Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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"Stop and look at how far you've come..."

"Stop and look at how far you've come..."


This is actually meant to be more reflective than motivational... although let's see where it goes before any rash decisions are made as to what I'm actually talking about.

f7bd1187.jpgI "reposted" an old blog a while back that I wrote eighteen prior (it is a personal favourite), and what I expected to be a simple cut and paste exercise became a little more involved because there was sentence structure and punctuation that could be improved upon. Thank the "blogging gods" there were no spelling mistakes that I could see — Pesky things.* Ultimately I clicked "publish", satisfied that my revision was a much tighter piece of writing than the original, and that got me to thinking... for good or bad.


Am I a great writer? Not today. Am I a good writer? It probably depends on the day, the phase of the moon, and how much luck is with me at that moment. Am I a better writer? Absolutely... and here is why. 
I have written many, many blogs since my very first blog post, edited dozens of project proposals, and have asked a very good friend of mine (who is a very good writer) how I am doing, to which she says I am getting better— Sometimes with a slight "wince", but she assures me I am much tighter with my words and thoughts. Although there is credence in the old saying "practice makes perfect" and that statistic that 10,000 hours are needed for mastery, this is not what I had in mind when I started down this meandering path — I was being much more literal when I got to thinking, and titled this post "Stop and look at how far you've come...". 

I truly was thinking more along the lines of, "Literally stop what you are doing and take a look around to see how far you have come". 
To "see" your progress can be incredibly motivational; To visualize the ground covered, obstacles overcome, and the skills developed on the way. It is exciting and re-energizing to see how far you've come and what you've accomplished. 

Sure it is encouraging to see how much closer you are to your goal(s), but the value of understanding how far you've come is more important as it re-enforces accomplishment, allows you to understand your newly acquired skills, and ensures your activity is getting you closer to your goals. It is in the actual act of stopping and looking back at what you have done that you ensure you're current activity is what's needed, or sadly shows that in effect you may not really be doing anything at all. 

Either way you will know.
For me, I want to be a great writer, and with the activity of blog writing I am becoming a better writer, and continue to head in the right direction. And how do I really know? With that "repost" I posted I received a number of comments, many "likes", and a large number of views; whereas with my original I had "zeros" across the board — I thought I would bring this up for those looking for objective data.


iamgpe  www.gpestratagem.com 

PS: Click here to see the re-write.

* Please let me know if you find a spelling mistake because those things are peskier than mosquitos.


"
#iamgpe #writer #PS #activity #blog
Comments

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

6 years ago #19

Sharing again

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #18

#11
Thanks for the comment Milos Djukic... I like what you write so please keep writing and sharing !

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #17

#8
Thx for the comment

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #16

#6
Thanks for the comment and great insight stephan metral \ud83d\udc1d Innovative Brand Ambassador

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #15

#5
Thanks for the comment Ren\u00e9e \ud83d\udc1d Cormier... you are right, the only measure can be oneself but I believe we should place the bar very high.... let me try to find the error... I will let you know when I find it. : )

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #14

#4
Thank you for the kind words Phil Friedman... it is really appreciated!!!

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #13

#3
Thanks for the comment Vincent Andrew.... yes... lots of rewrites for me to... and yes there is always a "moment" before you hit "produce"...

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #12

#2
Thank you Joyce \ud83d\udc1d Bowen Brand Ambassador @ beBee... it is a great journey

Graham🐝 Edwards

6 years ago #11

#1
Thanks very much for the comment Gert Scholtz

Milos Djukic

6 years ago #10

#12
Thanks Phil, my friend, but I am very rigorous with myself :-) When you come to Serbia as my dear guest, I will teach you. Serbian has 3 genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and 7 different cases (accusative, locative, genitive etc) The first 6 months of learning Serbian are the hardest :)

Phil Friedman

6 years ago #9

#10
Well, Milos, I think you do pretty well with English, certainly a lot better than I do with Serbian. :-)

Milos Djukic

6 years ago #8

And yes, great article Graham\ud83d\udc1d Edwards. Thanks.

Milos Djukic

6 years ago #7

The power of my writing lies in ideas, I guess. As far as I know, my writing is far from perfect and it will remain so, since English is not my native language.

Phil Friedman

6 years ago #6

#7
Actually, Renee, my meaning is the opposite. I make room for common ideas -- if the writing is itself sufficiently entertaining. And I make room for mediocre writing -- if the ideas being expressed are sufficiently interesting in themselves. Of course, the ideal mix is great ideas eloquently expressed -- but that is fairly unusual on social media. Cheers!..

Liesbeth Leysen, MSc.

6 years ago #5

such good advice, we might forget it yes

stephan metral 🐝 Innovative Brand Ambassador

6 years ago #4

Great insight Graham, i like the way you find inspiration to go beyond, spare no effort to get better. For me writing belongs to all and any of us. Writing is an act of good will and the opportunity to impact life of readers, because all that matters is the act of sharing a story. Authors and writers shine by their humility and abscence of criticism, because i believe they are deep inside of them, true servant leaders with a humanist mission. So the journey isn't finish, it has only strated. Write, Write and write. We have no time for jugement, life is to short. Tell stories, there no bad writing, there are only efforts and attempts. Sometime we fail, sometime we win. The readers decide, not the critics. Keep on!

Phil Friedman

6 years ago #3

This is an excellent reflection on "blogging", Graham. For me the sorting matrix of readable pieces is as follows: 1) a mediocre theme expressed eloquently, 2) a stunning theme expressed in mediocre fashion, and 3) a stunning theme expressed eloquently. The only writing that is not worth reading is 4) a mediocre theme expressed in mediocre fashion. Those who believe writing is ONLY about the transfer of information will never understand this and will continue to rely on writing apps to guide them to a level of expression most suited to beginning levels in primary school. Your writing, however, has gained traction because you express interesting ideas eloquently. And its growing popularity is due as much to your developing reputation for having something interesting to say, and for saying it interestingly, as it is diie to the improvements in your technique. For before writing comes thought -- or at lest it should. Cheers!

Joyce 🐝 Bowen Brand Ambassador @ beBee

6 years ago #2

Writing is a journey. What a marvelous journey. You tell your tale of it well.

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #1

Graham\ud83d\udc1d Edwards You may have intended the post to be reflective - I find it a well written motivational. Great read - thanks Graham.

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