Clean Your Mind And Discover Your Real Self With Daily Personal Writing

Make sense of your world for a creative awakening - just don't self-censor

Jan 25, 2024

1. A daily writing habit

I’ve been writing daily in public for 143 days. For a socially anxious introvert, this is mind-blowing to me. I credit this to joining the Badassery Academy’s Write 4/28 in September 2023, and it’s honestly changed my life.

I was dubious that I’d get into writing. Although I’ve always preferred visual arts for creative expression, I’ve always loved reading and admired writers.

However, decades in corporate and academic life meant my writing was functional and personality-free.

I even had a job interviewer tell me he was glad he met me on a call, as my personality was nothing like it came across in my CV. I actually had one when talking in real time. Yikes...??!!

I struggled to express myself in words that sounded like the way I speak or think. I’d write something, read it and think ‘that’s so boring and bland’, or ‘what are you even trying to say?’.

Whilst building my online coaching business, I realised the ability to write online is a key skill I needed to access business opportunities and connect with a community. I’ve always wanted to share my knowledge, insights and ideas to help others benefit from what I’ve learnt, and vice-versa.

The belief that I would become an online writer was pretty shaky though, as I didn’t think I’d get past my mental and anxiety blocks. Yet somehow, the Badassery challenge and ethos resonated and worked.

Being part of a compassionate community has really helped - we learn from each other, are cheerleaders and soundboards, and offer support when we experiment with new things.

Learning writing basics has been a massive shift as well. The penny dropped when I realised I’d never been taught how to write what was on my mind and without an exam or presentation as the goal.

Having access to good writing - and why it’s good - has been incredibly eye-opening. I felt silly once I realised writing was a technical skill like any other.

This sounds obvious, but so many people seem to jump online and make writing and content generation look straight-forward and easy.

That mistaken perspective gave me a near-impossible performance standard to meet without understanding the rules of the game. Writing was a skill I had to learn, try, fail and try again to improve.

person holding on red pen while writing on book — Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

Now, I’m nowhere near as good as I’d love to be. But, I’m taking an iterative approach to be a writer, and improve my technique and output:

Build a daily writing habit
Commit to publishing online written content every day (yay, external accountability)
Write for different platforms every week (X/Substack/Email Newsletter)
Establish a weekly writing routine to increase efficiency, and quality based on weekly skills sessions
Create a writing/content calendar per month to build structure
Keep improving writing approach and style each week

Now, I’ve tried writing online and content creation for my business before. I had a small blog and even posted daily on LinkedIn for a period. Yet I couldn’t stick to it as I wasn’t as aligned to what I created and didn’t establish the wider habit and community.

The steps above show how important the incremental structure is. The daily habit is there, but is supported by a community and weekly writing skills sessions.

I reduced the performance standard requirements that were often the blocker and focused on the process (read my other article about focusing on the process and not the outcome). The incremental process goals help me stay motivated by continual improvements.

As a recovering perfectionist, growing and sharing the journey publicly has been a challenge, but it’s a great learning and humbling experience. I’ve had to get past my social anxiety fears and just do it - again, focus on the process and not the outcome.

I gave myself permission to write something that would help someone, because it either helped me or my coaching clients. I didn’t realise how rewarding this would be.

three pupas — Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash

2. Benefits of personal writing

The last few months have been some of the busiest I’ve had. I’m happy the daily writing remained in spite of my heavy work and personal load, including:

a super busy head of function, global day job
pivoting and developing my online coaching business
studying for a Diploma in Art-based Coaching
working through complex grief after losing my father during the pandemic
a never-ending viral illness from mid-November to mid-January

I noticed that even if I was exhausted trying to fit everything in (note to self - don’t pick all the goals at the same time this year!), I always felt better after a writing session.

I had a sense of calm, flow and achievement. The concerns of the day lifted and I learned more about myself and my areas of interest.

I am more comfortable expressing my vulnerabilities and self-reflection experiments.

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When looking for topics for this post, I was excited to find an article on Scientific American by Christina Gelitz about how writing helps you get to know yourself better if you write what appears.1 It validated my experience of daily writing.

Gelitz writes about Silke Heimes, a physician and author who helps groups share their thoughts and feelings on paper using therapeutic writing. exercises.

Heimes links the benefits seen in people that use music or art therapy as forms of creative expression, to the process of uncensored emotional and personal writing activities.

She uses a great term - mental hygiene - where daily personal writing can reduce stress, increase self-confidence and improve health.

This description is accurate. After a writing session, my mind feels clearer, tension releases and I know I’ve let go of a mental burden I didn’t realise I was carrying.

Heimes admits that the blank page can be overwhelming when you want to develop a daily writing habit, but suggests a simple free writing exercise to get going.

Similarly, Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way leverages daily Morning Pages as a way to cultivate an uncensored stream of consciousness, with an incredibly low performance standard.

Both approaches reduce friction by minimising the barrier to completion - this is key to starting and maintaining the habit.

Whether you use time (5-20 minutes) or number of pages (3) as your aim, find a comfortable place with no distractions and just write until you’ve reached the target.

Write whatever comes up in your mind.

3. Don’t censor yourself

We spend so much of our time watching what we say or do. It’s needed as part of cultural and social norms, but if you’re not in an environment that accepts you, your inner self will feel crushed and unseen.

A daily personal writing process entirely for you can become so valuable - a safe harbour.

Perhaps you have conflicting ideas or negative thoughts you don’t want to share with others, but are curious about. Expressing these to yourself can be liberating as they have been given space to exist.

Unexpressed thoughts and feelings are like a hungry toddler - they constantly nag until they get what they want - your attention.

Even if you feel sad or upset in the moment, you’ve allowed yourself to accept this moment. You can get curious about it, find solutions or move on.

It’s progress.

Does it matter if you use handwriting or type into a computer/device?

Heimes is an advocate of handwriting as it’s a fuller sensory experience and uses more of the brain, such as the sensorimotor cortex regions to coordinate muscle movement. You might also notice changes in your handwriting depending on mood, breathing or focus shifts.

Typing offers other valuable insights - you get your thoughts down quicker and fly with a sense of urgency if it exists.

FYI - I did both for this article - handwritten and then typing - as an experiment. They felt different. Handwriting was more personal but typing was a bit more satisfying.

Who knew?

fountain pen on black lined paper — Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

4. Conclusion

To clear your mind and get to know yourself better, a daily creative habit is the ideal way to start.

Although I love artistic expression with paints or other media, writing has the lowest barrier to entry - almost everyone can grab a piece of paper and pen, or a device and note taking app.

Try this:

Pick a time when you’ll be undisturbed and commit to the lowest metric that works for you - either 5-20m or 3 pages of writing
Free write whatever comes into your zone of attention - don’t censor yourself or try to make sense of it in the moment - this happens later
Reflect on how you feel after you’re done:
- What still needs to be expressed?
- What surprised you?
- What did you have to get down first or last?
- What did you resist to explore?
- What needs more space and time to be understood?
Commit to this approach every day. Experiment with approaches, time, formats etc if you want to - but do it

You’ll notice a clarity of mind and creative expression. Your mood may change and abstract connections and solutions can appear.

Most importantly, you’ll get to know the real you if you don’t censor yourself during the process. Far better than you did before.

That’s the key to progress in life. 🚀