8 Massive Signs You’re Further Ahead As An Online Writer Than You May Think
Revelations of growth that you might not be recognizing
My grandfather had a towel factory all his life. But it was only after his first heart attack at 45 that he dared to face his inner truth: towels were not his passion; farming was.
Figuring out what you want to do with your life is a massive question, and it’s challenging to answer or pursue. Being an online writer can be daunting and demoralizing in the early stages and make you question if it’s the right path for you or not.
And it gets more complicated when you don’t even spot whether you’re on the right track or not.
However, apart from the fundamental aspects of taking care of your well-being, avoiding an arrogant know-it-all attitude, and exploring the world of books, if you find yourself doing a variation of the eight things below in some form or another, then rest assured that your career as an online writer is doing better than fine.
In fact, you might have already arrived at a point where all you need to do is continue walking, for time is the sole obstacle separating you from reaching your ultimate destination.
1- You find lost bills on the street
Yesterday, I went to the supermarket with my girlfriend. On the way to the main entrance, I found a crumpled bill on the ground. And realized it was the third time in the last couple of weeks I found money by chance.
But then I started to question whether it was luck or something else to find money lying on the street so often.
I thought of 2 hypotheses:
1- People around me are reckless with their money
2- I am walking through the world with my eyes open to any opportunity
I decided to test both theories.
So I asked my girlfriend when she last found money on the streets. She couldn’t remember. And we share a lot of street time. That overturned hypothesis #1.
When we came home after paying for half our dinner ingredients with that dirty bill, I re-read my last ten publications. Every one of them had clues of opened eyes to daily stories.
Here are some:
- showering daydreams
- taking a shitty shortcut to work
- an unexpected backcountry ski meeting with the boss
I am looking beyond the surface and detecting the lost bills on the streets of an average life.
Once you open your eyes, the ordinary is full of little extraordinary content you can use to give that much-needed personal touch to your stories.
And pay for a nice home-cooked meal with your girlfriend.
2- You are searching for the perfect couch for your living room
I’ve wanted to buy a pair of couches for the living room for years. But I kept postponing them because I couldn’t match my expectations with what the market offered.
Last week, I went to this antique shop. And found the pair of couches I was dreaming of. They were even more expensive than the ones I first intended to buy and even needed some repairs. But we were a perfect match, so I bought them. And learned the skills to repair them myself.
Now, I can proudly sit in the living room with a book in hand and the couch I always dreamt of.
Writing online is the same as finding the perfect couch for your living room. You have to:
- Visualize where you want to sit — have a successful online career
- Have the patience to pursue your dream — 5 years of persistency
- Learn the necessary skills needed to fix your online seat — writing, SEO, videos, marketing, web developing
- Avoid getting carried away by half-measures and taking what is at hand — rejection and failure are the best fuel
3- You are not hiding behind the paywall anymore
Admit it. The paywall was the refuge for your insecurities.
But then, you also came to admit you wanted more fans for your writing.
You got tired of writing posts nobody read and being jealous of others who hit a home run every time they published.
You realized you were trying to solve a Rubik’s cube while blindfolded.
So you decided it was time to put yourself out there.
It took me 63 articles to do so. Before that, I was comfortably watching how the world ignored my writing. All behind the paywall.
Monetization, especially as a new writer, was always far from vital. But this tactic wasn’t helping me with the crucial: build an audience and establish credibility.
So I decided it was time to leave paralysis behind, assuming nobody cares about me, but maybe some do, and some want to read what I write. And started posting links to my articles out there:
No surprise, my reads spiked, and I’ve had my best months since then.
— Rule of Thumb If you are interacting on any of those other social platforms:
1- Engage and be constructive (not spammy or annoying)
2- Post the link to one of your pieces
Your dots will never connect if you aren’t putting your ideas, experiences, and creations out into the world.
4- You have some new loyal friends that show up Every.Single.Time
Your first stories might grab random claps and comments. Because you are posting every full moon or so.
But once you start gaining momentum, engaging, and giving back attention, some people will start showing up consistently. They are those who resonate with your content, people that empathize with your writing, and that you should always have in mind before hitting the publish button.
