The impact writing has on me

Writing keeps me sane, focused, clear and moving forward. It gives me an opportunity for expression and to use my creativity. I started writing to advertise my business and then found it was easy for me to write in a number of genres. To me, it is my Stradivarius and depending on the word I use, the phrase I employ, the way I position a sentence within the text makes the article what it is. I can capture the reader's attention or I can bore them senseless - I have that capacity within each article, story I write; to excite, enthuse, bore or alienate. It can be for any audience I choose - it doesn't matter, because it is the words I select and the way I place the words that gives the final composition. In every piece I write whether it is 50000 words or 300 I ensure that the first word fits with the last. This is easily done with smaller articles yet provides a greater challenge with lengthy works. I love the challenge of it. There is always a hidden denotation in my work - I see it like a cryptic crossword - those who think deeply will gain much more from it than those who just skim the surface. No doubt my style determines those who read and follow my prose.

I cannot describe how much writing has changed my life, increased my confidence, self esteem, changed the way I view the world and increased my intellectual capacity. It has given me a fulfillment that I didn't know existed and taken me to levels I have only ever dreamt about. To write a book, to have each chapter different enough to arouse interest yet entwine it so that it fits together is beautiful. With writing comes an intellectual challenge and I just love the whole process. My passion keeps me going with the boring, hard bits. Being an author gives me a voice, an opportunity to reach people I would normally never meet. I can make a difference, leave a legacy. It is an adjunct to my business and because of my enthusiasm in this area; I have to ensure that it does not take over because leadership development is the mainstay of IB Coaching and I feel just as ardent about it as I do about writing. 

It never ceases to amaze me what a couple of hours of writing can do to change my mood and in this dark period, something magical happened when I was writing; the words flowed, my brain was focused on something else, my mind seemed to go to work and within a short period of time I could feel my emotions settling down and my mood lift which meant I could then focus on what I had to do. It gave me great relief. This was another part of my Happy Plan and proved to be just as effective and successful as the other things I speak about in this chapter. The whole process was important because not only did it allow me to gain some control over my emotions, I was actually doing something I loved, that others were interested in, it advertised my business; the results were tangible and linked to IBs goals. It is so easy to stay bogged down in emotions when life is tough - writing enables me not to do that.