I’ve got a confession to make.

Coffee With Cody isn’t for you.

It’s for me.

I looked forward into the future I want to have and knew that I had to start writing. Over the past few years, I’ve compiled many many many notes about the things I want to write about one day. Eventually, my idea is to turn it into a book. However, ideas in the Notes app are irrelevant unless I turn them into something. I kept telling myself I’ve got to turn this into something. Last fall, I decided to turn it into Coffee With Cody.

About a hundred tentative titles had been waiting to be expanded on within the storage of my iCloud devices, so I figured if I do one per week I’d at least have a good runway to pick up speed and see what happens from there.

One of the writing tips I picked up since I started Coffee With Cody came from a few different well known authors that I look up to. These authors all have very successful books, they all started by writing blogs and they all have the same advice. James Clear, Mark Manson and Morgan Housel all recommend that a writer writes not for an audience, but for themself.

I’ve tried journaling in the past but never really enjoyed it, and writing without posting it anywhere seemed like a waste, so I decided that if even one person subscribed to a blog, I would have new material every Thursday. Now, with many more than one person tuned in, I have no choice. I said I would send a new post every single week, and what kind of person would I be if I couldn’t even keep my word to myself?

Even as my audience has grown, my motivation to continue stems from what I expect from myself, not from what others expect of me. Really, society doesn’t demand much from us. The bar is relatively low, and if I skip a week or quit 14 titles in, I won’t be arrested. Society doesn’t demand that I stick to my word and follow through on what I told myself I would do, so if I wish it, I must demand it of myself.

Doing what you say you’re going to do is the most effective way to build confidence. Neglecting to do what you say you will is a sure way to become fragile and lose any sense of integrity you have with yourself. If you say you will, you must.

There are two implications of this idea. Firstly, you have to be very thoughtful of the things you say and the plans you make.

The Things You Say