7 Lessons I Learned While Writing My First Book

Writing a book is one of those things that sounds romantic until you’re actually doing it.

When the idea for Degrees of Change first took shape in my mind in 2023, I pictured something simple, a clear idea, a structured outline, a smooth writing process, and a finished product I could be proud of. What I got instead was something far messier, far harder, and ultimately far more valuable, but looking back was ALL worth it.

This book draws directly from my journey building the Young Eye Initiative and asks a question I’ve been wrestling with for years: is social entrepreneurship the key to changing the world? But before I could answer that question for the reader, I had to go through a process that changed me as a thinker and writer.

Here are 7 lessons I took away from writing my first book.

Lesson 1: Clarity Comes Through Writing, Not Before It

I made the mistake of waiting until my ideas were perfectly formed before I started writing. I thought I needed to have everything figured out first. I was wrong.

The act of writing is the act of thinking. The moment I started putting words on the page in early 2023,  even imperfect, half-formed words and concepts, my ideas began to slowly make sense. All this stemed from the things I was writing about in this blog. Concepts I had been circling for years suddenly made sense when I had to explain them out loud on paper. If you’re waiting for clarity before you start, you’ll be waiting for a long time.

Lesson 2: Your Story Is Your Strongest Asset

Early in the writing process, I kept pulling back from the personal stuff. I’d write a section and then edit out the vulnerable parts, the failures, the doubts, the moments where I genuinely didn’t know what I was doing. And while that is still not pretty evident in the book, it is a lesson I carry with me for future books. I have quickly discovered that is what the audience wants, this is going to make working on book 2 easier.

What I discovered is the opposite is true. The moments where I was most honest about my journey, starting a foundation as a concept first at 17, navigating the financial pressures of being a university entrepreneur, learning to lead without all the answers, those were the parts that resonated most. Authenticity isn’t a weakness. It’s the point.

Lesson 3: Sustaining a Big Project Requires Systems, Not Just Motivation

Motivation got me started. Systems kept me going.

There were stretches during the writing process where I simply didn’t feel inspired. The excitement of starting had worn off and what remained was the quiet, unglamorous work of actually finishing. This is where I had to get serious about structure, dedicated writing blocks, daily word count targets, and a commitment to showing up even when I had nothing “brilliant” to say.

This is a lesson that applies far beyond book writing. It’s the same lesson I talk about when it comes to sustaining any big idea. The gap between starting and finishing is where most people quit. The ones who don’t are the ones who built the right habits.

Lesson 4: You Cannot Edit a Blank Page

This might be the most liberating thing I learned as a first-time author: a bad first draft is infinitely more useful than no draft at all.

I spent the first few weeks of writing trying to make every sentence perfect in real time. I would write a paragraph sometimes even a whole chapter, reread it, hate it, delete it, and start again. I wasn’t writing, I was performing and wondering why I am even doing this at my age! The moment I gave myself permission to write badly, the book started moving.

The same principle applies to starting anything new. Whether it’s a business, a blog, or a project – done is better than perfect. You can’t refine what doesn’t exist yet. If you’re someone who struggles with this, I would encourage you to read my thoughts on why you shouldn’t be afraid to fail. The fear of imperfection is the enemy of progress.

Lesson 5: Writing a Book Forces You to Know What You Actually Believe

I thought I knew my perspective on social entrepreneurship before I started writing. I had lived it, built it, spoken about it at conferences from Bloomberg CityLab to the UCLG Retreat. But writing a book forced me into a deeper level of accountability. You can’t hide behind vague language on a page. You have to stick to a position, defend it, and be willing to stand behind it with your name on the cover.

That process of committing to what I truly believe, not what sounds good, but what I actually know to be true, was one of the most valuable exercises I’ve ever gone through. It sharpened my values in ways I didn’t expect.

Lesson 6: The People Around You Shape What You Create

I didn’t write this book alone, not really. Every conversation I had, every mentor who pushed back on my thinking, every young person in the Young Eye community who shared their story with me found its way into these pages.

Writing Degrees of Change reminded me of something I’ve written about before: the power of surrounding yourself with the right people. Your environment shapes your output. The quality of your thinking is directly linked to the quality of the conversations you’re having. If you want to produce great work, invest in great relationships.

I am particularly grateful for the mentors who challenged me to go deeper, to be more specific, and to resist the temptation to give safe, comfortable answers. If you don’t have people like that in your corner, go find them. The fastest way I know to grow is through the right mentorship.

Lesson 7: Finishing Is the Hardest Part

There is a moment in every big project where you can see the end, but it still feels impossibly far away. I hit that wall multiple times writing this book. The temptation to keep tweaking, to keep second-guessing, to keep convincing yourself it’s not quite ready, is real and relentless (I was in this back and forth for about 8 months).

But here is what I know: an unfinished book helps no one. An imperfect, published book changes people. And the discipline it takes to push through the final stretch, to commit to an ending, to let go of the need for perfection, and to actually put your work into the world, is a form of belief in your own work that most people never develop. Finishing is a skill. And like every skill, it gets stronger the more you practice it.

The Book Is Just the Beginning

Writing Degrees of Change taught me more about myself than almost anything else I’ve done. It forced me to think harder, believe more deeply, and show up more consistently than I thought I was capable of.

If you’ve been sitting on an idea for a book, a business, a project, or any creative endeavor. I hope something in this list gives you the nudge you need. The world doesn’t need another perfectly planned project that never launches. It needs your work, in the world, right now.

You can grab a copy of Degrees of Change on Amazon, and if you read it, I’d genuinely like to hear what resonates with you.