When writing there is not a single author that is able to do a single draft perfectly the first time. First the draft is written and then reviewed, revised, edited, and re-written. This could go on for countless iterations to make every word count. It takes work and time to refine a writing piece to be great.
Contrast the writing process to how we think. Consider this example. You are in a meeting with your colleagues at work. Your manager shares something with the team and it reminds you of something you studied in school or read in a book. You share right away because you want to contribute. The team hears your idea, but it does not resonate like it does for you.
Has this happened to you? It has to me. More than once.
Had my thinking been reviewed, revised, edited, and re-written? Absolutely not. I wanted to contribute with something that I had learned but I had not put in the work or time to challenge my own thinking to make it great.
This begs the question; how you make your thinking better? You write.
I was recently challenged to journal. The invitation was to write what I am thinking and feeling. I have done this every day for three months and my thinking has improved. Writing down thoughts and feelings does a few important things. First, it forces you to clarify what you think and feel. Second, it forces you to name or label your thoughts and feelings. Over time you learn to better articulate in words what a thought or a feeling is.
I have noticed that I’m not jumping into meetings with my ideas as often. When I do jump in, I am sharing more refined thinking. I attribute this to journaling.
My invitation to you is to write daily in a journal what you are thinking and feeling for 10 days. Be present and notice your thoughts and feelings. I didn’t notice until much later but strongly believe 10 days is enough to see progress.
Journal consistently over time and you will progress in your thinking. There is something special inside of your mind waiting to be discovered, it only needs to be reviewed, revised, edited, and re-written. All it takes is work and some time.
