Summary

A writer reflects on the importance of following one's own advice, particularly about taking breaks and being health-conscious, to enhance productivity and creativity.

Abstract

The article discusses the irony of writers who offer sound advice but sometimes fail to apply it to their own lives. The author, acknowledging their own lapse in adhering to health-conscious tips for increased productivity, emphasizes the benefits of taking a break, such as going for a walk. This practice not only helps maintain emotional sanity but also sparks creativity and inspiration, as experienced by the author during a recent walk that led to multiple story ideas. The writer encourages readers to take their own advice seriously, illustrating the positive outcomes with a personal anecdote about booking a spontaneous getaway as a result of following through with their advice.

Opinions

The author believes that writers should be genuine and honest by practicing what they preach.
Regular walks are considered essential for maintaining emotional well-being and boosting writing productivity.
Taking one's own advice can lead to unexpected inspiration and story ideas.
The author values the combination of writing and personal experiences as a means to inspire readers.
There is an acknowledgment of personal hypocrisy in not following through with advice given to others, which the author seeks to rectify.
The act of taking a break and engaging in outdoor activities is seen as a way to overcome writer's block and generate new content ideas.
The author expresses a sense of accomplishment and self-care by planning a short trip, which was inspired by their own advice and the stories of others.

Why Do Good Writers Forget To Take Their Own Advice

Good things happen when we take the advice we give to others

Writing Inspiration on a Walk — Photo Credit: Justiss Goode

What is it about a writer who gives good advice, but they sometimes forget to take it themselves? I’m not calling anyone out, because I’m guilty of this myself, but I’ve discovered that good things start to happen when we remember to take our own advice.

Writing To Inspire

Most writers tend to write to inspire their readers, regardless of whether you’re providing valuable writing related tips or you simply enjoy sharing important life lessons that you’ve learned from personal experience.

Whatever your motive for inspiring your readers, or what you’re inspiring them to do; you should be as genuine and honest as you possibly can. What exactly does that mean?

That means making sure that you are actually taking the advice and using the tips that you are so freely giving out. Like I said, I’m not judging or pointing fingers, because I sometimes find myself guilty of this also.

I recently wrote a story about why writers need to be health conscious if they really want to be more productive. If you decide to check the story out AFTER reading this one, you’ll see exactly how you can actually create better quality stories if you take this advice.

The problem is, in that story, I mention things like the need to take a break and get out of the house. Before I began writing on Medium this past May, I had just gotten back into my regular habit of taking a daily walk.

COVID had scared the hell out of me, so I was nervous about getting back out and doing things. I was one of the people who literally did not step one foot out of the house for the first 3 months during the pandemic.

I would get out and talk to the flowers (Yep! You heard me right. I have a lovely group of morning glories that I speak to regularly — aloud).

But as of May 1, 2021 (also my birthday), I’ve found myself omitting my daily walk from time to time. This is a huge issue for me, because that is one of the various things to help me keep my emotional sanity. And as much as I hate to admit it, my hypocrisy when it comes to not taking a walk, is all because of my obsessive writing schedule (or lack of schedule).

Listening To My Good Advice

The thing that recently made me come to my senses about this, and start listening to my own good advice again, was one of my enjoyable daily walks.

As you can see from the photo I took on my walk (shown at the beginning of this story), being outdoors on such a glorious day is reward enough, however, something else good happened when I made myself get out and resume my walking ritual.

Before I left, I’d been pondering what story I wanted to submit to the Songstories publication that I’ve only written for once, but I like a lot because they give me a chance to combine what I love the most: Writing and music.

I finally left to go out on my mid morning walk (I procrastinated too long for a morning walk like I normally take). When I did, I still had no idea what story I wanted to write about and relate to a song.

I decided to worry about it when I returned, and made up my mind to really be present, and enjoy my walk. Without really thinking about writing, by the time I returned home, I still ended up with a great story idea for the song publication.

I also came up with the idea to write the story you’re now reading, in my effort to write to inspire. Besides that, I even came up with two additional story ideas, all because of things I was thinking about, while I was on my walk! Personally, I think that’s great, and I owe it all to me finally having the good sense to follow my own writing related, health conscious advice.

The Big Takeaway

I hope all of you will find something worthwhile to take away from this.

In case you can’t figure out what you’re looking at in this image, it’s a picture of my suitcase, packed and ready to go! I came back from my walk totally inspired, and feeling a bit brave.

I actually owe part of my decision to a story Delilah Brass wrote about a beautiful, breath taking place called Madeira. I left her a comment, saying how once upon a time, I might have ventured away from home that far.

During my walk, I laughed at myself when I remembered the comment I left, because nowadays, I barely leave my neighborhood (beyond 1 or 2 miles). That’s when I began toying with the idea of a quick get-away (thanks to ME and my good advice about a walk).

So I got home, I dipped into my savings (that I’ve managed to do pretty good holding onto), and I went online to book myself a 2 night stay at a beachfront hotel.

Yay me! I never do anything for myself, and certainly not something this extravagant and spur of the moment (I check in tomorrow 6/10/20). I’m excited to get away, enjoy myself, and YES, even get some writing done.

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