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What Morgan Housel Can Teach Us About Forming New Thoughts
And some of the worst writing advice ever.
Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, has a unique aspect of his writing process.
He takes three walks around his neighborhood while writing a blog post or book chapter. He even walks around his house or does household chores when it’s cold.
As he said on The Tim Ferriss Show:
“And during that walk I’m a hundred percent focused on what I’m– writing and thinking about, “What did I just write? Is that true? Oh, actually that reminds me of something else. So that’s always a process.””
Housel goes on to say, “I think movement is really critical to forming new thoughts and moving the piece along, which is so critical when you don’t know where it’s going to go when you started writing it.”
Walk It Out
There’s a reason that walking is an almost universal habit amongst great writers.
As Nietzsche famously said, “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.”
Something about movement or just not staring at the blank screen is so powerful.
Taking a walk is like grabbing a broom and sweeping up the dirty floor of your brain. Afterward, you just feel better about your environment.
Digital writing legend Dickie Bush and co-conspirator in the Ship 30 course, has grown his X (formerly known as Twitter) following to over 375k over the last 3.5 years.
His online writing has become prolific — X, LinkedIn, multiple newsletters, and courses.
Wanna know his go-to routine for writing ideas?
“Daily walks in nature every morning,” says Bush, “Just thinking, listening, and observing. By the time you come back to write, you’ll have your next 5 ideas.”
— Dickie Bush
So the next time you need an idea or are stuck, or just need to clean the mess up in your brain.
