“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” — Mark Twain
In 2009, James Clear started publishing small articles on a personal blog.
He had no audience and no viral hits. He just had a commitment to writing consistently.
Over time, his newsletter grew, his reputation solidified, and his writing opened doors to speaking gigs, partnerships, and book deals.
Atomic Habits became a global bestseller, providing James with all the money and freedom he’d ever need. But the foundation was built long before that, through consistent writing, shared freely.
Writing online isn’t just about creating content but building leverage, influence, and freedom one idea at a time.
How much have you written so far?
Whether it’s some indecipherable scrawlings in a notebook or hundreds of books, writing words to share with others is a form of self-empowerment.
It has shown me that an average dude with a keyboard can make a small dent. Not all in one go, but with a commitment to doing it frequently.
Writing is one of the most accessible tools on the planet. You don’t need to be a certain age to be taken seriously. You can write from pretty much any location, even on a plane twenty-eight thousand feet in the sky. You don’t need to set up any hefty equipment or possess vast expertise in anything specific.
To have influence requires only that you are a human with your own unique set of memories, experiences, struggles, opinions and accrued skills.
It allows complete autonomy without relying on anyone else. You control your schedule, the projects you work on and the creative direction they take.
Words also create immense leverage. For example, one piece of writing (articles, posts, courses) can work for you indefinitely just like other assets would. I had an article I once shared on Medium that took me twenty minutes to write and reached 48,000 viewers, earning me over $7,000. That’s leverage. I make tens of thousands each year from a single, written course I wrote in a weekend. And all this leverage can be scaled, as we’ll discuss.
Writing can build financial independence, multiple income streams, and low overhead, and there is no need to be granted permission to do so. And you can do it while based anywhere.
Being untethered to any place has been a priority of mine since I was in my early twenties. So, writing became a central feature of my work and online brand. It allowed me to live in countries like Vietnam, Georgia, Poland and Japan in my twenties and thirties.
Writing also provides intellectual freedom, meaning that you shape the ideas you’re passionate about, challenge narratives and you get to express yourself in an immensely satisfying way.
Regular writing will open doors, creating new relationships, unexpected opportunities and influence beyond the written page (if you let them in).
For example, I always have someone I can connect with in the various countries I visit, and our conversations almost always start: ‘I found you through an article you wrote. Oh hey, let’s get some ice cream. It’s on me.’
The ability to write well is your passport to literally limitless possibilities (and I’m not even being cheesy), from business to thought leadership to impact well into your later years.
Don’t listen to the doom-and-gloomers who think writing is done now that AI is here. The opportunities are in full abundance, especially when you’re aware.
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*The above is an excerpt from my latest book, ‘The Never-Retired Writer: How to Turn Your Ideas Into a Life of Freedom, Income, and Purpose.‘
If you’d like to be part of my exclusive ‘Blurb Club,’ where you get access to books like this, in exchange for writing a quick review, you can fill in a quick survey that takes literally one or two minutes, here.
Writing has made me more of a curious person not only online but in real life too.
What strikes me most about writing is that words endure. When creativity and critical thought take form on the page, they become a trace that outlives the moment. That’s why I write too - to follow where that trace might lead next.