Nine years as a psychology coach taught me this one secret to writing content people love
Many struggle to make any impact online at all.
You share your ideas, and your posts just don’t fly.
All that work for three measly likes.
It’s annoying as all hell.
I know because I wrote posts for a year before anyone gave a rat’s ass.
After sharing thousands of posts, I write to over 200,000 followers and subscribers.
Every article I wrote helped me iterate closer to writing things people enjoyed.
So, why do some creators do so well, and others fall flat?
In 16 years of writing online, I’ve seen several variables that contribute.
Interestingly, my work as a psychology coach had the greatest positive impact on my writing.
I’ve coached hundreds to overcome anxiety and self-sabotage for over eight years.
I learned that we get anxious and our creativity is blocked when self-conscious.
I also saw this very clearly in my own anxiety.
Self-focused = Low-performance.
We feel more joy and well-being when we’re not thinking about ourselves so much and adopting what I call a ‘leader’s mind.’
Other-focused = High-performance.
Thinking of others and being of service is what leaders do.
Wanting to be liked and trying to impress is what losers do.
It’s a matter of orientation.
And so it is with great writing.
Secret = Great writing flows from a leader’s mindset, which increases your performance.
It’s why you can follow a supposedly winning writing template and flop.
If you are energised, your writing will be better because your readers feel the energy and see you genuinely care.
If you are focused on genuinely helping people, you will be energised.
So, ask yourself, ‘What would truly help, lift, or entertain others?’
There’s something about this approach that opens your channels and makes your words flutter off the page.
Write to one person. That person could even be a younger you.
Write to one person you genuinely care to help.
This thinking makes all the difference.
I still sometimes forget, I do try too hard, and I do get self-conscious.
But then I go back to where my mind is oriented.
This is why good writing and mindset are so closely linked.
“If you want to learn how to think, you should learn how to write.” — Jordan Peterson
Getting this doesn’t happen overnight.
You will write things that suck until you die.
Because experimentation is part of the game too.
This is a craft to develop.
And what a freaking fun craft it can be.
So, find someone to write to today with love.
Ask how you can improve their life so they come away from your work feeling better.
Write to that.
Enjoy.
Alex
P.S. If you need some close guidance for writing stuff that will grow your personal brand asset (vital) over the coming months and years…
Online Writing Alchemy shows you how to write stuff that actually builds an audience of people who want to hear more from you.