I don’t want to be a writer.

I don’t want to be a journalist, or a novelist or a publisher. I’m not pursuing a future in the English department, and I’m definitely not in the market to publish my own writings and make a living off of other people either judging or relating to the thoughts I choose to put in writing. But despite my opposition to a career in the writing industry, I write as often as possible, because writing is not a career prerequisite or an academic task aimed to make you feel inferior. Writing is a life skill, one of unparalleled potential and universal importance.

So, what do you want to be?

A lawyer, one who corrects the injustices of the world through a marriage of facts and rhetoric? A business mogul, taking Wall Street by storm with every penny you make? A parent, raising the next generation to carry on your legacies and correct the social injustices already established? Well, guess what? No matter your profession and regardless of your intended industry, writing is an absolutely vital component of life success.

The ability to articulately and accurately communicate one’s thoughts underlies any successful leader. Whether it’s in the courtroom, convincing the judge that the defendant is guilty beyond any shred of doubt, in a business meeting, selling your product to a potential client, or at home, communicating ethics and responsibility to your children, all the while instilling strong communicative skills in them, the power of communication is an unwavering, important component of your career, but more importantly, of your life.

And guess what the best practice for fostering a sense of articulate communication is? As if the title of this article wasn’t obvious enough, I’ll humor you with the answer: writing.

Being forced to physically put words to your thoughts and opinions is the best, if only, way to better your communication skills and ultimately improve yourself as a person. Beneath the drama of that claim lies an irrefutable truth. Each one of us has unique, creative, inventive thoughts. Different opinions ideas, and interests spark flames of innovation, coating our world with an air of diversity and dynamism, but what good is the ability to think and question if we cant relay our ideas to others?

This sense of communication necessary to make our individuality worthwhile is fueled by the ability to write. What used to be a simple relation of facts can be colored with description and metaphor. What was once a nonsense jumble of words can be a concise and understandable articulation of thoughts. What used to be ordinary can be extraordinary, and that is what writing can do for your sense of communication, and ultimately for your prospect of success, in all aspects of the word.

Through writing, your creativity is tapped into, allowing free-flowing ideas to be fostered, inscripting the page with ideas you may not have even been aware of. Through writing, your vocabulary is blossomed and expanded, with each new word improving your artistry of the content. Through writing, your sense of self is discovered, as you learn to better articulate your thoughts, feelings and opinions, ultimately gaining a better grasp of communication with the world around you, whether that be in the courtroom, in the managerial office, at home or within yourself.

I don’t want to be a writer.

But I do want to be the girlfriend who can meet her boyfriend’s parents and articulately converse without fail. I want to be the businesswoman who can walk into a meeting and utilize the power of rhetoric alone to entrance the audience and sell the product. I want to be the mother who can properly instill the morals in my children necessary for their potentials to be maximized, passing on communicative skills to the next generation so their dreams will never be compromised by an inability to properly relay their thoughts and ideas.

I don’t want to be a writer, but without writing, I wouldn’t be able to maximize my potential and reach my goals, and neither would you.