BY BRADLEY LOISELLE
CEO, School of Skill
They say meditation helps you discover yourself and clear up your mind. For some, it may be travelling instead of meditation, while for others it may be painting; for some it may be dancing, while for others it may just be sitting in solitude. Everyone has his or her own way to find peace and calm the mind. Well, for me, it has always been writing.
As a teenager, I would be full of all kinds of thoughts and writing actually helped me clear my mind. I found peace in writing as it became a way to streamline my ideas into more than just philosophy. Writing is in itself a creative outlet, but it brought creativity in everything else I did too. The concepts I wrote started translating into poetry, science and even fictional story ideas, to the extent that even my businesses were born out of my writing.
When I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey, it was very difficult for me to manage everything at the same time. Then too, writing helped me heal. It is the best therapeutic technique in times of despair and confusion. It helps me disengage my mind from negative sentiments and focus on more important things. Each day, I get numerous ideas to advance my business and the only way I can make sensible connections between them is if I pen them down.
Sharing one’s personal story is a huge emotional investment, but it is also the most satisfying feeling in the world. When I wrote my first book, I was running a company. I had to give time to my family, and there were other important things that demanded my attention. But somehow, writing never felt like a task. It was a very natural process. I only wrote what I had gone through, my journey on rising “from dumpster diving to Disney”.
Coming up with ideas is easy, but writing gave me the courage to execute them, to actually make those ideas real. I started with no formal education, money or industry experience, but in a very short time became the founder of many successful businesses. I believe it is important to follow up on any idea that you come up with. One concept that fascinates me is how the earliest written records denote the dividing line between prehistory versus what we call history. For a few hundred thousand years, humans had been talking, but only when they got inspired to write their ideas down did things start to change, economies became more efficient and accountable, ideas became more clear and history began to be written. Penning down your thoughts is the best way to channelize your ideas, or else there are chances of them getting lost in the crowded consciousness of the mind.
We have seen how successful people maintain regular journals and how history has been created out of those journals. Your dreams become your goals, the moment you write them down. My journals helped me better understand and form my vision and even polish them. If reading helped me satiate my intellectual curiosity, writing helped untangle the web of visions. I realized how my free form of words became more sensible on their own. If you want to be the creator of your own story, writing it yourself will literally give you control over the narrative.
I recently penned down my second book in under a week while I was on vacation. It was a part of cultivating my true self and understanding a little more about myself. Writing is the best platform to connect with not only my inner self, but also with my audience at an emotional level.
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bloiselle@skillsdox.com
