What I've Learnt From a Year of Writing Letters
Hello Dear One,
How are you? Really? I’ve been on an emotional rollercoaster this past week, so I’m doing lots of nice things for myself. I hope you are too.
This letter’s a little different. Below, you’ll find eight big lessons I’ve learnt from the last year, each with a prompt to consider. I’d love to know if they resonate.
LESSONS FROM A YEAR OF LETTERS
- You can make something happen
Sometimes we forget our agency. For a long time, most of my work languished on my laptop. I wanted to publish something: for myself and as an offering, a way to share both what I knew and what I would learn. So I started writing, spread the word and hit send. It can be that easy.
What do you want to make happen? Define the first step.
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We learn in the doing
To know whether or not you’ll like something, if it has longevity and - most importantly - if it feels joyous, you have to start. Ideas can go around and around in your mind but they don’t become things until you take action.
What’s stopping you from taking action?
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It’s good to take a break
There’s a badge of honour which seems to go with constantly pushing and never giving yourself time off. I don’t believe it’s aspirational, or healthy. So, I didn’t write every week for a year - I wrote for 48 of them. I came back after my break with more purpose, more joy and more readers.
When do you rest? Is it enough?
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It’s possible to commit to something if you believe in it.
A few friends voiced concerns over me publishing something so frequently before I started this letter, perhaps knowing how much pressure I can put on myself. But I believed in its purpose, which has kept me showing up again and again.
What would you like to commit to?
- You can choose joy
Stop rolling your eyes. Yes, it’s hard to pull yourself out of anxiety, out of low moods, out of stressful situations. I get it. In fact, I write about it here, all the time. With this letter however, I choose joy. I never allow it to become a chore, instead reminding myself how privileged I am to have a voice and all of you who listen. Then, I think about what I really want to say and I write with all my heart.
Where could you choose more joy?
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Slow growth is still growth
Every month this letter grows. It might not ‘go viral’ but more and more of you subscribe and open it. I’m so proud of that and thankful.
Where is the growth in your life? Can you have patience?
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You never know who you influence
I send these letters into the ether, not knowing who they’ll reach. But now and again someone will drop me a note, or text a friend of mine to say they matter, which matters to me. Then, I think about everyone else they might have brought some comfort to. It reminds me they’re worth writing.
When might you have positively influenced someone without knowing it?
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Repeating yourself is important
In the past, I’ve been so concerned with originality I stopped myself from saying the same thing. Now I aim for it, to give the same messages over and over, in lots of different ways, so the words reach whoever needs to hear them, whenever it’s important.
What do you need to repeat to yourself today?
And a bonus! I posted this the day I sent out my first letter and (talking of repetition) see the value in coming back to it again and again.
Whether you’ve been here from day one, or just signed up this week - thanks for being here and being you.
All love,
Jo
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