Using Writing as my basecamp
Philosopher Thucydides is often credited for the quote:
“The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”
When I was 12, I read The Belgariad, a fantasy fiction series by David Eddings. Some call it a poor man’s LOTR, I’m not here to argue anyone’s preference, that’s what Reddit’s for.
I became friends with the characters. Invested in them. When it ended, it was the first time that I can honestly say, I felt genuine sadness.
In 2020, a friend sent me a twitter thread by a guy named Ross Kennedy aka "Huntsman". Ross Kennedy is an authority and expert on supply chains and logistics. Not the sexiest subjects, but I had time and nothing better to do.
The thread was about China's rise to a manufacturing superpower. This sent me down a rabbit hole of Huntsman threads. From freight forwarding to geopolitics. Suddenly I was interested in ports, container shipping and the belt and road initiative. Longshoremen, Truckers and Railway networks. It was the style the information was delivered, turning logistics lingo, what felt like a foreign language, into layman’s terms.
Fast forward to 2025. During a search into AI and content creation, I came across a talk between Dan Koe and Sahil Bloom. Both men are entrepreneurs/writers/internet personalities. Take your pick.
Something Sahil said stuck with me. It was along the lines that his thoughts, conversations and creativity were directly correlated with the quality of his writing. The better he wrote, the better he performed in these other areas.
Something all these people share is that they’re great storytellers. A skill I want to master.
So I decided to try journaling 10-20 minutes a day.
In the beginning, I was trying too hard to sound like Mr Philosopher with words I didn't understand and thoughts that weren't mine.
It wasn’t working.
So, I hit reset and started again. Only this time, I treated it like the good old Dear Diary. Whatever was on my mind I’d write down. It was messy. 10 different topics jammed together, scribbled in bad handwriting. But I stuck at it. Every day, whether it was a sentence, a paragraph or a page.
A month later is where things got interesting.
The writing still wasn’t great, but it had a bit of shape.
Whatever I was dealing with, I could zero in on it quicker.
New ideas about blog topics and videos. Areas in my work and life I could experiment with AI tools.
Talking is easy. Communicating is hard. I stopped waiting for my turn to speak, and engaged.
Thucydides said it perfectly.
The savage and the poet are one and the same.
If every challenge is a mountain, then writing will be my basecamp. It’ll serve as a confession box, creative hub and therapist.
You don’t have to write. I’m not saying this will change your life. Find what works for you.
But if we use tools like working out to manage stress, socialise and network.
Writing can be another tool to add to the arsenal.
