The Hardest Part of Saying What You Mean

I’ve started more than a hundred articles that never saw the light of day. Sound extreme? 

It is. And yet, it’s completely reasonable. As I’ve aged, I see the world differently. I see my role in this world much differently. And I can’t justify mouthing off at 43 like I did at 33. 

Everything has a cost. For every action there is the equal and opposite reaction. 

I wish I was like Gary Vaynerchuk, publishing dozens of pieces of content each day. But the reality is that I don’t have permission to express myself so liberally. 

Permission from who? Myself, perhaps. Maybe God. Likely both. There’s an internal check that stops me from completing most articles I begin. 

Either Time or branding. As I get further into an article, I get a clearer sense of how deep and how broad I’d need to go to do the topic justice. Most often I can’t justify the time needed to complete the thought. 

Or it’s a matter of branding. We are what we say, and sometimes the blog posts and tweets that bubble to the surface are the most superficial or hair trigger reactions. 

The truly deep and meaningful systems of thought should be reserved for something less casual or spontaneous than a blog post. Like a book. 

Have you ever gone through a period in your life where you felt that the previous periods of verbosity were signs of youth and impulse and were not to be continued?

Check. And check. Then you’re on the same wave I’m surfing right now. 

All good things have boundaries.