I Published a New Article Every Day for 30 Days — Here’s What Happened!
Discover the Shocking Results of My Daily Writing Challenge and Learn How You Can Boost Your Website Traffic and Engagement Too!
I honestly can’t believe it.
I had a clunky start on Medium back in July. Publishing my first piece was terrifying. When I finally did, I was liberated from that fear and with that out of the way, I set my sights on learning to write on command.
Everything I read said you need to write every day practice. That seemed impossible at the time since everything I’d ever written came in an unpredictable moment of clarity. I had no way to know when the brilliance would come and failed to record it many times.
I’d never sat down and forced myself to write without inspiration. I didn’t know how, but I accepted the challenge. I took a crash course on developing a writing habit and started my streak on October 13th.
Before I knew it a month had passed, and I achieved my first goal of being able to sit and write and publish each day no matter the inspiration or conditions.
The Medium results are measurable as you’ll see below, but the growth I’ve experienced outside of writing has changed my life forever. I’ve made meaningful, lasting changes, and it’s only been 30 days.
I don’t know where or how it will be, but I do know now that I’ll never not write for the rest of my life.
Let’s Start With the Results
Be honest, that’s why you stopped by. That’s why I would have. I won’t keep you waiting.
Audience Development
My number of followers is still growing steadily. We’re about halfway through November, and I’m right about halfway to the amount increase from last month.
This is a far cry from 30 days ago when I couldn’t pay people to read my stuff.
I’ll continue to publish at least daily. Because I reach more people now, the likelihood of them sharing my work with others will increase as well.
This model is exponential so long as you keep working.
Earnings Increase
My earnings tell an even better story.
We’re not even halfway through the month, and I’m only $2 off of what I made total for last month.
As I continue to produce content, there will be more of my work in circulation, so I expect the growth rate to increase as time goes on as well.
Think about this.
If you start at $9 and double it every single month for 12 months, you’d be bringing in $36k per month. Why wouldn’t you want to put your head down and go to work to realize that potential?
Set your sights that high, and even if you come up short you’ll still be doing well.
I used the snowball model to explain this in my first progress report. At that point, it was just the game plan but now the results are validating my prediction.
My Growth As A Writer
I’ve had a lot of help on the way but I’ve mostly stuck to the same model as before.
- Read every day.
- Write every day.
- Repeat.
1. Read Every Day
I’m still inspired by reading my regulars:
I find myself picking up on microlessons just by reading their work, and then implementing them into my own. It’s always nice to see what they have to say as well.
I’ve also been following the examples of some leaders:
Their technical skills and methods give me something tangible to learn and practice. Learning this way is important for me to stay engaged because the growth is measurable on this side of the process.
2. Write Every Day
By developing a habit of writing, it's now more difficult to not write than it is to publish something on a hard day.
I’m still on track for my personal “Write Every Day Until Further Notice” Challenge.
Writing every day until the end of time seems impossible, but grinding out a story on a hard day and repeating each day, as necessary, is easy to wrap my head around.
Now that I’ve reached the 30-day milestone, I’ve adopted a new challenge to keep me hungry.
The Most Important Benefits
Writing every day has seriously changed my life.
I’ve always been an overthinker and would often make any given situation worse by mindlessly responding.
I can communicate more effectively as a result of writing and give more attention to ensuring that I’m understood as intended.
Learning to write has given me the ability to stop and reflect on a situation before reacting. I can articulate my thoughts more clearly, and without excessive words. Just make my point, and that’s it.
By sticking to a process and holding myself accountable, I’m more organized in other areas of my life as well. I’m sticking to life goals and staying on track at work more than ever.
Searching for inspiration has given me a profound curiosity about people and their perspectives. I find myself thinking of others first and looking for ways to elevate them in lieu of myself.
This selflessness has opened the door to some much-needed dialogue in some of my relationships. I never realized how much I was standing in my own way before.
I’m reaching goals and milestones I never thought I had the discipline for.
The processes I’ve developed have helped me grow in all aspects of my life.
I’ve capitalized on the easy times and endured through the hard to show myself that I can do this writing thing.
All of this and I’m only getting started down the path. I can’t wait to see where this takes me.
