GOAL Toastmasters Club

WRITE NOW, RIGHT NOW: Four Directions for Finding Something Worth Writing
One of the questions writers ask more than almost any other is, "What do I write when I don't know what to write?"

My answer has become very simple.
Don't wait. Write.

If you've been around this group very long, you've heard me say it many times:

Writers write.
They don't always write brilliantly.
They don't always write for hours.
They don't always feel inspired.
But they write something.

This morning reminded me why.

I wasn't reading anyone else's work. I wasn't in a meeting. I wasn't listening to a podcast. I was simply beginning my day—moving through my morning routine, paying attention to what was happening in me and around me, making mental notes, and dictating ideas before they disappeared.

Before long, I had several things worth exploring.

It occurred to me that I have a process. You don't have to follow it in this order, but it has become a reliable way for me to discover something worth writing.
Look In
Begin with yourself.
What are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
What memories keep resurfacing?
What questions won't leave you alone?
Writing often begins with paying honest attention to your own life.
Look Around
Pay attention.
Really pay attention.
This morning I noticed my dog.
Watching him led me to reflect on faithfulness, routine, companionship, and contentment. A simple observation became the beginning of a piece of writing.
The ordinary world is full of stories waiting to be noticed.
Look Up
For me, this means looking toward God.
For you, it may mean looking beyond yourself toward truth, beauty, wisdom, purpose, or whatever enlarges your perspective.
Leave room for inspiration that comes from beyond your immediate experience.
Look Down
Years ago I walked outside with nothing more than my phone.
Instead of photographing sunsets or mountains, I started taking pictures of blades of grass, weeds, cracks in sidewalks, and tiny flowers.

I discovered beauty where I had stopped looking.
Sometimes inspiration is literally beneath your feet.
So when you don't know what to write, don't panic.

Look in.
Look around.
Look up.
Look down.

One of those directions will almost always lead you somewhere worth exploring.

And remember...
Don't wait.
Write now.
Right now.

I've expanded this idea into a full Voices Heard article, "The Four Directions of Discovery: A Practical Way to Find Something Worth Writing," complete with practical exercises, a seven-day writing challenge, and ideas for building your own Discovery Notebook.

Read it here:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/the-four-directions-of-discovery

A Gift for Members of Write Now, Right Now

Because you're part of this writing community, I'd also like to share the complete Four Directions of Discovery Resource Bundle.

It includes:
📓 Printable Discovery Notebook
🧭 One-Page Quick Reference
📅 Seven-Day Discovery Challenge
❓ Fifty Discovery Questions
🔖 Four Directions Bookmark
🖥️ Desktop Wallpaper
📱 Phone Lock Screen Reminder

Download it here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hbq4UMfhTs9WvdCnTPGuY9Eai_lwLf2e/view?usp=sharing

I hope these resources encourage you to develop the habit of noticing before you write.

I'd love to hear what you discover.

Which direction are you going to explore today—Look In, Look Around, Look Up, or Look Down?

Follow Me | Sometimes Following Jesus Means Simply Staying Near
We often hear Jesus' words, "Follow me," as a call to action, mission, and service. They certainly are that. But there is another dimension we sometimes overlook.
An old dog reminded me that following someone you love isn't always about going somewhere. Sometimes it's simply about being near.
This short reflection explores discipleship as presence before performance, abiding before activity.
Read the full reflection:
https://pastortom.blog
Join our online community:
The Fellowship of Joy
https://www.facebook.com/tomsims
Bible Chat:
https://pastortom.blog/2026/07/09/follow-me-just-stay-near/ and
https://biblechatonline.com
More resources:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

Before you hire a speaking coach, try a practice room.

Toastmasters gives you a place to speak, listen, lead, get feedback, and grow — without spending a fortune.

Whether you give reports, sermons, presentations, or online talks, you need more than information.

You need practice.

Read the full article:
https://medium.com//before-you-hire-a-speaking-coach-try-this-350a2673bc5b?sk=19db899cbef40514eac6329170546c33

Doing pays well.

Proverbs 14:23 reminds us: “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”

The profit may not always be immediate money. Sometimes it is skill. Sometimes it is character. Sometimes it is momentum. But purposeful action always moves us forward.

Today’s assignment is simple: don’t just talk about it. Do something.

Read the full article on Medium:
https://medium.com//do-something-e3a5add34bed?sk=a65d27f0f3d6edd890449e80d1f6d6e0

More resources, articles, workshops, and encouragement:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

Some of us create better when we have an assignment. That is not a weakness. It is a workflow.

In this episode of Words Read, Voices Heard / Chat Coaching, I build on my Medium article, “You Can Always Find Something to Say,” and explore how writers, speakers, teachers, preachers, coaches, and creators can turn curiosity into content by treating each day as an assignment.

The idea is simple: take the month and day, search it, scan the events, births, deaths, holidays, observances, feast days, and oddities, then choose one thing that catches your attention. Interest and inspiration are close relatives. What interests you can inspire you, and what inspires you will usually interest you.

From there, the work begins: ask better questions, build a reusable template, gather key words and themes, and turn raw information into an article, talk, podcast, sermon, post, lesson, song seed, or coaching exercise.

The assignment is the doorway.

Full teaching video - https://youtu.be/MTy7ZGlyh0s

Medium companion article:
https://medium.com//you-can-always-find-something-to-say-8f49b505b839?sk=78fbb8ee3f6d700c2c1abeee07739029

Substack companion piece:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/writing-on-assignment-even-when-you

More links:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

In this episode

We explore:

How to create when the blank page feels too open
Why some people work better “on assignment”
How the calendar can become a daily prompt machine
Why interest and inspiration are related
Questions to ask about events, people, observances, and texts
How to build your own reusable creative questionnaire
How to turn research into reflection, teaching, and useful content

Reflection / Coaching Questions

What kind of assignment helps you create faster?

Do you work better with open-ended freedom or clear parameters?

What recurring questions could you ask every subject you write or speak about?

What caught your attention today — and what might it become?

Connect

Medium:
https://medium.com/

Substack:
https://tomsims.substack.com/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/-tom-sims

Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

Some people spend years believing the whole world is against them — when the deeper problem may be the lens through which they are seeing life.

Using John Maxwell’s humorous “Limburger cheese” story, Aesop’s “sour grapes” fable, and reflections on attitude, bitterness, perception, and healing, this short meditation explores how disappointment can slowly become identity — and how changing our perspective can begin changing our lives.

A changed life often begins not with changed circumstances, but with a changed way of seeing.

Tom Sims
Workshops to Go

Resources & Links:
Linktree https://linktr.ee/tomsims'

Medium Companion Article - https://medium.com//when-the-whole-world-smells-bad-ccffb6645b80?sk=2ba4ed0b1b5db06be14aa31ca2228ed6