It has been a full year of writing. I started to share my thoughts in January 2022. Now a year later I've posted over 300 times on Medium. It has been a rollercoaster of an adventure. Looking back I loved every part of it. Even when I was struggling. It allowed me to grow as a person and find out who I can become.
I don't want to say that writing has defined who I am as a person. But it has enhanced some of my features. It is safe to say that after a year of consistent writing, this has now become a habit. I enjoy sharing my thoughts with others. And it's even more rewarding to see my audience learn and become inspired by my message.
With this and several other benefits, I am looking forward to another year of publishing. Taking all the lessons I've learned and made my second year on Medium even better. Here are the takeaways I got from my experience.
Writing is an exercise in thinking
The reason why I started to write and share my thoughts was that I wanted clarity. To know how to express my ideas coherently and to see how I can use this skill in other creative endeavours.
I'd been working as a marketer for three years before then and wanted to go to the next level. It seemed as if I hit a plateau when it came to writing emails and posting content online. There was a wall that held me back. It felt as if I didn't feel qualified enough to share my ideas. So writing was a step I took to find out more about this obstacle.
Funny enough, in the process writing helped me much more than improving my writing skills. It also allowed me to grow my audience. I never thought it would get to this point and I am very grateful for all my followers. A selfish reason that made me want to improve inadvertently inspired others. To this day dozens of other people have been able to make writing into a consistent habit.
Because writing is not all about putting words on paper. You have to think about what you're going to say carefully. Otherwise, your message can be taken out of context. Or it can have a completely different meaning. Yet the more you write, the more concise you become. Having this ability helps you organize your thoughts even during daily conversation.
If you read a lot you will get this benefit as well, but not as much as when you practice it. If you're a sports fan you can easily relate. It's very different to be cheering your team on. Or to complain when they make mistakes. Yet if it was you playing the sport, you would not be able to perform at the same level. The difference in skill is too great but once you do it, you appreciate the players a lot more. The same goes for reading. To appreciate good reading you need to write.
The hard days will make you tougher
There have been several days when I didn't want to write. It was a struggle to stand in front of my desk. I've tried a bunch of different ways to get past this. Either by writing in bed or changing my schedule. There were lots of times when I could have quit.
But that would not be honouring the promise I made to myself. I knew it would be hard and burnout seemed almost impossible to avoid at times. Yet all that happened at the beginning of my writing journey. When motivation was high and every other commitment seemed to be getting in the way. The writing was getting shelved as the last thing I should be doing in my routine.
So getting past the challenges of writing, in the beginning, is the biggest obstacle. I've already heard all the excuses for others not starting to write. I have made those myself. Yet it's because I didn't listen to them that I could produce more. It's very surreal to wake up and look at your posts wondering how you could have written entire novels.
So if you want to make progress you can't listen to the voice that wants you to fail. If you make a promise, respect it and bring it to its conclusion. It will be hard, but that's just the training you need to get through. Once you can handle the hard days, everything else seems too easy. You will suddenly want a bigger challenge.