Yesterday a friend asked me if I enjoy writing this newsletter. It’s a simple question, but I didn’t have a simple answer.

I’m always happy at the end. I’ve never regretted hitting send and publishing my thoughts.

I also enjoy the middle – the act of putting pen to paper, creating my first draft, massaging the words, and making edits for clarity and brevity.

It’s the beginning that gives me pause. I don’t love deciding what to write.

Some weeks I just know the topic and I get to dive into the process. Those are the best weeks.

Then there are times like today when it takes me two hours to settle on something I want to write about.

Common advice for people who want to grow their newsletter or social media following is to niche down and focus on a topic.

But when I started, my goal wasn’t subscriber growth; it was personal growth. I wanted to integrate a regular practice of writing into my life.

And back in January, I didn’t have a specific topic I wanted to focus on. We had just sold the business and I was undergoing the most significant life change I’ve experienced since becoming a parent.

What I’ve learned through writing 47 articles for this newsletter is that I enjoy sharing what I’m working on, how I think about something, and what I’m learning.

Constrains create freedom.

If you tell someone to write a story, they don’t know where to start. But if you tell someone to write a story about a dog, they can come up with ten ideas in under a minute.

So in that spirit, the constraint I’ll be introducing to this newsletter is the topic of my acquisition search.

It’s the thing that I’m working on, I get to explore my thoughts, and I can share what I’m learning in the process.

Now I just need a catchy new name for my newsletter, something like Mattquisition.