Summary

The author has committed to writing 700 articles on Medium within a year as a personal challenge and a testament to newfound energy and clarity after quitting alcohol and caffeine.

Abstract

The author has embarked on a personal writing challenge to produce 700 articles on Medium over the course of a year. This endeavor is driven by a desire to test personal limits, make up for time lost to substance use, and to engage in a passion without the primary motivation being financial gain. Despite a busy life with a full-time job, family commitments, and coaching, the author is leveraging the increased energy and clarity from recent lifestyle changes, including quitting alcohol and caffeine. The goal is ambitious, equating to approximately two articles per day, with a start date of August 24, 2022. The author acknowledges the need for consistency and is tracking progress, inviting readers to follow the journey.

Opinions

The author views the challenge as a means of self-testing and personal growth, not solely as a business venture.
Quitting alcohol and caffeine has provided the author with a renewed sense of energy and mental clarity, which is a driving force behind the challenge.
The author believes in setting audacious goals, as inspired by self-improvement guru Grant Cardone, but also maintains a level of pragmatism with the chosen target of 700 articles.
There is a sense of self-doubt regarding the feasibility of the goal, as indicated by the author's nervousness about the massive writing undertaking.
The author values the support of readers and encourages them to engage with the process, whether for interest in the topics or to witness the outcome of the challenge.

I’m going to write 700 legitimate articles in one year

Earlier this week, I decided to undertake a writing marathon.

I’ve decided that I’m going to write 700 legitimate articles on Medium this year.

Why would I do such a (possibly insane) thing?

There are a few reasons for that. First and foremost, I just want to test myself to see if I can do it. I recently wrote a bit of a self-indulgent article about finally accepting myself as a writer, so now it’s time to follow that up with action.

I’ve decided that if I’m going to write, I’m going to write.

Newfound energy

It’s also about making up for lost time. Last week, I revealed how I’d finally decided to quit drinking alcohol. Drinking was a bad habit that haunted me for well over a decade and caused me to piss away countless potentially productive hours by anesthetizing my overactive mind.

I also wrote about why I was ditching caffeine, another Life Drug (that is, a drug many people commonly use on a daily bases just to get through life) that was messing with my sleep and creating a brain fog that really impacted my productivity.

Now that I’ve made it through the toughest withdrawal phases of quitting alcohol and caffeine, I’m suddenly filled with energy, happiness and clarity again.

Now I need something to do with my time.

This is not money-driven, though if I made some money doing it that would be great. That’s far from my top motivating factor, however. In fact, every time I’ve tried to start a business solely for money, I’ve quickly lost interest and the project has withered due to neglect. I really am interested in seeing if doing something I actually like and am interested in can hold my attention for a full year.

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

It’s not that I’m not busy. I also have a full-time job, I coach my two kids in competitive sports nearly every night of the week, I have a house and family to maintain, and I try to get to the gym 4–5 nights a week.

Stretch goals

To be sure, this is an audacious goal. Seven hundred articles probably represents about half the total of all my bylines as a journalist with a major daily newspaper over the course of a 10+ year career. I’m not going to be doing interviews or writing long features here, but that’s still a pretty big number. That doesn’t mean I’ll be writing spam either. These must be legitimate pieces that you would commonly find on Medium.

I’m not going to be quitting my job to make this happen or really changing anything about my day-to-day existence other than writing (a lot) more, either.

Working in my favour is the aforementioned energy boost from quitting substances and my lengthy professional experience as a writer.

To be honest, I’m a little disappointed in myself for settling on 700 as a number. As self improvement guru Grant Cardone suggests, you should set goals so audacious that people will think you’re insane for trying to reach them. (If you’re interested in getting really motivated, you could do worse than listening — I prefer audiobooks for self improvement topics — to something Grant has written. Here’s my affiliate link to my favourite one if you want to check it out.)

There’s just a part of me that needs to be pragmatic. Seven hundred represents about two articles a day with a bit of leeway for whatever surprises might befall me over the course of a year.

It’s go time

Consistency will definitely be key. Miss a week, and suddenly I’ll owe 13+ articles. Missing a week might actually tank the whole thing.

For the purposes of this project, my start date will coincide with my return to Medium on August 24, 2022. As of this writing (I’m tapping this out on Aug. 28 and scheduling it for midweek), I have eight articles either published or scheduled to be published this week. I’m on track so far!

If you’re interested in the writing process, money and investing, sobriety, self improvement, and whatever else I come up with over the next year (or just want to see if I fall flat on my face), please do give me a follow!

Only 692 articles to go! *tugs collar nervously*

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