The Century Is Complete

It is time to take up a new challenge

This is a story about keeping up with the promise made. This is one of those rarest of the rare occasions when a normal human being has managed to stick to his New Year’s Resolution throughout the course of the year. This is a narrative about the achievement of a personal milestone.

For once, yours truly has managed to complete what he had set out to do in the first place.

At the beginning of 2022, I mentioned about my annual goal — regarding posts on Medium — in this publication. Ever since I have been writing about my progress, discussed reaching personal milestones, lamented the interruptions and have consistently shared my feelings about this journey towards the ultimate goal in Writers’ Blokke.

Well… Let me take this opportunity to reveal to you that the goal has been reached. This is my 100th post on Medium in 2022. In doing so, I have achieved the target that I set at the beginning of the year.

Satisfaction through consistency

It’s been a humbling experience, no doubt. It has also ensured immense personal satisfaction.

For the many writers on this platform who remarkably manage to write multiple posts a day, this may be a trivial number. But to me, 100 is a landmark.

It is more than double the number (45) of what I achieved in 2021. In fact, in the last two years I have written about 60 percent of the stuff that you get to see on my blog at the moment.

This has been my most satisfying year by far. In fact, this is one of those occasions where satisfaction has got to do with something other than the financial incentive. To me, it has come courtesy of the consistency that I have managed this year.

It was about conviction

To be honest once I had made up my mind I never had an iota of a doubt that I will be able to achieve the target. The conviction was always there. That being said, I was aspiring for a consistency I had hitherto never achieved before. As such, there was the usual upturn and downturn in the momentum throughout.

If the first six months were about acquiring and maintaining a steady pace, then the next three months involved gradual acceleration. Towards the end of September, I had completed more than two-thirds of the target. Then, of course, there was a palpable thaw.

After nine months of stability and growth, a fatigue factor was bound to set in. In fact, the last three months have been a mixed bag, so to speak. A series of breaks, owing to both personal as also professional reasons, have not helped matters either.

Whatever may have been the reason truth is I have had to drag myself to the finish line, by reminding myself continuously as to how close I actually was to achieving what I had set out to.

Gradual acceleration and subsequent slowdown

That being said, the slump didn’t mean there was a severe drop in numbers. However, they were down when compared to the acceleration achieved between July and September; the latter being a month that indicated peak output, one in which I made an average of one post in every second day.

In October and November, I was back to single digits, that is one post in every three days or so. And December is no doubt be the worst in terms of the number of submissions. That being said, it is also deliberate to an extent. By the end of November, I had reached the home stretch, and could afford to take it a bit easy.

Besides, the target for 2022 was always going to be an exact number — 100 posts, that is. And here it is.

This is my 100th post for the year, hopefully the final one as I look forward to a much deserved year-end vacation.

What next?

With two weeks left, I am not sure if I will be making a few more submissions. But even if I don’t, I will be looking back at 2022 with contentment, and a sense of achievement, of course.

Will I set new targets for 2023?

For sure, there will be revised targets. Else, there will be no fun writing on this platform.

Will I attempt to write another 100 posts in 2023?

Well, to be honest, I am not sure.

The challenge of writing a particular number was set at the beginning of this year and has been completed as the year comes to an end.

There is no fun in repeating the same thing over and over again. Such repetitions not only lack purpose but also ensure ennui.

Going back to the drawing board

So, my idea is to start from the scratch again. Maybe 2023 will end with me making a lot more than 100 posts. Maybe I won’t even get anywhere close to the number I have achieved in 2022.

Whatever be the case, one thing is for certain: I will embark upon another adventure in my quest to achieve further success in something that ensures personal satisfaction, and that is by writing.

The new challenge that I undertake will hopefully make me push the boundaries further and ensure considerable additions to my writing repertoire. Besides, I would not exactly be bothering about the numbers game in the coming year.

That being said, the target set (and achieved) in 2022 will always remain a personal milestone, a journey which has made me learn again the importance of focus, consistency and achievement.