3 Toxic Habits That Prevent Promising Writers From Succeeding On Medium
A listicle of some of the common traps
To live in the 21st is to live in the world of opportunities, or as Gary Vaynerchuck puts it “There was never a better time to be alive.”. The rapid development in technology has presented many different ways of making your dreams come true. Especially when it comes to writing, there are so many platforms to make the dream of becoming a writer come true.
One of the well-known options for that is Medium, and many writers have changed their lives on this website. But also, there is a big portion of writers, who love writing and wish to make money out of their passion, but due to some toxic habits, they have a hard time achieving this goal.
From my 2 years of experience on Medium, I’ve come to notice some of the toxic habits that I had which were preventing me from fulfilling my full potential as a writer. These habits are not very rare, and in fact, I’ve noticed many other writers making the same mistakes. After realizing this, I’ve worked on changing these habits, and this way, I‘ve become able to work on my dreams without feeling hopeless and burned out.
Do you also wish to protect your enthusiasm and motivation?
To achieve that, there are 3 toxic habits to avoid:
1-Expecting too much, but not giving enough
2-Constant comparison
3-Setting long-term goals only
1-Expecting too much, but not giving enough
When I first started on Medium, I would read these stories on people making thousands of dollars for one article and this would, of course, motivate me. But then with time, I’ve come to realize that it is not that easy to achieve that kind of success, and like everything in life, it takes a lot of dedication and effort.
One of my favorite writers on Medium, Ayodeji Awosika, once mentioned Medium not being a charity, and to be honest it was a wake-up call for me personally. I’ve realized that the effort I was spending on becoming a better writer was very little compared to my expectations. I know that when it comes to writing, it is tempting to feel like you’ve done enough when you spent a day writing a beautiful article. But in the long-term, this one day of feeling motivated can get lost in the weeks of procrastination.
Therefore in order to prevent yourself from a sense of hopelessness and to take a step closer to achieving your dreams, it is important to balance out expectations with enough effort.
“Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.” ― Brandon Sanderson
2-Comparing yourself constantly
Comparing ourselves to others is a mindset, but it can feel more like a natural instinct to most of us. Even though to some degree, comparison can be beneficial to motivate you to be better, it also can lead to burn-out. Therefore it is necessary to know the difference between a positive comparison and a toxic one.
This differentiation can be done by observing the kind of emotions you feel when encountered with a comparison. If it makes you feel like you are not enough and promotes giving up, then it definitely is a toxic kind of comparison and it should not be taken seriously. On the other hand, if it makes you feel like you can do better, then it is a positive comparison when used as a motivation.
Therefore by making this differentiation, we can work on our dreams with a more motivated mindset and enthusiastic heart.
“Comparison is a slippery slope to jealousy.” Danielle LaPorte
3-Setting long-term goals only
When it comes to setting goals, there are benefits of setting short-term goals, as well as long-term goals. For example, a big dream for most writers would be to make a living out of their passion and spend their days writing about what they wish to write about. But if along the way, the small victories, such as gaining an audience, or getting published, are overlooked, then it can be harder to achieve the big goal in the end.
By celebrating the small milestones, we can observe the process we are making clearer and it can make us feel inspired. That’s why it is important to set short-term goals as well as long-term ones. This way you can work on making your dreams come true without feeling burned out.
“If I focus on the short-term goals, then the long-term goals are going to be in my favor.” -Crystal Dunn
Final thoughts
To have a dream is a blessing, and to work for it can be as rewarding as reaching that goal. That’s why it is important to eliminate toxicity from this build-up process.
To achieve that there are 3 habits to avoid:
1-Expecting too much, but not giving enough
2-Constant comparison
3-Setting long-term goals only
Thank you for reading.
-E.K.