In 2017, I made $2,000 in the span of one hour.
In that moment, my life changed forever. I came downstairs and told my Dad I just made a couple grand, and I’ll never forget his eyes.
He looked at me like I just did a quadruple axel or something.
I’ve had a lot of people follow me in the last few days or so, and I think it’s time I take you all back to the very beginning, and show you some of the highlights of my writing career. Why? Because maybe my story will show you how you, too, can build a nice following.
NOTE: This is the first Paid Edition I’ve ever published. I plan to keep releasing free articles every Tuesday, but if you want something a little extra, with a little more behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty content, become a paid subscriber. I’ll release a paid edition once every two weeks at least.
2014 - I start journaling
“Tom, I think you’ll want to document this.”
My sister wrote that in a Facebook message to me in May of 2014. She told me she sent me a few journals in the mail to fill out. It was my first time EVER considering using a journal—or diary—in my life.
I just arrived in Orlando to start an 8-month internship at Disney World, my favorite place on planet earth. Out of 50,000 applicants, only 12,000 get hired. We were then told in orientation that only half of these 12,000 make it to the end of their program, because many either self-terminate or get terminated for breaking various rules.
Yikes.
I made it to the end of my 8-month journey, so I was one of the lucky ones. There was a TON of partying, park days, hard work, and lifelong friendships made. I had a few friends from Disney come to my wedding in Mexico last year.
That’s a tale for another day. What’s important is that I filled out one of the three journals my sister sent front to back. It is my most-prized possession. I fell in love with journaling hook, line, and sinker, and realized that this one habit drastically reduced how stressed and anxious I felt.
I wrote the last page in the airport on my final day in Orlando, and I cried writing it.
I didn’t know it then, but this simple journaling habit laid the foundation for the next 10 years of my life.