What Showing Up Every Single Day For 60 Days Taught Me About Launching A Big Idea
by Jason Zook
It’s hard to wake up every day and put in the work. It’s hard to stick to a plan of attack that requires consistency. It’s hard to focus on doing things, not because you want digital pats on the back, but because the result of your effort helps you reach a goal.
Starting on July 24 I embarked on a mission. That mission was to write a story every day here on Medium, for 60 days. Each story would focus on pulling back the curtain and sharing everything I was doing to launch my latest crazy project: BuyMyFuture. I wasn’t going to hide how I was feeling. I wasn’t going to filter emotions out. I wasn’t going to hide any marketing secrets. The only thing I didn’t share was the name of the actual project until after the 60th story was written (I used codename: Project Galaxy).
I’d like to share a few big takeaways from those 60 days and why I think consistency is one of the most underutilized tools for success.
Launching is scary
Boy oh boy. The beginning of the 60-day journal felt like an emotional cakewalk. It was all fun, animated GIFs, and excitement. But the closer I got to the finish line, the more stress I started to feel. The more my emotions drained my daily energy. Thoughts of failure? Nahhh. Those didn’t exist early on. But then on the last few days? Thoughts of failure seemed to take over. My mind felt clouded with doubt and I was a nervous wreck on the morning the project launched.
- There’s no magic potion you can drink to feel less stressed (well, some might argue this). But really, there isn’t. Stress, doubt, fear, these are all part of the process and should be expected.
Virality is not important
I won’t lie to you, I hoped one or two of the stories I wrote from July 24 — September 22 would have gone viral. Looking back, this is silly, and luckily I told myself multiple times over that writing daily for 60 days was not about going viral. The goal was to keep an audience engaged, interested, and by the end of the 60 days dying to know what Project Galaxy was. It’s actually very satisfying to know my project was successful without virality.
- This proved that the project itself was worthwhile and the consistent writing contributed to that success.
You don’t need likes, favorites, retweets, or recommends
Ahh the digital pats on the back. The little dopamine hits to our brains. These little feel-good moments that come with putting digital work out into the world. But alas, these things were not the focus of my daily sharing, they were merely a by-product. And, if I’m being honest, it was a struggle each day to not check these things. To not obsess over them. But I had to ask myself every time I started wondering why more people didn’t click the recommend button, “am I doing this for recommends or working towards launching a big project?”
- These are the metrics by which we often measure our success, but yet these metrics do not always measure success.
Showing up daily feels like quicksand
At least half of the days I spent writing felt like I was clawing my way through quicksand. Forcing my fingers to strike the keys on my keyboard just like I might grab handfuls and handfuls of sand. With every passing thought of quicksand I would remind myself that I wanted to write a 60-day journal more than I was going to let the resistance to doing the work stop me. Even for a project I was extremely excited about it, I experienced these hesitations and thoughts.
- It’s human nature, realize this and keep moving forward.
Consistency gets people ready
The more consistent content I continued to put out, the more ready people were to finally get the sales pitch. To finally hear about my idea. Heck, even when I wrote one day’s story completely about the $1,000 price tag, some people’s interest was piqued even further. Plus, consistency also weeds out people who aren’t that interested and are just going to kick tires.
- You build stronger fans and more trust with those fans when you show up and meet the expectations they have of you.
It’s easier just to start writing
There was a certain point, probably around Day 3, when I found myself staring at a blank page with a blinking cursor. Having gone through the process of writing a book, I went back to a habit I formed during that time which was to never stare at a blank page; just start typing! So each day, no matter how I felt about writing that day’s story, I would not sit and look at a blank page. Some days it took five minutes of writing jibberish and random made up words, other days it took twenty minutes.
- As long as I just started writing, eventually something decent always worked its way through all the garbage.
Whether you’re thinking about launching a big project and writing some sort of lead-up journal, or you’re simply trying to build a product or service, showing up consistently will bring results. Results don’t always mean success, but they do guarantee to be lessons that can be learned and feedback that can be vitally important.
I look back on the 60-day journal I wrote for BuyMyFuture and remember some of the tougher days. Some of the days I simply didn’t want to write. But I am so glad I pushed through those moments. I am so glad I didn’t let the feelings of resistance and laziness derail me.
I know, without a doubt, that writing that journal contributed to a huge amount of sales for my project. It’s also something I can look back on, feel incredibly proud of, and know will help my fellow entrepreneurs and creative professionals for years to come.






