What I learned from writing for 30 days

Today is day 30 of my 30-day writing challenge! This went by so fast. At first, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I actually had a blast. It challenged me to think of a topic to write about daily. Most of the time the topics would naturally come to mind from just talking with friends or family.

It’s easier than you think

A lot of times when I’ve told people I’m writing for 30 days, they always say they could never do it. It’s truly a lot easier than it seems. As long as you are committed to sitting down and writing for a period of time each day (doesn’t matter how long!), you can easily accomplish the challenge.

I thought at some point I would hit major writer’s block. It turns out, I didn’t. I think there were one or two days that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about, but the minute I sat down the words came to me.

I don’t have to be perfect

This challenge taught me that I should publish more. Before this experience, I would make sure the post was “perfect” before hitting the publish button. But what is perfection? It’s just a meaningless standard I’ve held for myself.

I also used to be scared that no one would want to read what I write. Writing publicly for 30 days has told me otherwise. When I’ve talked to friends they would mention the challenge I’m doing without me even bringing it up! There were quite a few people I didn’t expect to follow my writing journey, but they did. It’s given me a little bit of a confidence boost honestly. It would warm my heart every time someone would ask me how the challenge is going and what articles they read. It made me feel empowered when I would receive a comment from someone saying that my post helped them in some way. That’s why I have a passion for writing. I love how it gives us a tool to make an impact in someone’s life.

What am I going to do next?

The most common question people have asked me is, am I going to keep going? I know I’m going to write more after doing this. I may miss a day here and there, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m still going to post frequently on this blog. This challenge has shown me that I can write about a lot more than I limited myself to in the beginning.

I want to keep this going not only to post for other people to read but for me in the future to be able to look back and see where I started. It’s like a diary of sorts for me to look back at a certain time in my life. I want to keep going to expand on this big online diary of mine.

Do something for 30 days

I urge you to commit to something for 30 days. It doesn’t have to be writing. What is something you want to learn, or something you enjoy doing? If you already love something, doing it for 30 days shouldn’t be a hard task. It will actually improve your skills in that activity! I noticed as I got further through this challenge, I started to write my posts a lot faster than I did in the beginning. I’ve written all of these posts in the morning, and I never really needed much time to do so.

People like to say the excuse that, “life gets in the way of committing to something for 30 days”, but now that I did this I disagree. If you truly want to do something, you’ll make time to do it. Saying you don’t have time is just an excuse for you to avoid even trying. So go out there and try.

I found that posting my challenge on all of my social media platforms every day helped me hold myself accountable. I highly recommend doing that! If you don’t prefer that, I am now offering myself as an accountability partner for you. Comment on this post something you want to commit to for the next 30 days and I’ll hold you accountable. I’ll check in with you to see your progress. That’s how passionate I am about this. Everyone should try to do something they love for 30 days. Watch and see how it helps your personal development!