Today I finally got around to creating an archive page for this blog that pulls together all the blog posts I have written over the years.

https://twitter.com/ActivateLearn/status/1383636323060178944

I followed the article How to Display All Your WordPress Posts on the One Page and downloaded the Simple Yearly Archive plugin from the WordPress store.

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while because I wanted to have a record of all the posts I had written. Usually I use the ‘Search’ box on my blog to find the posts I have written in the past if I need to find a specific post however, it’s getting a bit too much for me to recall every post. This way, will mean that I can see what I’ve written and how much I have written every year.

When you see it all on the one page, you tend to appreciate more how much you have done and accomplished over the years.

Adding up all the posts, I have written 703 articles since 2011 – and they’re not short articles either!

I’ve been thinking about the “way I write” and at times I believe HOW I write has somehow detrimented me in some ways – but helped me in others.

Let me explain.

Many people write their blog posts as articles where they are presenting an argument or a discussion. They’re researched and they explain the what, how and why of their subject matter expertise. That is, they write from the point of view of them being the expert.

Many times, I don’t write this way. Sure, there are articles I have written in the past that can be considered educational and use the simple article formula of Introduction, Headings Per Idea, Body, Summary or Checklist and Conclusion however, the majority of my writing seems to be the following:

• The process of HOW I’m learning or working on something
• Reflections of my work and learning
• Rambling opinion pieces
• Hodge podge of my passions, hobbies and interests that strike my fancy

If you were to ask, “who are you writing for?” the answer is easy. Me.

Now any marketer or advertiser would incredulously ask you, “why on earth aren’t you writing for an audience?”

The thing is, my blog is an extension of myself. I see it as my Digital Portfolio and a record of evidence for all my work and learning. It’s not meant to sell any product, service or idea – it simply is a record of my progress and my life’s work and learning.

In so doing, I would hopefully assume that any person reading it (say, a reader, an employer or even a recruiter), would see BEYOND what is being written and rather take it on face value “oh you’re not writing for an audience”, to see it’s value in terms of much deeper considerations:

• Who I am as a person
• How I approach my work and relationships with others
• How I transparently show and share my work and learning in the spirit of helping others
• My generosity and authenticity
• How much value I provide to others by role modelling and inspiring others to action

If I was to further delve into my yearly archive, I would also consider the main themes of what I did every year and how I improved upon over the years. Maybe this is a task to do next week?

For example, how did I change or improve as a person and in my practice from 2011 to 2012; from 2012 to 2013; from 2013 to 2014 etc?

Part of me can already see that my thinking had started to change between 2019 to 2021. This year, it had become more playful, personal and spiritual. Earlier years, my focus was on getting people to see value in personal learning (but not getting anywhere much with it).

Later this year, I’m presenting at a conference about Building a Digital Profile and I think I’m going to share the value of using a blog to show your progress as a professional and indeed, as part of your own identity. I can’t imagine me NOT having a blog.

It’s an extension of me. It is me.