Here’s How I Beat My January Stats Within The First 5 Days of February
And you can, too
Remember when people say sometimes everything falls in place?
This goes for well-known people like Eve Arnold, who only got the big numbers last year. But it can also go for smaller accounts like yours and mine. Although February is only a couple of days old, it has already outperformed all of my months — combined.
Here’s how I did it.
I doubled down on the fun
After publishing more than 50 articles on Medium, something interesting happened: I focused less and less on the stats itself.
Yeah, I know you came here because of the stats. And I still check them too often, BUT I don’t obsess over them anymore.
It’s like riding a bike.
You can ride it many kilometers, only to perform well. Or you have fun, see what’s happening around you, and start enjoying it.
Choose the latter.
Because let’s be blunt: otherwise, you won’t stick to it.
Fun > profitability
Why?
Because fun makes it sustainable. Footballers didn’t start playing Football because they saw the dollar signs early on. They started it because they had so much fun. Because they actually wanted to show up on the pitch again.
The same goes for writing.
If you can’t help but smile when you think about sitting down and writing, you’re already on a good path.
I produced a lot of crap
I still do.
Most of my articles go straight into nowhere. They suck.
But that’s what every great writer will tell you:
You have to produce lots of crap to create a nugget.
Compare it to gold panning. You take your gold pan and shovel, go to the river, and start working. Most of the time, you’ll only get dust, sand, and dirt. But every so often, there’ll be a nugget.
The more you gold pan, the more efficient your nugget-finding process will become.
This doesn’t mean you’ll find gold every time you gold pan. Hell no. It only means you get better.
The best thing? When you whistle while panning for gold, you’ll have fun every time — whether you find something or not.
Enjoy producing lots of crap to find the nugget within.
I started appreciating compounding
A single dollar saved won’t make you rich.
But if you consistently invest your money, earn interest, invest more, and earn even more interest at some point, you could be rich in multiple ways:
- You had fun in the process
- You were taught patience
- You have lots of money AND
- You learned how to invest
The same goes for writing, too.
Yes, there might be no guarantee you become a wealthy writer, but as Dickie Bush said:
“There are no bad writers with 100 articles under their belt.”
You can’t suck forever.
Because if you suck and quit, you aren’t a writer anymore.
And if you suck and keep going, you become a better writer.
I chose the latter.
Little by little, I see that. It doesn’t mean I am a great writer, but I’m getting better every day. And that’s what we all should aim for.
Because there’s another view on it.
You create a sticky web of content with every single story and comment here, post on LinkedIn, tweet on X, blogged somewhere else.
The more you post, the easier it is for people to find you.
Because there are so many pointers in your direction.
That’s an effective form of compounding, too.
And compounds are where the magic happens.
February is already the best month I’ve ever had here on Medium. Yet, it’s only the beginning because I learned to:
- double down on the fun
- produce a lot of crap to find single nuggets
- appreciate compounding
You can achieve that, too.
Thanks for reading.
You like what you read? Let me know!
Like, comment, leave a message, and if you want to read more:
My January 2024 Medium Income — Report