Writing

Knowing what’s important and when to let go

An Apology

We often want to do a thousand and one things within a short period. As writers, we yearn to start a blog, write an ebook, post daily on Medium, pitch clients, and market our writing on top of everything else. For most of us, we seek to do all of that — and more — while working our day jobs.

Yet, we only have so little time to accomplish all that we set out to do. Things seldom go according to plan.

Last week, I wrote about feeling burnt out and overwhelmed by the pace that I am going at. I have been thinking about it a lot, and I took stock of all that I have achieved within a short period:

• Published thirty-three stories on Medium
• Served as editor for ILLUMINATION
• Featured in The Ascent
• Curated five times
• Earned my top writer badge in Government (though I have not written anything in this topic since and will probably lose it when the month is up)
• Started my self-hosted site as an undergrad blogger
• Pitched and written more than ten SEO blog posts for clients
• Created pins on Pinterest to promote my writing
• Connected with writers from all over the world

It may not be much to some, but I am proud of all that I have done. Never did I expect that anyone would be reading my words, much less paying me to write content. This summer is shaping up to be one of the best I have ever had.

Rank our priorities

Unfortunately, I have to admit that I am expanding on multiple fronts and it is becoming too overwhelming. Even after I launched my site, I wanted to write at least three times a week on Medium, but that plan has not been going as well as I had hoped.

When it became evident I could no longer spend the rest of summer hustling and building my ‘writing empire’ at the pace I was going at, I began to question my priorities. I asked myself what my short term goals were. Is it money? Maybe, but just enough to pay for meals will be enough for now. Is it fame and glory? Perhaps, but at this point, I can settle for a few reads and be happy with that.

Although it is difficult to resist the desire to seize every opportunity with my fat, greedy fingers, I began to say no.

I decided that I want to:

• become so darn good at online writing that I can look back and feel the urge to shred everything I have written a month ago
• produce SEO content, bring my blog out of obscurity, and start branching into more topics that I am passionate about.

And yes, I am writing about it here to hold myself accountable.

I need to focus on me

Besides saying no, understanding my priorities also means that I need to re-assess my current commitments. I want to be great at the craft and to do that, I need to invest time in writing. I need to focus on me.

Having defined my priorities, I knew I had to make some changes to my list of commitments. Something had to give. I do not want to be spread so thin that I wind up doing nothing well. At this early stage of my writing journey, I do not want to become the jack of all trades, master of none. I want to master the craft and proceed to become the jack of all trades as should everyone, I believe!

Knowing when to step back

I have always been a strong believer that we should consider whether we can commit our one hundred percent before accepting a job. I do not want to be that team member who over-commits and falls short of pulling his/her weight.

I enjoyed the experience of contributing back to ILLUMINATION and supporting other writers, but I lost sight of what was important to me. I failed to strike a balance between writing and editing. I figured that diverting my attention towards writing instead of editing would mean being less of a team player, and that did not seem fair to everyone else. I never want to be one of those who over-promise and do not deliver.

After much consideration, I decided to give up my ILLUMINATION editors’ privilege. Instead of staying on and hogging up space, I chose to step back. Perhaps, someone else more deserving and more capable of juggling multiple responsibilities will be given the opportunity instead.

Final Thoughts

I am thankful for the experience and I am grateful to everyone else in ILLUMINATION who has been nothing but supportive during my brief stint as editor. Serving as editor alongside so many brilliant writers has been one of the highlights of my time on Medium. The team taught me everything I needed to know about how Medium publications are run, and they gave me the confidence to keep writing.

Through this period of reflection, I learned to define my short, middle, and long term goals. I discovered that many writers dish out brilliant advice and even more leave notes of encouragement in the comments section. I am truly humbled, and I promise that I will work harder to hone my writing. I will try to show up more often on Medium and my blog. I will not let myself or anyone else down.

I apologize if my departure results in a heavier workload for those who remain. I will miss hopping in and out of the submission queues, and reading all the beautiful stories and essays that I otherwise never would have read.

Thank you for sticking by, and I am sorry for my decision to take the easy way out. ILLUMINATION has given me such an amazing start to my writing journey and I cannot wait to continue writing and become better than before.

Ming Qian is a freelance writer and an undergrad blogger who is currently pursuing a degree in Economics. Subscribe to his monthly newsletter to never miss any story that he publishes here and on his blog!