It was bound to happen.
I have posted something new to this Daily Learning Log every day since November 1, 2017. That is nine months straight without missing a day.
First, let’s look at the negative:
- I consistently spend more time on this daily blog than any other project other than email (see my monthly project reports).
- I get almost no website traffic to these posts (other than the time Gary Vaynerchuk retweeted an article I wrote about his Instagram strategy).
- The posts focus mostly on writing and entrepreneurship, which is something I am learning a lot about every day but is not my primary audience.
Now, here is the positive impact of the daily learning log:
- I have learned the lessons in these posts much more by writing them than simply taking note of them or thinking about them.
- I am constantly looking for things to learn throughout the day.
- The posts have helped me focus on projects that work best.
- I’ve had plenty of content to choose from for a weekly email newsletter for authors.
- I frequently reference some of the posts that have checklists or processes for certain tasks.
The biggest thing that is missing, though, is the impact.
After hours and hours of writing in 10-20 minute increments, I have only helped myself.
If you read the quotes that initially inspired this project, it was the the idea of a daily disicpline that attracted me to it the most.
I really did benefit from the process.
The best way to learn is, indeed, to teach.
Yet, the audience is missing.
The impact is missing.
It is not the website traffic or social media shares and likes that I’m craving. It is the impact, the change I want to make.
This process has become helpful almost exclusively to me.
I listened to an interview with Seth Godin yesterday, who was the main influence in starting this project.
He said he wakes up in the morning and thinks about the audience he wants to serve and the things that they need.
Then he writes.
My process hasn’t looked like that.
I wake up and think about the things I’ve learned recently, then I write.
I haven’t focused much on an audience.
So, as I prepare for summer vacation, I am going to take a vacation from the Daily Learning Log project to assess its value not only to me but to the people I want to serve.
See you soon.