They are your core followers.
Welcome to the online game.
5- You are willing to do what hurts to get there
“Leverage your strengths!”,” Follow your passion!” “Do what makes you happy!” These popular mantras flood our feeds. But true admiration lies in those who not only embrace their talents but also tackle the painful work.
Take a moment to ponder:
- What is that one weakness holding you back from reaching new heights?
- Is there a quality you deeply admire in others but struggle to cultivate within yourself?
- How would you transform your life if you took the arduous steps necessary for improvement?
If you are here, you are willing to attack those frustrations and strive for 1% daily improvement. Improving a skill that challenges you is a way of showing you glimpses of your future capabilities.
Ditch the notion of chasing bliss. Instead, follow your blisters as they uncover your true potential. Good things come to those who dare to do what hurts.
6- You are reading to learn, not to count pages
The efficacy of learning lies in its application.
Let me shed light on this notion. Four years ago, I challenged myself to devour a book every week for an entire year. My sole objective was to consume an extensive amount of knowledge. And been living up to the challenge since then.
The crux of the matter is that I failed to identify the core issue.
You see, I believed that reading 20,000 thousand pages a year would enhance my chances of success in business. Yet, I had neglected to question why success eluded me. Instead of seeking the answer to that vital question, I concluded that the solution lay in devouring book after book after book.
It wasn’t until this year that I understood the true nature of my obstacles. And so, reset my reading strategy:
- read with a purpose in mind
- be very selective about the books you choose to fit that purpose
- take notes and review them to consolidate the acquired knowledge
This fresh approach propelled me to progress more in the past six months than in the past 3 years and 162 books.
I challenge you to do the same.
7- You are reverse engineering everything you consume
I used to read successful online writers and think: “Lucky bastards! Of course, they are thriving with that massive follow”. Now, I say: “Hardworking f*ckers! What did they do to produce such tremendous content?” And begin a thorough dissection of that shocking piece of work.
- What tools did they use?
- What is the intention behind it?
- Why does this resonate with me?
- Where do the referral links lead to?
- Where did they research information?
- How did they structure the information?
- What kind of visual aid do they incorporate?
- How is this different than anything else on this topic?
- On what other platforms do they re-publish this content?
Those are some of the questions I try to answer. Once I have them, I go into a second round of questioning, but this time for myself:
- What strategies can I incorporate?
- What can I add to this relevant topic?
- How can I give this story a personal twist?
- How can I optimize my articles based on this piece?
- What do I need to do to re-publish my content on those platforms?
- What new skills do I need to learn to produce such quality content?
Don’t reinvent the wheel when others have already done the groundwork.
Implement strategies that resonate with you and align with your goals. It’s all about persistence and iteration.
8- You live with your future prospect in mind
Today is Sunday, and I don’t have to work.
But I couldn’t sleep past 7:30. My mind wouldn’t stop thinking about my future.
- A story in mind that I decided to sleep (Immediate Future)
- A pitch for an upcoming summer project (Mid-term Future)
- Plans to move abroad with my girlfriend (Long-Term Future)
Writing online is at the core of the future I can’t stop dreaming of. I’ve decided to trust the process, and it’s already paying off. And I’m so excited about it.
But it took me a while to realize this.
Only after I did the “Mr.Beast Future Self Experiment,” I took notice of it.
On October 4, 2015, 17-year-old Jimmy Donaldson filmed four YouTube videos. Unlike his usual content, these recordings captured an intimate conversation with his Future Self at different time intervals expressing Jimmy’s raw and honest expectations for himself. Rather than immediate publishing, he scheduled them to release precisely 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years from that date.
I did the same experiment, but I wrote online posts instead of videos. And all of them spoke about a writing career. Your past does not drive or dictate your actions and behaviors: your future and the countless potential scenarios make you want to wake up at 7:30 am on a Sunday.
I encourage you to do this same experiment. Think big and project yourself into the future. Be bold. And then analyze your Future Prospects for pattern recognition.
That’s your future calling.
“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished. The person you are right now is as transient, as fleeting and as temporary as all the people you’ve ever been.” — Dr. Daniel Gilbert
