In the last 60 days, I've helped 253 people build an online writing habit.

Here are 10 lessons they've taught me in behavior change, human psychology, and writing online.

THREAD...👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

If you use it right, Twitter is the most powerful platform in the world.

But Twitter does a horrible job of showing you its advanced features.

Here are 10 of them you probably know nothing about:

The most underutilized Twitter feature: advanced search.

It blows my mind how few people know this.

Want to find someone's best tweets?

In the search bar, type:

from:dickiebush min_faves:500

Replace the handle and the number of likes as you see fit.

Another good advanced search tip:

Want to see everyone's tweets on a particular topic?

In the search bar, type:

from:dickiebush "consistency"

Again, replace the handle and keyword as you see fit.

You can filter by popularity too:

from:dickiebush "consistency" min_faves:100

We all have those people we don't want following us, but don't want to block.

Here's a good hack:

Block them, then unblock them.

This will unfollow you, but they'll never know.

Get mentioned in a tweet that is receiving way too many replies, turning your notifications into a disaster?

I've been there.

Click to expand the details of the tweet, then click the three dots on the top right-hand corner.

Then, click "mute this conversation."

Building an audience, simplified.

• Share a ton of ideas.
• Find the ones that resonate.
• Find a way to repeat those in 100 different ways.

5 dead-simple steps to build a daily writing habit (that you can actually stick to):

By the end of this thread you will have:

1. Found time to write
2. Generated 12 months of ideas
2. Set a daily publishing cadence
4. Overcome your procrastination
5. Built a bulletproof accountability system

Just in time for the new year.

Let's go:

Step 1. Design your writing routine in a single sentence.

This is immediately where most people go wrong.

They set a vague goal to "start writing."

Instead, you want to define:

• When you're writing
• Where you're writing
• For how long you're writing

Here's an example:

Bad way to build a writing habit:

→ "I want to start writing."

Good way to build a writing habit:

→ "Every morning at 8 AM, I will sit down at my desk with a cup of coffee and write for 20 minutes."

Clearly defined when, where, and how long.

But how do you decide these?

Enter: Sacred Hours

To find your Sacred Hours, ask yourself 2 questions:

1. What time of day am I most productive?
2. What time of day can I be least reachable?

The overlap of these times are your Sacred Hours.

During that time, start small and commit to just 20 minutes.

🚢 Atomic Essays Republishing Framework 🚢

1. Write Atomic Essay
2. Post image on Twitter
3. (Bonus) Copy/paste text as thread
4. Find relevant Question on Quora. Copy/paste Atomic Essay + image.
5. Copy/paste again on Medium.
6. Again on LinkedIn
7. Win

Guide below ✍️🚢👇

Step 1: Write Atomic Essay

I really enjoy writing right inside the Figma template. It helps give me a good sense of exactly how much "real estate" I have/have left before my time us up and I'm out of space.

Once finished, I export the image and send to my phone on Slack.

Step 2: Post image on Twitter

Before I publish my Atomic Essay on Twitter, I use the Edit/Photo Markup function on the iPhone to highlight standout sentences.

These are usually power-phrases: things the reader skims and thinks, "That's interesting," prompting them to read more.

Step 3: For the Ship 30 for 30 challenge, I only turn Atomic Essays into threads if...

1. The piece is SUPER actionable and lends itself well to the thread format (lots of bullets, quick points, lists, etc.)

or...

2. I'm referencing research and want to link to the pieces.

Step 4: Find relevant Question on Quora. Copy/paste Atomic Essay + image.

Search on Quora around the topic you wrote about. Find a related Question. Copy/paste the whole Atomic Essay as your "answer" (& fix formatting). Then include image so it appears in the thumbnail.

A few tips and notes to myself – Why I should write more about my work and what I wish I knew before I started [thread] ✍️

Writing can help you process something, document your work, let you review your progress, improves your documentation and communication skills.

Writing about your personal insights and experiences can help younger designers who aren’t at your stage in your career: you can inspire.

If you write in another language: It’s not important that your English isn’t the best. There are people who can support you and help you with editing. You will learn with each new piece you write. Ask them for feedback and writing patterns that you can improve.

Tip for interviews and Q&As: Record yourself or imagine recording yourself answering questions, let it flow, and write it down. This helps you reduce the pressure and your first draft is done in no time!

Something I see all the time in my research and writing and talk about frequently in my coaching practice is the need to marry fierce self-discipline with fierce self-compassion.

On sustainable success, peak performance, and career advice.

THREAD 👇👇

Self-discipline: Pursuing what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it; focus on task hand; showing up consistently, even when you don't want to.

Self-compassion: Being kind to yourself in the midst of struggle; creating space to hold softly what you are feeling.

Research shows clearly that both self-discipline and self-compassion are associated with sustainable peak performance.

Self-discipline is your fuel as you move forward on your respective path. Self-compassion is your guard-rail: it keeps you on course when you go astray.

Self-compassion is especially powerful when things are hard or when you experience failure.

Why? Simple.

If when you fail you are judgmental and beat yourself up all you are doing is wasting energy. If you are kind to yourself, you can simply get up, adjust, and go again.

Self-compassion makes you fearless.

If you cultivate strong self-compassion you can take risks and fail and go to hard places knowing you can hold it all and still be okay.

It doesn't make hard things less hard; it makes you more able to handle them. (See work: @DennisTirchPhD)

Thread: Common instances of passive voice in rules text that can be clearer with more direct voice.

But first: Why do we so often write rules in passive voice? Outlining the "laws" of our game feels like a very formal position with an of aloof authority. Avoid that voice.

"THE PLAYER"

Question any instance of "the player" in a sentence. If you are addressing one player, address them directly in the first sentence of the paragraph and use "you" thereafter.

"If you are the first player, you may X, Y, then Z. If you X, see next page."

"HAVE/HAD/HAS/'D/"

Examine any of these words or contractions. There is usually a more succinct way of phrasing that sentence in the present tense and direct address.

"The player who has just moved must..."
vs.
"After you move, you must..."

"WE"

If you want to put yourself at the table with the players, do so CONSISTENTLY. A random "we" in one paragraph really sticks out. You can even play with voice that way.

"We suggest using option A for your first game."
vs.
"Ahoy, cadet! Use option A for your first game!"

"YOU MAY BUILD, HARVEST, or REST."

Break up action options into a bulleted list rather than a long sentence. e.g.

"On your turn, do one of the following:
• Build: Pay X to place a card.
• Harvest: Destroy a card to gain X.
• Rest: Draw a card from the deck."