The 30-Day Writing Experiment That's Changed My Whole Substack Strategy

How a 15 year old goal is finally coming to fruition.

Herradura Beach - Costa Rica

35 Days ago, I set myself a challenge.

Could I write every single day for 30 days just for me.

Nothing published, or perfectly laid out or edited for hours etc. Just a ‘daily dispatch’ about nomadic life on the road, aging disgracefully and funding freedom, the 3 main pillars for my brand.

The reason was because I’d started to not enjoy my Substack writing process.

• Coming up with what I thought were compelling articles & headlines twice a week.

• Figuring out the balance between travel & funding freedom

• Writing, editing, laying out, adding photos (most of my posts are 2000+ words - so this is a huge job).

• And most importantly struggling to maintain it consistently with travelling full time.

So on 13th April from the side of a pool in Colombia I wrote, privately, in my notes app;

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“Day 1 - The Practice

I’ve wanted to start a daily writing practice for years. Probably 10, maybe even 15, but it always came with conditions.

• Where shall I publish?

• What message am I trying to deliver?

• Who am I trying to reach?

• What if I can’t think of anything to write?

Years ago I started Jo’s Blog with a Seth’s blog style layout, I think it lasted a month.

Then I added an infinite scroll section to my old blog The Working Traveller. I think it lasted a week. 🙄

Lately I’ve been down on myself for not being consistent or progressing as fast as people around me. But I’ve flip flopped around a bit the last few years and haven’t stuck with anything long enough for it to take root.

So, I’m committing myself to The 50+ Nomad for the long haul (min 10 years). Thankfully at the tender age of 53, I hopefully have a solid 10-20 years of nomadding in front of me, so why not.

I’m publishing ‘fairly’ regularly on Substack & FB etc, but at some stage I want my own home that can’t be taken away with new ownership or an algorithm change.

But before I even think about a website or anything that takes more resources, I’ve decided to start a daily writing practise, in private, in my notes, without the pressure of going public.

If I can write (me, not AI) daily for 30 days, and I enjoy it, plus it makes me think, notice, challenge my own assumptions, and inspires posts on other platforms, I’ll seriously think about starting my own site and begin again my goal of a daily writing practice.

The long term goal of course is to enlighten, inspire & effect change in others (isn’t that always the main goal of creators?) But for now all it has to do is satisfy is me.

No public pressure, no performing or editing. Just me. Here goes.”

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Well, I have written unfailingly every single day since that day (even during my gallbladder stint) and it’s become the favourite part of my working day.

The first 10-14 posts were a bit ‘Jo’s Journal’ with lots of ‘here’s where we are’, ‘here’s what we did’ type content, but then the posts started maturing and the voice I’ve been seeking for so long began to find its lane.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve written (hopefully with humour) about life lessons learned from the gallbladder surgery, what a violinist in Cartagena taught me about practicing in public, how to make readers miss your work, and what the movie ‘Hook’ and nomadism have in common.

I’m having a lot of fun, but yesterday was Day 34 and it’s time to take the training wheels off.

It’s time for me to take that Cartagenan violinists lesson and start practicing in public. (I’ll share the story in a future post).

So moving forward my Substack is becoming a daily dispatch.

Not the long 2000+ worders I’ve been publishing every week or so, but shorter, succinct, stories, lessons & truths about nomadic life at 53 with dodgy knees, building a business on the road, and grabbing life by the b***s!

I hope they will entertain, inform, educate, and make you laugh where appropriate. But most importantly I hope they will inspire you to chase your own version of freedom and live your best life whatever that means to you. 🥳

Twice a month, on Fridays, I’ll send a longer paid post specifically delving into a Funding Freedom strategy. These will be practical, useful, strategic pieces on building location-independent income, with real time updates on my own business ventures.

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If at anytime my British ramblings aren’t for you, the unsubscribe link is at the bottom, with no hard feelings at all.

If you’re interested or even mildly curious, pull up a chair. I’m so glad you’re here.

I’ll be back tomorrow. 😁