James Clear, too, felt like an imposter while writing to build his expertise in public:

In November 2012, James Clear began publishing articles twice a week on his website based on notes about his personal experiments with habits.

By 2018, before his book Atomic Habits was released, his website had millions of monthly visitors and almost 500,000 weekly newsletter subscribers (way beyond his expectations).

The book went on to become a #1 New York Times bestseller and sold 20 million+ copies worldwide, establishing him as the habits expert.

If you are a founder, here are 2 things he says in Atomic Habits, on pages 7 and 9 respectively, that can forever change your perspective about writing content to build your expertise in public:

Perspective changing thing #1:

“I had felt like an impostor when I began writing two years earlier, but now I was becoming known as an expert on habits — a new label that excited me but also felt uncomfortable. I had never considered myself a master of the topic, but rather someone who was experimenting alongside my readers.”

The takeaway:

Experts aren't born as experts.

They become experts by experimenting and sharing.

Perspective changing thing #2:

“The fields I draw on — biology, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and more — have been around for many years. What I offer you is a synthesis of the best ideas smart people figured out a long time ago as well as the most compelling discoveries scientists have made recently. My contribution, I hope, is to find the ideas that matter most and connect them in a way that is highly actionable.”

The takeaway:

We don't need to do something new to establish our expertise.

Sharing about the way we understand and apply timeless principles is valuable, too.

With the simple 'habit' of writing online, you can make 2025 your biggest year yet.

Happy New Year and see you next week!

— Abhi

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