Gentlemen,

Handwritten letters are officially back.

Why?

Because texts are cheap and emails are transactional.

Writing is an art. As David McCullough said,

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.”

It is difficult to clearly state your thoughts. It’s challenging and requiring of legitimate effort to decide and state what it is that you think about a subject. The continued process of doing so enhances your conviction, intelligence, and articulation.

There's a reason that prolific men are often prolifc writers.

• Teddy Roosevelt wrote more than 150,000 letters

• Napoleon wrote more than 36,000

• Thomas Jefferson wrote more than 20,000

The list goes on…

You and I don’t need to write 150,000 letters, but the point is clear: writing letters is a worthy investment of time.

Hand writing letters forces you to delineate your thoughts and to articulate them clearly. The time consuming and slow nature of writing letters is a force function for clearer thought and patience; communication is enhanced in every way.

An added benefit is the level of investment shown in the actual writing process to the recipient. To recieve a letter is to know that the writer sat down, got out a pen and paper, spent time deciding what was worthy of being written, wrote it, and then shipped the letter off.

This enhances the connection felt between the writer and the recipient: something a text does not come close to accomplishing.

In the past several months I have opened around 10 lines with friends, family members, and mentors and made it a practice to write a handful of letters every week or two.

I say with confidence that the investment is already paying dividends in the few short months since I’ve opened the lines.

I’ve taken it one step further on a few occasions by going to a nice coffee shop or hotel lobby ordering a coffee or a drink and spending an hour or two writing. It’s become a welcome part of my monthly routine.

For what it is worth, I cannot recommend that you open a few lines of slow communication enough.

An easy way to start is to write one letter per month to a family member, one to a friend, and one to a mentor, coach, or colleague.

You will notice a tangible improvement in your writing ability, verbal acuity, and the depth of relationship with whoever you write to.

Some prompts to consider:

• What’s one improvement you’ve made in your life the past month?

• What’s one thing you are currently working on?

• What is one thing you respect about the recipient?

Your creativity and persistency will take care of the rest.

I hope this has inspired you to write a few letters. Send me an email @ [email protected] or connect on Instagram or Twitter if you have any questions - would love to hear from you.

Onward & Upward,

Nolan