Dear Perspectives: Have You Always Enjoyed Writing?

As I prepare for the release of my book in 13 days, I thought it would be fitting to answer this question ahead of the launch.

To be honest, I have not always enjoyed writing. When I was in high school, I took first Honors English, and then AP English. As part of the class, the teacher required us to keep a hand-written, one-page “journal” nearly every day. Some days, I kept up with the task, but I often found myself scrambling on Sunday afternoons, wracking my brain for enough ideas to fulfill the assignment. I saw writing as a chore, one necessary for getting good enough grades to earn a scholarship to college. 

Though I hated that assignment, it showed me that, with discipline, I was capable of writing daily—even if I hated nearly every second of it. I stopped writing after high school except when strictly necessary, but I often thought back to that period and remembered that I had the ability to write, even if I didn’t actively use it.  

That all changed in 2016, when my manager asked me to publish an article internally once a month. Though writing was as painful as I remembered from high school, that old feeling of being able to put words on the page slowly began to come back. It took time for me to become comfortable with my words, and I got inspiration and encouragement from my prolific writer friends like Julie Zhuo and Abby Wen. 

Eventually, something that had once been a chore turned into a joy. It helped me process my day, think through problems I encountered, and find my voice. It even evolved into something I could do to relax and clear my mind. Most of what I write never sees the light of day, but it is a way for me to put my thoughts on paper.  

The idea of writing a book seemed a bit far-fetched, even after I had started to write again. Then, one day, at a Stanford MBA class where I had spoken annually for years, I spontaneously said that I would write a book. Since I go back to speak there every year, I was now committed. It took four years, but now here we are, at the end of that journey and the start of the next one.  

Joy comes from finding meaning in what you do. I enjoy writing because it helps give shape and texture to my experience. If you had asked me six years ago whether I thought I would end up here today, I would not have believed you. But our biggest superpower is our adaptability. We are capable of growing and changing in ways we never could have imagined. That is how my relationship with writing has evolved from something I loathed to something I find meaning and fulfillment in.  

Note: my two daughters and niece (Bethany, Danielle and Olivia) interviewed me for this edition of Dear Perspectives. They started a collaborative effort in Google Docs to get my answer on paper before I refined and published it. I hope to help them create a spark so they too can start their writing journeys. They are learning to find their own voices as they write.