TJ Walker argues that writing every day is the key habit for being seen as a leader and building a personal brand. He cites writer James Alcutcher (noting his routines: coffee, reading, fixed start time) as an example of a modern entrepreneurial writer and emphasizes that small daily outputs (e.g., ~500 words) accumulate into books, courses, and business opportunities. The piece mixes practical routines, personal confession about returning to daily writing, and a call-to-action for trainers/consultants to adopt daily writing.
Chapters
If you want to be seen as a leader, you need to write now. It doesn't have to be actually you sitting there typing. Some of you hate to type. I don't particularly like to type that much. I do dictate at least 500 words a day as soon as I get up on some habits related issue. But I also have to type. The beauty of writing is it clarifies your thinking, it helps you get better organized, and it creates a package for your thoughts that can be distributed and shown around the world even when you're not there. Even when you're not face to face One author I wanted to talk to you about today and share you some of his insights on writing is James Alcutcher. He's written a number of best selling books including Choose Yourself. He has self published most of his successful books and to me is a perfect example of kind of the modern entrepreneurial writer expert. He didn't go to Columbia School of Graduate School of Journalism, but he is an interesting, insightful writer. He posted a blog post in the last couple of days on his secrets for writing. I've linked to this in my show notes. If you go to the YouTube page, look at the description for today's show, you will see a link to this as well. By the way, regarding his credentials, he's written 22 books over the last 20 years, many of them bestsellers. Some of them have made a great deal of money. He shares his top 10 secrets for effective writing. His first one Coffee. He likes to drink a lot of coffee. Coffee. So he has a very specific routine. He says, I start writing on my third cup of coffee for the day. Does this mean you should drink coffee if you don't drink coffee? No. The point is, he has a set routine that he's comfortable with that he likes doing. That works for him. You've got to figure out a routine that works for you. The important thing is not the cup of coffee. The important thing is he writes every day. Now I have to confess, there have been times in my life when I didn't write much. I've only recently gotten back into the habit of writing every single day. And I am so happy that I did because I know I don't ever have to write more than I'm writing now. 500 words a day and I'll have enough for a couple of books every year for the rest of my life. I'll have more than enough content for another half a dozen online courses every year for the rest of my life if I just keep up that output, you don't have to write 5,000 words, 10, 20 pages a day. If you just write a little bit, it adds up. He has other routines. He says reading. It's very hard to write well if you don't read a lot. There are exceptions. Gary Vaynerchuk famously doesn't read books, and yet he's written five New York Times best selling books. But reading, he likes to read. He says, I tend to read Dirty Realism. And he has all sorts of authors. He recommends Raymond Carver, Miranda July, I'm not familiar with her. James Frey, a bit of a controversy with him, but certainly a good writer. Charles Bukowski. These are some of his famous writers that he enjoys. The next tip he shares. He likes to start at the same time every day. So he wakes up at 4:30am every day. Does this mean if you wake up at 4:30am Every day you'll be a great writer? No. If you don't fall asleep till midnight, does it mean you should wake up at 4:30 every day to write? No. He's simply sharing with you his routine. Now it's been said about a lot of the most famous and influential avant garde creators, artists in the world that they tend to have extremely ordinary, boring daily habits. It's hard to imagine anything more boring than getting up at 4:30 every day. Although I shouldn't be that critical considering I get up at 5:30 most days but I don't use an alarm clock. You might not aspire to get up at 4:30 every day. The point is, do something that's regular. Have a set routine. The number one habit of great writers and writers who sell a lot of books and have a lot of influence is they write every single day. If you I know a number of you because you've told me. If you are a trainer, a teacher, an instructor, a consultant. Are you writing every day? If not, why not? I want to hear from you. Please post on TikTok, on Facebook, on YouTube, whatever platform you are on. I want to hear from you. Are you writing? The number one excuse I hear from consultants and others who aren't writing. Oh I'd love to. I don't have time. Writing is likely to be the absolute most lucrative way you could ever spend your time if you do it right. Not just because of best selling books, but because those ideas help build your brand so you attract more clients and you can charge more money and make more money.
