First of all, I want to show my heartfelt appreciation to all of those writers, bloggers and all those content creators out there. You guys are exceptional. I don’t know how you manage to do it, but I’m in awe of the effort you put down to on your work, even though how small in volume your work is — it’s truly commendable and inspiring!
Recently, I had taken up a challenge to write 30 blog posts in 30 days. As easy as it seemed to be, I began to falter from the 5th day of my challenge. Initially, it seemed tough but manageable. But, I soon found out that it was one of the toughest challenges I had ever taken.
A Few Words Should Actually Be Easy, Right?
Yes, this is what I initially thought it to be. How difficult can it be to just write 500 — maybe 700 words in an article per day? And I’ve been brought up with an ICSE educational background where we were made to write 350–400 words essay on a topic. So, an extra 100–300 words shouldn't have been a problem. So where was the problem?
When I told my friends about this challenge I took up, they congratulated me and inspired me to work on them. But the ones who were more into writing — they had other opinions. They tried to make me aware of the difficulties I’d face. Things like finding the time every day to write diligently or finding content to write about every day along with the initial research that would go in it. I waived them off thinking I had it all figured out. In my mind, I thought I had content for at least a week. But soon after my 4th post, I realized that things are taking a turn for the worse. So, I took the last night off to ponder about what was wrong — what were the reasons for my problem?
1. Utterly Unplanned Executions
I never was a writer. Although, I admired the ones who wrote on a consistent basis. So, I decided to try this out myself. But I was naive enough to take up a 30-day challenge directly to inculcate this habit. According to Zen habits, we must write every day. This sounds royal when heard. But, in reality, writing is a damn-hard habit to develop. At least, for me. I should have taken things slow in the beginning — maybe start by maintaining a journal, but a jump so big wasn’t justified. But, I intend to keep writing, this time, with better planning involved. At least, until I reach the halfway point.
Yes, I realized I hadn’t planned enough. Just having thoughts on what topics to write about isn’t sufficient at all. I needed a proper structure, a detailed topic sheet for a week at least — a sheet I could pick up any time and know not only the topic but what else should be written around the topic.
2. My Instant Gratification Monkey Was Taking Over
I’m, secretly, a master procrastinator. My mind is really good at providing excuses on things it knows it doesn’t want me to do. After coming back from office, it wants me to take a long long break since it thinks I’m tired. If the clock strikes 12, it wants me to go to sleep else it wouldn’t allow me to wake me before 8 am the next day. Or leave the writing for a day since I have some plans later in the day or that have my run tomorrow and I need rest.
3. Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy
This is something I picked up from TheRunningChannel, and quite frankly, they are quite boisterous about it. It always feels good when your work is applauded and liked. It gives you an inner satisfaction and entices you to push harder. Until it gets to a point where you are only doing it for the claps! Somewhere, along the way, you have lost the real purpose or the reason for you starting up, and from there on, it is all about the appreciation — “Why are there fewer claps on my post?”, “Why does it have a lesser Read-Ratio”, etc.
I began comparing my posts not only amongst themselves but with others too, who have written on something similar. And when I realized their’s were better, it became a let-down. I forgot that I picked it up myself. Only for me, myself and I — to become better in writing and expressing myself.
So, What Now?
I intend on setting the bar low — really low. My first achievement would be to cross the halfway mark — 15 days. Also, I wish to trach my progress visually. This would give me a sense of achievement, though little. And I plan on associating an internal reward system for each article I write — I haven’t decided on anything yet, but I hope to pick up something exciting enough to further motivate me every day! This will also, hopefully, remove any need for an external reward system. I also would be writing more about my experiences and my thoughts. Also, I’ll try to publish articles every day. If not, then I’ll definitely be uploading 4 articles per week. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that point. But, until then, I’d try my best!
This is blog post 5/30 in my 30-day one-blog-a-day challenge. If you haven’t read the last one, you can find it here! Or you can follow since the beginning from here! Thank for all the support and appreciation you all showed on my previous blog! If you liked it, do show your love with some claps and comments! Until then, have a great time exploring!
