Don't keep it to yourself.

1 min 54 secs

Writing in a journal can feel like a grind. It takes discipline and energy.

E-mailing your realizations to a friend feels wholesome. You share a connection and get feedback.

Cooking for yourself often means settling for quick, easy meals that might taste good but look plain.

Cooking for someone you care about motivates you to cook a dish worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant, or at least better than pot noodles

Working out alone in a dark room and seeing the results in a dirty mirror—that's playing life on hard mode.

Joining a sports tournament, making new friends, and helping each other train—that's life on fun mode.

And that’s why I share my thoughts publicly.

It makes me write and create more consistently and at a higher standard. It keeps me accountable and gives my work a purpose bigger than myself.

When the lockdown hit, I had all this free time to research, write, and think.

I wanted to build a personal wiki with powerful ideas for creativity, but I struggled without a purpose bigger than myself.

If I didn’t show up, no one would notice. And honestly, I didn't want the wiki badly enough just for my personal use to justify the long hours.

Then, one night, a friend asked for some feedback for a project he was working on, as he was facing the infamous creative block.

As I excitedly responded to his email with many ideas and resources, I realized I had researched and written more in those few hours than I had in the past month.

Then it struck me.

Writing for someone else pushes you to sit down and get it done, knowing someone is waiting for your response and could benefit from your words.

And that's what excites me the most about life—the ability to make things, put them out there, and see them make an impact, no matter how tiny.

Since then, I've moved most of my notes to my website database to make them public through this newsletter.

It's a win-win and a flywheel: I have a reason to be creative, and others benefit from it. Their benefit fuels my creativity, and the cycle continues.

Sincerely,

Ash Lamb

(362 of 500 words)

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Feel free to reply—I respond to everyone.