My thoughts are frantic yet I can’t put anything down on paper; what a terrible place to be. Stuck between a storm of ambition and the silence of an indifferent mind. What’s the problem?

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To preface, I’ve talked to the adults, and they’ve agreed to my terms: I’ll be writing one page per day for the next week. A worthy offering to my future self; he should be grateful. But what about current me? Well, he’s got a task—a rather delightful one: regurgitating something flavorsome.

So, why am I doing this? Well, I think I suck at talking sometimes. My fumbling attempts at constructing a coherent sentence speak for themselves (no pun intended). So, after doing some rigorous research, I learnt the three step formula that will solve all my problems! Read, Write, and Speak. Simples! *meerkat noises*

From my research, I landed on a very succint explanation—and I don’t know about you, but it applies to me wholeheartedly:

Our speech is a reflection of how we think.

So, zeh we have it! Ze Problem! Unorganised thoughts = unorganised speech.

But, how do we organise our thoughts? Well, first and foremost, how do we do anything? We learn. And how do we best learn something? From those who’ve already learnt it! (I highly recommend checking out ‘The Ant Method’ for learning anything). So, that’s why I ought to read more.

Still a bit fuzzy? Think of it like this. Books are a gateway into the world of organised thoughts and structure. Furthermore, they can be rich in vocabulary, ideas, and perspectives, offering you a wealth of insight. The kicker (and fun challenge) is to expose yourself to books you don’t normally read, such as history, biographies, classical literature, business, or literary fiction (anything but fantasy apparently). And read 5 to 10 pages per day—that’s it; just replace that toilet-phone with a toilet-book and you’ll be articulating yourself clearly in no time 😉

Ultimately, the idea is to fill your mind and subconscious with tools, vocabulary, and sentence structure. You are what you eat [fatty].

In regards to writing, Jordan Peterson summerises it perfectly saying, “writing is the process of formalising your thoughts” (that’s definitely paraphrased by the way). Moreover, it’s a way of identifying if your thoughts are any good, because, let’s be honest, 90% of what you think should never leave that big head of yours, let alone your lying teeth. But mine are always good, so I generally skip the writing part. However, for the rest of you, focus on one task—and this should work in accordance with your reading schedule: write one page a day.

Now, before you get all excited, heed my warning: unless you’ve managed to avoid social media’s significant effort to destroy your attention span, be prepared to experience cognitive hopelessness—much like I expressed at the beginning of this post. It’s a feeling of staring blankely into the void waiting for something to come your way. But nothing arrives. In those moments, we need to be patient with ourselves… alternatively, you could just start an arguement. And yes, I am being serious. For example, you could ask yourself what pisses you off on a daily basis. Slow drivers? The terrible pop music playlists blasting 24/7 at your gym? How ’bout paying tens of thousands of dollars for a three year University degree when you know full-well you could’ve learnt far more from a free, three minute YouTube tutorial—and as a cherry on top—you STILL have to pay for PRINTING!!?!? LIKE SERIOUSLY?!- Now, pause. Here’s the most important part: After riling yourself up, hold that energy in front of you and consciously choose to direct it towards something productive (i.e., control it—don’t let it control you). This process of conjuring energy ‘out of thin air’ is possible because your brain reacts to imagination similarly to reality, which is why simply thinking of something upsetting can strongly affect how you feel. In other words, it’s a brain hack. But it’s also a warning for overthinkers (like myself).

So, the point is: anger is a powerful tool. And if it’s used right, it can produce some seriously good works of art. All you have to do is learn to channel it into something Productive not Destructive. And that applies to almost any “negative” emotion.

In a world so obsessed with instant gratification and pleasure, we’re more numb than ever—caught in a never-ending cycle of chasing the next hit, further plunging ourselves into the abyss. But if we remind ourselves of our ‘why,’ we can bring meaning and feeling back into our hearts. It’s not something the world around us can give—it’s something we find within. That’s why we ought to argue with ourselves every now and then; it’s a way of keeping ourselves accountable and, most importantly, maintaining meaning in our lives, which drives all our actions. Because what’s worse than a pianist without passion?

Finally, only after prioritising these two steps—reading and writing—can you move onto the next: speaking.

How can you practice to speak? Here’s an activity: find someone you’re comfortable with and speak to them for 5 minutes straight. It should be an impromptu conversation. You can talk about casual things such as a recent conversation or experience you had—maybe something you found challenging (they’re usually more exciting). Or bring up something that’s important to you.

In the end, the choice of topic is yours. But if you’re having trouble picking, you can simply talk about what you wrote that day—it ties the whole formula together nicely.

Remember, those who can clearly articulate themselves have most probably undergone training. Additionally, like I mentioned before, You Are What You Eat. So, do yourself a favour and surround yourself with what and who you want to become.

Now, I was told that if you do these things on a regular basis, it will help you organise your thoughts, and master clear and articulate communication. So, we shall see… And for heavens sake, don’t be so verbose. Less is more in the world of communication. (That’s me giving myself advice by the way).

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PS: did you see the art piece on your way in? Do you like it? It’s called “The Young Scholar.” And it’s basically me—reading books I can barely hold, sitting in chairs built for bigger men, and pretending to teach things I’ve never known, all while using the book of wisdom and all things true as a prop for my own posture. And as irony spills from my lips, I sit here and smile—what a wonderful gift it is to know exactly what lies beneath my own ass.