Most people don’t like the idea of being put in a box. We want to keep our options open and avoid labels.

But if you want to be successful in your writing, you have to put yourself in the box of being a writer. You have to talk about it on social media. You have to talk about it to your friends and family. You have to bring it up in conversations in a way that feels natural and helpful.

By all means, put yourself in a box and make your primary identity that of a writer.

Here’s the reason why this is helpful: people can only put you in one box. Aside from your friends and family, most people are acquaintances and only primarily know one aspect of your life. So if you want writing to be your main thing, you have to be known primarily as a writer. It’s the best way to build your business, your professional identity, and your momentum.

So go ahead, put yourself in a box.

Daily Question: Are you comfortable putting yourself in a box and being primarily known as a writer?

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If you are familiar with the organization Alcoholics Anonymous, you have probably seen or heard about the way people sometimes introduce themselves at these meetings. “Hi, my name is Kent, and I’m an alcoholic.”

Now, I’m not actually an alcoholic and I’ve never been to an AA meeting. But the phrase has been portrayed enough on TV and the movies that almost everyone is familiar with it.

Why do they do this? Why would you state it out loud that you’re an alcoholic, especially in the midst of a room full of people who identify with the same struggle?

One of the reasons is that it levels the playing field. No matter who you are, what your level of success is or isn’t, no matter how much money you have or don’t have, what you look like, or how old you are… everyone at an AA meeting is on equal footing. They are all there for a common purpose—united by their desire to stay sober.

But there is another reason. Saying something out loud, and affirming your identity to others verbally, has great power. To put it in writing terms, you may BELIEVE or THINK you’re a writer, but have you ever said it out loud to anyone? When is the last time you verbally said to someone in a conversation, “Hi, my name is so-and-so, and I’m a writer” or “I’m an author?”

This may sound juvenile, but I can assure you, it’s not. On a recent Daily Writer Community Call, I made everyone in the meeting go around and verbally say that exact thing. It was extraordinarily powerful.

So, I challenge you to tell someone you’re a writer in the next 24 hours. Don’t do it over text, email, or social media. Do it verbally. Even if the only person you say it to is a two-year-old, that counts for something. The very act of you verbalizing it will have great emotional power over you. It will give you amazing confidence and sear in your mind that you are indeed a writer.

Daily Question: In the next 24 hours, who are you going to tell you’re a writer?

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We have been talking a lot about habits here on the podcast lately. Let’s talk for a moment about a habit that will boost your confidence and will be good for your business, also.

It’s simply telling people that you’re a writer.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But you’d be surprised how many aspiring—and actual—writers go to great lengths to hide the fact that they’re a writer. I encourage you to do the opposite. Broadcast it to the world. Put it on your social media profiles. Include the title “Writer” in your email signature. Find ways to mention that you’re a writer in everyday conversations.

Just doing this alone will give you motivation to stay true to your word and actually write. It will also have some surprising benefits, because people will start asking you what you’re writing. The best marketing tools are often the cheapest and simplest ones.

The only thing to be afraid of is your own success when you start living up to the image of being a writer you already hold in your head.

Daily Question: Do you tell people you’re a writer?

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The #1 problem that stops most people from writing has nothing to do with talent or ability. It has nothing to do with a lack of time or opportunities. But it has EVERYTHING to do with them not believing they are a writer.

When you stop and think about it, this is kind of crazy. The average person can easily write 1,000 words a day between text messages, emails, social media, and other communication in their everyday life. Yet, when it comes to writing a short blog post of 500 words, or even something like a longer book chapter, they don’t believe they are talented enough.

Success as a writer has very little to do with talent. Instead, it has everything to do with seeing yourself as a writer, then putting in the work on a regular basis. That’s pretty much it. If you write… by definition, you’re a writer.

I have recently been training for a half marathon. I guarantee that when I do the race in a few weeks, I will be in the bottom ten or fifteen percent. I’m slow. I’m not in as good a shape as most of the other runners. But I’m going to get out there and do it. And most importantly, I’m going to finish!

I AM a runner. I’m slow and there is lots of room for improvement, but I still embrace my identity as a runner. Why? Because I’m running. I’m putting in the work every week to train and prepare. And that makes me a runner.

So if you write, you can proudly call yourself a writer, no strings attached.

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One of the most famous lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet is “To be or not to be, that is the question.” More than a line in a famous play, it’s also the central idea of the writer’s life.

The American novelist Paul Theroux said, “You can’t want to be a writer, you have to be one.” Being is an entirely different state than wanting. Almost everyone wants to be a writer… but far fewer people do the work of being a writer.

Is it possible that we overcomplicate what it means to be a writer? We have all kinds of emotional attachments to our writing. We connect it to our self-worth, our vocation, our value to society, our legacy, and so much more.

Maybe it’s actually much simpler than that. Maybe it just means that we sit down and do the work of writing. No fuss, no complications, no drama. We simply do what’s required that day.

“To be or not to be, that is the question.” What will be your answer?

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On July 4^th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress pronounced that it was officially independent of British rule. Known as the Declaration of Independence, this document made it clear that the thirteen colonies had their own sovereign identity. They would no longer be content to stay under the rule of another entity.

July 4^th is a uniquely American holiday, but there is another kind of declaration that every writer should make, no matter what their nationality is. This declaration communicates a simple truth to the world. The writer Jeff Goins alluded to it in the title of his profound book: You Are a Writer.

But what does it mean to declare to the world that you are a writer?

It means that you call yourself a writer. You tell others about your work. You aren’t afraid of other people’s reactions when you tell them you’re a writer. Ultimately, it means that you courageously stand up and tell the world, “I have something to share.”

When you embrace your identity as a writer and begin sharing your voice, other people will embrace you as a writer, too. So, go ahead. Make the declaration. Today is a great day to tell the world you are a writer.

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