Becoming Better, one post at a time

Creative writing is hard. It takes a certain headspace, focus, and energy level. To give myself the best chances of success in re-kicking off Becoming Better, I’ve set two immediate goals:

  1. Generate at least two thoughtful posts per month. I need to balance creative writing time with my life and career, so I’ve given myself a soft landing and committed to writing two (non-meta) posts per month.
  2. Leverage both short-and long-form posts. One of the reasons I failed in 2016 was the sheer amount of time it took me to write a single post. I was full of ideas, but as I started writing them out, they exploded in size and scope. A topic I thought I could explain over a few days’ writing ended up taking weeks, which kept happening until my ideas piled up and I lost all momentum. Creative writing takes time, but not every topic needs a long explanation. This time around, I’m committing to both short- and long-form posts, which I can flex to my available time.

One of my main intents is to improve my storytelling, so each post will have some aspect of story to go along with its idea/concept. It’s an excellent opportunity for both of us to learn a lot, and I’m excited to share it with you!

[BB Archive] Becoming Better through Directed Action

Take a moment to recall the first time you drove your car to a party at your friend’s new apartment.  You were probably relying heavily on your smartphone’s GPS navigation, furiously concentrating on turn-by-turn directions to guide you to the right location.  The second and third time you traveled there, though, maybe the drive was a little easier.  Before long, you could navigate without directions.  Now, you can split your drive time between texting & driving and thinking about what you’re going to have for lunch tomorrow, and Hey, you’re there before you know it!

Without even realizing it, you were becoming better.  In this case, you are becoming better at the skill of traveling to your friend’s house.  A skill can be any particular ability: driving to your friend’s house, learning to tie your shoe or to ride a bike, playing a musical instrument, or even watching your favorite show on Netflix!  Becoming better, then, can be defined as increasing (either consciously or unconsciously) your expertise of a particular skill.  

WAIT, HOW AM I BECOMING BETTER BY WATCHING NETFLIX?

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