Blog
Surprisingly, primarily for myself.
I know it might sound strange to go through the trouble of setting up a blog just to write my thoughts down, but it serves as a great accountability system to write.
But let’s have a look WHY I want to start writing things in the first place.
Thinking better
Writing down an idea fully exposes it. It shows holes in thinking (A -> C, but what happened to B?), or just plain assumptions that I make. It also forces one to structure the idea. Which is going to be more and more important in a remote world that hates meetings.
I got inspired from Jordan Peterson in this video.
Thinking deeper
I’ve been struggling to work on an idea just in my head. My brain keeps looping back to things I already know as it’s easier than to focus on the problem at hand. I’m hoping by writing down known things, it’ll free to me to focus on the edge of known/new.
Learning new skills
Writing
After I’ve written a piece on something I could ask my mentor to rate my writing skills
English
Now I can pay an English teacher to check my grammar and help me to identify my blind spots.
Async communication
Rather than jumping on Zoom, I’ll try to write a mini-article that does the job.
Summarising what I’ve learned
From:
- books
- personal experiments (up to 43 from How to be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable in 2021)
- Tiny TIL snippets
Aspiration
New ideas
If I write about X, people could chip in and expand it.
Feedback
When I misunderstand something and write about it, I hope, people will tell me about it and correct me. The worst thing I could ask for is to have an idea about the world that’s invalid.
Build my brand
As a generic Ruby software contractor, I’m paid for my time, not for my results. I would like to specialise in a narrower field and focus on solving problems, rather than sell my time. Blogging is a great way to showcase my skills and attract clients. I want to work with people that want ME, not just a random Ruby body.