This Is What Happened When I Stopped Being Consistent on Medium.
You know how sometimes life just happens?
Maybe, you:
Start a new job
Move to a different country
Need to settle into a new city
Move in with your significant other
Experience the death of a family member
And then, you get thrown off track with all your routines and goals?
Yeah, well, all of the above happened to me.
Hence why I haven’t been consistent with writing on Medium. (Perhaps, these are just excuses, though, which we’ll talk about a bit later.)
How did the inconsistency affect my growth on the platform?
Well, in terms of metrics, my follower growth and audience engagement slowed down.
See how I’ve gotten fewer followers and engagement since I stopped posting 1x a week and commenting 3x a day?
In terms of writing ability (but maybe it’s all in my head) I feel it’s harder and takes me longer to form sentences and articulate myself.
It also takes me longer to get into a flow state.
How did the inconsistency affect me emotionally?
Lots of resentment.
Resentment towards my workplace. Resentment towards my parents. Resentment towards my boyfriend.
Essentially, resentment towards anything that has “taken” time away from writing.
And well, if you pair resentment with crippling self-doubt, then, you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Which is what happened to me.
I faced self-doubt every single day.
I doubted my writing skills. I doubted if I even “had what it took”. I doubted my character, if I could even commit to a goal for years or decades. I doubted if I was even worthy of accomplishing something like writing online.
What was the turning point?
One day, I just got fed up with feeling sorry for myself.
I was sick of this victim mentality I had and I knew I had to change. Otherwise, I’d keep feeling resentful and unconfident.
So, I decided to toughen up, to silence that nagging voice in my head, telling me all the reasons why I can’t and why I’m unworthy, and decided to re-commit to writing.
Here’s how I plan to get back on track, and how you can, too:
1. This should be first and foremost.
Accept full responsibility that it’s your fault. You are the reason you stopped writing.
Stop shifting blame onto other people. It’s damaging your relationships.
And, deep down, you know it’s your fault. You can lie to everyone else, but yourself. If you keep denying it, over time, you’ll feel like crap.
So, accept it. Take responsibility. And change.
2. Ask yourself these questions:
Are you writing because you think it’s an easy way to get rich?
Are you writing because it’s the “trend” right now to become a digital writer?
Or are you writing because:
It’s therapeutic for you.
It’s like breathing for you.
You have a solution to people’s problems.
You want to make a difference in the world with your writing.
You love the process of learning, practicing, and mastering the craft.
Get clear on why you write.
Because chances are, if you’re writing simply because you think it’s an easy way to make money, then, you might not be serious about it.
And you might not have the grit and resilience to keep doing it when you don’t see results immediately.
And trust me, you won’t see results immediately (speaking from experience.)
As with any goal worth pursuing, you have to play the long game.
3. Do this instead of over-committing.
I returned to full-time teaching (a story for another day). I have my family, boyfriend, and friends. I have hobbies like journaling, going to the gym, and reading.
Yet, instead of giving myself grace, I forced myself to find time to write for 2-4 hours every day just like how I used to when I was freelancing full-time.
And you know what?
The more I didn’t write for 2-4 hours every day, the more discouraged I felt about doing it. The goal felt too far for me to attain.
Here’s what I plan to do now.
Set smaller goals.
Instead of:
Writing for 2-4 hours a day, I’m going to write for 30 minutes.
Writing 3x meaningful comments a day, I’m going to write 1.
Writing 3x articles a week, I’m going to write 1.
Why smaller goals?
Because they’re more attainable. And once you reach those goals, you’ll start to feel more confident in yourself, which in turn, will fuel you toward bigger and more audacious goals.
4. Capitalize on this.
I write in the morning because that’s when I’m most alert and creative.
Plus, by the time I get home from work, I feel so emotionally drained that all I want to do is go to the gym, read, and journal to reset for the next day.
But, for you, you might feel the most creative at night around 5-9 PM after work.
Here’s what I’d suggest.
Experiment to find out what time works best for you and capitalize on it. Because what works for me may not work for you. There’s no one-answer-fits-all.
5. Location has energy; time has memory. - Jay Shetty
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. - Benjamin Franklin
When you set a time to write, you’re more likely to do it because you know when and what you have to do.
Plus, writing gets easier if you do it at the same time and space every day.
On the other hand, if you don’t block out time to write, chances are, you’ll never get around to it because you’ll always find an excuse not to or you’ll get pulled around by:
Urgent but not important tasks like unexpected calls and unannounced family requests
Not urgent and not important tasks like browsing TikTok or playing video games
6. Follow this rule.
The reality is, you’ll have an off day. You’re human. But, you don’t have to throw in the towel after missing one day.
Instead, follow the 2-day rule. If you miss a day of writing, just pick yourself back up and do it the next day.
This rule lets you have those off days while also building consistency with writing.
Wrapping Things Up
Here’s how I plan to get back on track to write, and how you can, too:
Accept full responsibility that it’s your fault. You are the reason you stopped writing.
Get clear on why you write.
Set smaller goals.
Experiment to find out what time works best for you to write and capitalize on it.
Block out time to write. Ideally, at the same time and space every day.
If you miss a day of writing, just pick yourself back up and do it the next day.
Lastly, thank you for reading.
And I’d love to connect on my website, LinkedIn, or Twitter. 🪷
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash