A Micropreneur's Journey: Transformative Insights from 365 Days of Writing

Table of Contents

• Daily consistent effort breeds results

• Audit your personal time and expenses

• Habit/accountability stacking is effective and rew …

• Embrace the ebb and flow of creativity

• Feedback is a gift

• Balance is key

• Small [micro] steps lead to big leaps

• Authenticity breeds connection

• Stay open to learning

• There's power in routine

• Celebrate the micro wins

• Flexibility leads to innovation

Writing is an art. Writing well, a life-long commitment.

Even with all of today’s tools and technologies, knowing how to communicate effectively is something all micropreneurs can benefit from. When you understand the fundamentals, and combine it with your own voice and style, you can attract the right audiences to you.

As I reflect on the last year of writing for 365 consecutive days, I am both humbled and grateful. I did not expect to get here.

But today, I want to share with you not just the lessons I've learned but also how they've reshaped my approach to life, work, and personal growth.

Here are 12 lessons from my year-long endeavor:

Daily consistent effort breeds results 

If you’ve been following along the past year, you might have read my sign-off each edition, “Through patience and persistence, it will come.” Creating a routine that aligns seamlessly with my goals and vision has been transformative. Don’t overcomplicate your habits or routines, just choose one thing and get it done. The process itself breeds results (naturally).

Audit your personal time and expenses

Inspired by Yong-Soo Chung, this practice transformed my journaling into a valuable, paid product, showing the importance of understanding and valuing your own time and efforts. I took what I was already doing (journaling in a Moleskine) and turned it into a paid product (this newsletter).

Habit/accountability stacking is effective and rewarding

By combining existing habits with new ones, like my morning journaling with this newsletter, I found a way to make this new process feel effortless and enjoyable. I learned this originally from my time building a startup called Honā. But applied to this newsletter, it worked a treat.

Embrace the ebb and flow of creativity

Some days the words flowed freely, while others were a struggle. Learning to ride these waves taught me the value of resilience and adaptability in my creative process, utilizing tools like AudioPen to capture thoughts on the fly, then convert them into newsletter-ready articles whenever I hit an off day.

Feedback is a gift

Engaging with readers and receiving their insights has been invaluable. It's a reminder that growth often comes from outside perspectives. It was through your feedback that this newsletter evolved from Digital Wayfinder > The Micro Letter > Micro Empires. Ending with the weekly format of documenting rising micropreneurs and linking their activities to ancient history.

Balance is key

Writing every day, I had to find a balance between work, personal life, and self-care. This equilibrium is crucial for sustained productivity and mental health. To deal with this, I would keep to my daily writing habit, but queue up a few extra newsletters if I ever felt the energy. That way, if I had an off-day, the momentum wasn’t disrupted.

Small [micro] steps lead to big leaps

Each day's writing might have seemed insignificant on its own, but collectively, they represent a massive achievement and personal growth. Most people struggle to do anything consistently for extend periods of time, but the key is to chunk them down into smaller steps, so they feel effortless. Like brushing your teeth. It’s this “micro” approach that also fuels my fascination with micropreneurs and micro-empires, which is why this particular edition (From Solo to Micro) become one of the highest-performing for the year.

Authenticity breeds connection

By being raw and honest in my writings, I've forged deeper connections with you, my readers. Authenticity is a powerful tool for building community. And I reveal even more of myself with my Premium subscribers. “Authenticity” may feel a bit overused these days, but it still holds true — when you stay true to yourself, the right type of success finds its way to you, not someone else’s.

Stay open to learning

Each article was a lesson in itself, about the world, about writing, and about myself. Lifelong learning is not just a concept but a practical approach to life. A few of my favorite issues from the year include Issue #075 about 60-year old Grandma Nomad, who’s reinventing her life and career. And Issue #071 about 18-year old Jenny Hoyos, who’s absolutely crushing it with YouTube Shorts and is earning > $1M already. With all our current technologies, you’re never too young, or too old, to learn.

There's power in routine

Establishing a daily writing habit has instilled discipline and focus in other areas of my life, proving that routines can be incredibly empowering. It’s interesting because it’s almost like a subtle paradigm shift — when you successfully tackle one area of your life, it’s easier to tackle the rest. I’m restless by nature, so routine has always been a great balancer for me. Issue #060 (The Return & Rise of Ayurveda) reminded me of the saying, “health is wealth.” And routines are useful in building healthy habits.

Celebrate the micro wins

Every published article was a victory. Acknowledging these small successes has been crucial for maintaining motivation and enthusiasm throughout this year-long journey. I have various micro-communities, including GSD Global, where I’m able to share these wins. If you don’t have a place where you can celebrate the micro wins with others, find one!

Flexibility leads to innovation

Throughout this writing journey, there were times when my plans had to change or adapt. This flexibility opened up new avenues of thought and creativity, showing me that sometimes, the best ideas come from unexpected shifts in our plans or perspectives. An example of this was experimenting with different weekly newsletter formats. Although changing the format every other week might have frustrated some readers, it helped me find one that eventually landed with more readers. Using the newsletter (initially), as just a place for me to share my thoughts, allowed me to not care too much about how I was being perceived. This allowed me to experiment until I found something that truly resonated with readers.

In closing, this year of daily writing has been more than just a challenge; it's been a journey of self-discovery and growth. I hope these lessons inspire you in your micropreneur journey!