Why I’m Open Sourcing My Life: Writing Online for Self-Reinvention

For the past 6 years, I've struggled to find a common thread for my writing.

I enjoyed writing about work -- marketing, technology, and careers -- but also wanted to publish pieces around Christianity, books, and philosophy. A lack of structure around what I wrote, ironically, straightjacketed me from writing freely about topics that interested me.

Then I stumbled upon the creator and maker communities.

Most commonly known as "content creators," broad swaths of netizens identify with these communities. Creators could be publishing online essays. But they could also be podcasters, YouTubers, course creators, and newsletter writers.

In these communities, the ethos of "work in public" and "document don't create" is celebrated. Books like Austin Kleon's Show Your Work! are essential readings. I even did a 10-episode podcast series on creators and how they work.

Although I agreed with the idea of sharing my work as I went along, I wasn't really sure how to do it.

I tried tweeting every day, but constantly checking Twitter violated my principle of solitude.

I tried putting myself on a schedule of one essay per week and a newsletter every Tuesday, but that really stressed me out.

My ah-hah! moment arrived when I stumbled on Julian Shapiro’s personal site. Julian researches, writes, and releases online "handbooks of knowledge" around topics like growth marketing, writing, and building muscle. I liked the idea of handbooks. I could update them as they went. There was a common thread connecting any handbook I wrote: me.

Then, I found publicly available employee handbooks from proponents of the open source movement, companies like GitHub and Basecamp. I loved the idea of publishing working documents that helped me figure out what I want to say.

Finally, public personal documents like personal user manuals showed me that I could write about myself while still being useful to others.

"Open sourced self-reinvention" allows me to dive deep into my Evernote archives, make sense of my random notes, and publish thoughtful pieces.

All the while having me as the governing theme to my ramblings.

I'll still write about marketing, business, and tech. But this theme gives me parameters within which to enjoy online writing for its true purposes: self-reinvention and self-directed learning.

A short message before we dive in: I usually write about web3, creativity, and the creator economy. If these interest you, you’ll probably enjoy my weekly newsletter. Subscribe below to get more posts, or check out previous editions to “try before you buy”.

Writing Online for Personal Self-Reinvention

Personal self-reinvention tends to dive into the realm of the ethereal. Philosophy, psychology, theology. Existentialists call it "finding the Self.". Christians call it "becoming like Christ." Technologists call it "finding flow."

Rather than debate philosophy, I prefer to practice it and reap its benefits. Personal self-reinvention for me, is about achieving clarity around the problems I face and finding solutions to them. Writing online helps me codify these ideas and solidify my knowledge around personal interests like Christianity and productivity.

I'll publish procedural essays around my productivity and knowledge management systems and my daily routines. I'll dissect my workflows at ground level and my decisions at 10,000 feet. I'll write about my principles, values, and goals; my ideas, both contrarian and common; the lessons I distilled from books that have most shaped my thinking.

The ultimate goal is become someone who lives with a clear purpose, finds joy in solitude, and enjoys intimate relationships with others.

Writing Online for Professional Self-Reinvention

To paraphrase Robin Williams' now-famous quote, when it comes to my career I want to be so good they can't ignore me. And the way to achieve that is to amass career capital -- professional skills and experiences I can trade for perks that make up a fulfilling career.

I'll talk about deliberate practice and decision-making as a technologist and marketer. I'll publish summaries of the key books and resources in my fields of professional interest -- growth, marketing, and technology. Finally, as I consult experts in my field and find models to follow, I'll publish the research and patterns I unearth.

The goal of the professional side is to amass more career capital through honing valuable skills, doing career research, and building an online audience.

Finding Meaningful Relationships with Open-Sourced Self-Reinvention

The two pieces to achieving a life of flow are meaningful work and meaningful relationships. Historically, I've obsessively built career capital to over-compensate for my lack of meaningful personal and professional relationships.

My deepest hope in writing online and open sourcing my brain is to let more people into my life. I want to build and grow an online community who care about the same things I do. People who have common goals, who give me constant feedback, and with whom I can take on challenges in life.

Of course there will be parts of me that I won’t have the courage to write about (yet).

And that's OK.

The goal isn't radical transparency, but radical clarity: to know exactly how I think, how I work, and why I do what I do. And then to share as much of that with the world as possible.

I’m certain that if I simply write down my ideas, share my thought processes, and document my ever-evolving workflows, there will be people out there who will find that interesting, useful, and compelling.

And if you had to sum up everything, saying that my website is “a vehicle for open-sourced self-reinvention”, is a verbose technologist way of saying,

"I'm wondering in public, and inviting others to wonder with me."