30 days ago, I volunteered as a Mentor Captain for Dickie Bush & Nicolas Cole's cohort-based course, Ship 30 for 30.

In that time, I wrote & published 30 Atomic Essays, mentored new digital writers, made friends, and started gaining clarity over what my niche might be. It has been a very rewarding (and challenging) journey, and I am more excited than ever to keep writing online.

Here are the 3 biggest things writing & publishing consistently every day for 30 days taught me:

1. Mentoring encourages others to do the same

I worked directly with 11 writers and helped many others who were on the same journey. This empowered them to pay it forward which makes Ship 30 for 30 a powerful community of digital writers.

2. Knowing the big picture is the best mentoring skill

Mentoring requires a balance of sharing your own experiences and listening to what the mentee needs. Based on their essays and their goals, I learned to step back to look at the big picture which improved my mentoring skills.

3. Writing is the most powerful form of communication

At the core of everything is the written word. Ship 30 for 30 writers are from every walk of life. Writing is borderless, timeproof, and ego proof.

If you have been thinking about getting started writing online too, let me know. I'm happy to share more about the experience and what I learned.