I finally, finally gave in and paid for a Medium membership (don’t judge, ok. I am cheap.) Anyhow, I have been plunging into the Medium end (if that wasn’t funny, I apologize) and have found that, at least for me, all of the stories I read had the same general idea about their very similar topics. Surely, if these many people are saying “these things work”, they must work. Right?
Right?
I can admit it- I am totally into self-improvement through writing right now
I read a total of 50 stories before my story became more than an idea. I read somewhere that you should read about what, 10–12 books a day? See, I do that for fun, so I’ll just stick with Medium stories for now. Out of the 50 stories:
21 were about self improvement.
17 were about writing.
the last 12 were about the realities of beginning an entrepreneurial career.
Crazy right? I went down the hole of one Publication- The Ascent- and got sucked into all these topics and their main common denominator: writing. As if I specifically went looking for stories that incorporated writing, self-improvement, and making a career out of writing online……
Ahem, anyhow. I gained some interesting knowledge that I am sure others are looking for, so why not condense it all into one single interpretation of the overall themes of the topics and write a story that is not at all about my completely, non-coincidental interest in working on Medium.
When it comes to self-improvement: it all starts with you.
You. The beginning and end of this whole thing called your existence. People can want you to succeed, to fail, to give up, anything. But, they cannot do it for you. They can’t fail for you, or succeed, or grit your teeth and convince you to keep trying, digging, fighting, writing.
Well, I mean obviously, I know that you as the reader know and understand these concepts, but bear with me, I’m just sharing that in all the stories I read about improving yourself, your habits, and your writing, they all boiled down to the importance of showing up and showing out for yourself. Not for others.
Jeff Goins asks tons of people what to do when you have a vague idea of what your purpose is, but no clear idea of where to go from there. At the end of all his interviews and questing to answer this grand question, he realizes that it takes action, work, and even pain to figure out your purpose.
Self-improvement hurts. There’s no getting around that. In order to improve, we will have to do the work. Ask ourselves the hard questions. The deep questions. I asked myself, even before writing this story, “What’s the worst that could happen?”.
After that, if the worst thing you can come up with is the possibility- wait, this is the 21st century, there is always certainly some form- of rejection, I say do it anyway. Fear of failure is just as much a hindrance as a motivation to try. So, what in the world is the point of not doing it? Besides, unless it’s someone who is a major part of your life, do you really care what they think? Pleasing everyone is impossible and accepting the fact that contrary to belief, no one cares can possibly be, at least in my humble opinion, the top tier level of self-improvement. How can you work on what’s in the mirror if you’re busy glancing at the onlookers and naysayers from the corner of your eye?
When it comes to writing: just do it.
Any way you can. Short stories, poems, blogs. Ads, content copy, research articles. Journals, notes, plans, dates, lists, all of it. Just write. As with any skill or talent, you have to repeatedly do it to become a master. I didn’t just wake up and decide I can write or am a writer. I write. A lot. I have partially filled notebooks of childish high school poems, first pages for my continually evolving breakout Wattpad novel, character insights, routine lists from jobs, training from jobs. I enjoy putting pen to paper, words to a screen, to tell a story. My story. My main problem has become that I have a pile of partially completed notebooks with no purpose now.
“In the journal I do not just express myself more openly than I could to any person; I create myself. The journal is a vehicle for my sense of selfhood. It represents me as emotionally and spiritually independent. Therefore (alas) it does not simply record my actual, daily life but rather — in many cases — offers an alternative to it.” — Susan Sontag, Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947–1963
Like Susan Sontag says in her book, journaling is more than just self-expression. It’s self-creation. Self-manifestation. Sometimes ideas and goals and plans are best kept to yourself. Yet if you aren’t writing them down, what are you going to do with all these thoughts? Ten bucks say you’ll forget them- be honest, your memory is probably as bad as it seems. Well, mine is horrible, so I have taken to the idea of a one notebook habit- as suggested by Shaunta Grimes. Even in the last few days, I’ve noticed I can recall things specifically because I wrote them down in my notebook.
Every other story about writing that I read said the same two things: write, write, write and publish, publish, publish.
Write down lists, ideas, words, everything. If its something that you feel compelled to write down, do it. Write that poem for no one, the short story about the random person you saw. Just keep writing. Practice makes perfect and if you as well as myself- because don’t forget, we are in this together- are going to claim to be a writer or whatever passion you follow, practice as you play.
Publishing. That scary green button on Medium. The palpitation inducing post button on Tumblr. Click the button. It’s that easy and that scary. I get it. I am always panicking about sharing anything I write. Asking myself those questions that make me overthink and guess what I almost don’t do? Publish anything. Tim Denning said something that resonated with me: “ We’re all scared to hit publish. The only difference is those who do and those who don’t. Be scared and do it anyway.”. He’s got a point though. If you aren’t scared to share your words because of the fear of either not being understood or worse, being misunderstood, did you really tap into the emotion behind your story? Are you honestly committed to why you wrote it or wanted to share it? Maybe I’m odd for thinking this, but if you already showed up and put on the uniform, why not play in the game?
Entrepreneurship: A slow climb up a huge rollercoaster
Starting a business for yourself, by yourself, is hard. It takes a lot more blood, sweat, tears, and mistakes than the more established entrepreneurs might let you in on. That’s just life. You don’t get to just start out at the top, already at the climax of the rollercoaster. Starting this blog on Medium is a lot of work. Joyous work for me, but still work nonetheless. I’m not complaining or quitting though because…..
You have to do the work.
Put in the hours and money. Effort. Energy. Work. Whatever you need to do to start that dream business, that fantastic blog, it will require you. Large amounts of you. Also patience. With time, and yourself. A great blog I found from Brian Kurian pointed out the very glaringly obvious thing that people sometimes forget- you will not blow up immediately. It’s not as if you can push a button, make a wish or something and suddenly this business- this idea that you are nurturing and watering with your work- takes off and you become the most in-demand person. I’m hoping it won’t take years to become any degree of a known contributor on here, but I’m willing to put in the time and work.
“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” -Samuel Johnson, Writer and Editor
After the first yes, there will be more
I mean, Rachel Russell said it best here. It only takes one yes. One publication taking my blogs. One client accepting my freelance pitch. One time. After that, it doesn’t matter anymore. I got the first yes. You got the first yes. All it takes is one. Accepting that fact doesn’t mean you will get there faster, it just means that before, until and after you get the first yes-work. Work on your craft, work on yourself, work on organization-just keep working.
Notice the common theme: You
After all the Medium diving (come on, I’m trying here. But you guys are making it hard) I accomplished, everything circled around you. Your self-improvement starts from within. Perfecting your writing requires you to put in the time and energy into learning and honing your craft. Becoming an entrepreneur starts with you investing your time, energy and money. Everything comes from you. I mean, me. Us.
”Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently.” Marie Forleo”
