One of the things that resonated with me from the book Atomic Habits, was the idea of how each time we perform an action, it is a vote in favor of the our type of person. The more votes in favor, the more likely we will identify as that type of person as the evidence mounts up. As you probably realize, this works with both positive and negative actions.
For instance, if I continually vote to go to the gym (actually go) then I am supporting the identity that I am the type of person who looks after about my health. But, if I am continually voting to not go, I am supporting the identity of someone who doesn't look after my health. And, what is important to acknowledge with this voting framework, is that it isn't about doing the "right thing" every time, it is about working out ways to do the right thing the majority of the time. If there are more positive points compared to negative points, the progress might be slow, but there will be progress.
I was thinking about this in terms of my writing on Hive from a couple of perspectives and how I personally identify with them.
- Frequency
- Quality
Frequency.
While I still write every day, I am far less prolific than I was in the first couple years I started writing consistently. Back then, it was multiple articles a day and I was probably averaging somewhere between 3000 and 6000 words daily, on multiple topics. There are multiple reasons I don't write as frequently.
For instance, as my earnings on an article increased, I reduced the number and lengthened the article. There is a cultural side to this also, where frequent posters were generally spammers looking to extract as much reward as possible - and it was seemingly incomprehensible that someone loved writing, and was able to produce multiple pieces of something that was considered quality. And then of course, my life situation has shifted over time and I had a stroke (transient ischemic attack), which has changed my availability, and the way I am able to process thoughts.
What is interesting though is, that I don't think I identify as a writer, even though I write daily. And this has me thinking about the "type of person who" statement. I think that in reflection, rather than being the type of person who writes daily, what I might be more inclined to identify with is the type of person who shares thoughts daily. Yes, the medium is written, but I think that I get enjoyment out of good conversations, and good conversations feed my thoughts, which then get shared to generate and enrich new conversations.
This then perhaps speaks to the next point.
Quality.
Sharing thoughts is not overly difficult, unless considering the value of those thoughts. Now, value is always subjective, which is also why what would be considered quality is subjective. For me though, the biggest value of my thoughts is that they are my own. Sure, there might be people have thought similar, or said similar in the past, but I don't spend a huge amount of time consuming other's thoughts in order to form my opinion about things, but rather, actively observe activity in its many forms, then spend time developing my world view through reflection and contemplation.
Part of which, I share daily.
The "quality" of my thought process isn't that my thoughts are of quality, but that because they are mine, because they are observed through my own experiences, developed through my own perspectives, and applied in my own environment, it means I have a high level of integrity in the process. What I mean by "integrity" is that what I think and do are generally pretty well aligned, and when they are not, I reflect on why and how, to see if I can align them more closely.
This presents in my writing also, where how I write is aligned with how I think, even if I am writing from perspectives from which I don't believe. I can play devil's advocate, or feign ignorance at times, because it helps me position the conversation in a more thoughtful way. More thoughtful doesn't necessarily mean the thought I put into it, but also the thoughts that could be inspired from the conversation.
Thoughts, Words, Actions.
This is the base formula for intentional creativity. A thought comes to mind, that thought gets translated into words (internally or externally), those words inspire some kind of movement - Something is created. This basic approach to creation is something I think we should all consider, especially if we are looking to change something in our world. While there is always a lot of change going on, if we aren't thinking, discussing, and then acting with alignment, we aren't intentionally affecting our experience. We become victims of circumstance, with the influencing factors likely blind to us.
Influencing the Majority.
We can all improve.
I can improve my thoughts and the way I express them, as well as the resulting actions that are born from them. However, improvement of the things I care about, rarely just "happen" by default. And, while there can be plenty of slipups along the way where my thoughts are not forthcoming or garbled, the words I use to express myself are not the best choice, or my actions are not in support of the type of person I aspire to be, the more "right" actions, the more practice and proof I get to inspire doing it again, or improving for next time further. The more proof, the more identification and that results in more repetition, and even more evidence mounting up.
When it comes to influencing habits, repetition is necessary to reinforce skills. However, when it comes to continuous improvement, changing the practice incrementally is also required. Applying this to the formula of creativity, to innovate better, thought needs to happen regularly, expression needs to improve and actions should align with the changing variables. I think this is where my writing has developed, where I have good and bad days, better and worse articles, but I am looking to have a majority of good days and better articles, and reduce the lows of the bad days and worse articles.
And as I have written about before, one of the "benefits" of writing daily for so long, is that the habit doesn't depend on me being in the mood in order to write, because that is not what I identify with. I don't identify as the type of person who is a quality writer, or even as the type of person who writes daily. How I seem to identify is the kind of person who is looking to improve my actions, so that there is more good than bad. At times I fail and these give me more data points to improve for next time. And of course, as I write and share my thoughts, I hope that it inspires people to improve their processes too, and become creators also.
There is no election, just possibility. And each day we are all casting many votes that indicate the type of person we are today, and who we could become tomorrow.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
My relatives who know I post on Hive often refer to me as a writer and I really don't like that. I have a brother in law who went to university to be a journalist and he did that job for many years. I don't feel like it is fair to call myself a writer when I haven't put in the time and requirements that he has. I feel like it is a slight to him. I've never really asked his opinion, so maybe I am just projecting. I think the problem with my thoughts isn't that they aren't quality, but I frequently have trouble organizing them into a quality form!
I can identify with you. What we do here is to pass the time, to leave a mark… Credit to those who deserve it. My area is mathematics (abstract) and I have never considered myself a writer even though I have a book on Line Algebra published…
Very nice! I'm not lucky enough to be published, but I enjoy doing what I do here on Hive.
Just remember, Ernest Hemmingway didn't study writing or literature either ;)
He did become a journalist though!
Probably. I wonder if a there was a professional singer in the family, would they be critical of other people enjoying singing, even if a bit off key?
Yes, those are very good points!
Life is a seesaw that tilts to one side or the other, and in the middle of it we find ourselves. Every day we must adapt to the circumstances that arise (adaptability), which is the same thing we do here at HIVE, write every day, not only with the aim of putting down our thoughts and ideas, but to achieve the greatest possible projection that translates into profits, to stay at the top of the charts to fill our ego.
Your description might describe yourself or someone, but it doesn't describe me. I like earning for what I put out there and wouldn't turn down earning more for the effort I put in, but it isn't about maximizing earnings at all for me. If it was, I would go about it quite differently. My ego isn't about being top of the charts, it is about me performing to my own standards. Top of the charts is more likely about performing to other's expectations.
Atomic Habits is an interesting book and there's a lot to learn from it. Even though changing harmful habits or building new ones isn't easy still continuing to do things that reinforce the kind of habits we hope to acquire is effective though the progress may be slow. And since habits affects the quality of our lives I think we are left with no options on this. Becoming 1% better everyday is the best way to go about it.
1% better a day is weirdly unsustainable, isn't it? Just imagine the compounding. Though having said that, it might be possible to do 1% on something per day.
3000 and 6000 words daily
Seems amazing. Finding that many words for posts in a day is a different case, sparing time for writing that long posts is another case :) Also, the topics must be somewhat interesting to catch the attention of readers.
Time is always there to write - time for sleep might not be! :D
I think this comes down to perspectives on experience. The people who struggle the most, are those who spend the most time online consuming nonsense.
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Have you read about the J-shaped curve of resistance training by Dr. O'Keefe?
Link below is an article the subject by anothr author: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/05/12/nailing-the-sweet-spots-for-exercise-volume.aspx