A Career Hackers’ Classic, read the full post here.
First, let’s read an excerpt from the blog as it was (writer’s point of view):
“Luckily you came in today, otherwise you’d be dead by the end of the year.”
Those are the words a doctor said to a close family member. Last week we learned just how close they came to death.
A rare blood disorder was discovered in some tests they had. It started when they felt low on energy and had a few common flu symptoms.
“Ahhhh you’re probably overthinking it mate. Stop being a baby.”
That’s what I said when they first complained to me about their symptoms. How wrong I was. When I found out the truth it hit me like a freight train to the head. I felt emotional, and weak in the knees.
As it turns out their blood disorder kills most people who get it because the diagnosis comes either too late or too early (where it can’t be properly diagnosed). My family member got it right on time.
Now it can be treated and they won’t die. Phewwwww.
The cool part is now I have another reason to write: to make them proud while they’re alive.
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Now, what this story has to do with writing ideas?
This story will help you understand how you can create a timeline of your life and make finding content ideas effortless.
Journaling won’t solve all your problems
Every writer praises journaling but it isn’t the place you can find content inspiration.
Why?
Because that’s a lot of pages to go looking for ideas. Journaling lacks curation.
A radically different approach to replacing a journal
What makes you interesting are your unique experiences. And they can make your content stand out as a writer.
But the problem is that we forget the stuff that happens to us all the time.
You need a “Timeline of your Life”.
Here’s how it works-
1. Open up your personal database or second brain-
A second brain is like a notepad app that can keep detailed notes and link to different pages and does many more things. The best ones are Roam Research, Notion, and Obsidian.
Create a new page in your notes app called “The Timeline of My Life.”
2. Add Past events
Write all the major events in your life that you can remember and group them under respective years. Keep on adding more from now on.
3. Follow this stupidly simple format
Make every event a dot point and keep it as short and best described as possible to make it easily scrollable without getting caught in small details.
4. Make your goal this
Aim to capture 20-30 major events a year to prevent boring events.
5. Every new dot point should contain these two things
Write how the event made you feel and a possible takeaway a reader might get from the event. This is what makes the difference.
6. The way to defeat writer’s block
Whenever you find yourself out of ideas for content or just something to open an article with, go to this personal timeline to look for a story you can use.
It’s easy, quick, and gives you tons of ideas.
And that’s how you create a system to find infinite ideas on the auto-pilot.
A powerful excerpt from the blog-
“The difference with a personal timeline of your life is that you write how each event made you feel. You also add one possible takeaway a reader might get from the life event.”
A Career Hackers’ Classic, read the full post here.
Tim Dennig: An Aussie Blogger with 500M+ views — Writer for CNBC & Business Insider. Inspiring the world through Personal Development and Entrepreneurship.
