You're probably obsessed with learning how to write better.

Like me, the thought of improving as a writer is all-consuming. It dictates how you spend your free time, it impacts what books you read, what podcasts you listen to, and, probably, who you follow online.

This insatiable desire to improve is a great thing, and it's the first ingredient you need to actually move forward.

But you soon find out that you need more than desire.

You're going to need:

• New material to learn

• A patient mentor to learn from

• A mechanism to apply your learnings

• An instant feedback loop to accelerate the growth process

Without these variables, your growth will stagnate, and you'll become increasingly frustrated as you watch peers hit new levels, land interesting writing jobs, and build a following.

Writing projects are the engine of real progress.

Of the things above, having a mechanism that forces you to learn and apply what you learn is the most critical.

And when I say mechanism, I mean a project. Something you're building or doing that requires action and skill development to push the project (and your progress) forward.

You'll never hear me discourage someone from learning.

But, as Naval Ravikant says, "Learning for learning's sake gets empty after a while. The motivation isn't the same." And "Doing and learning go hand in hand."

So, if you find yourself trapped at a certain development level, find or create a project that cannot be successful unless you grow as a writer.