Summary

The author describes how writing online inconsistently for over a year led to significant personal development, including overcoming addictions, improving physical health, and enhancing productivity, despite not publishing consistently.

Abstract

The author shares a personal journey of transformation that occurred alongside their inconsistent online writing. Over the course of a year, they managed to conquer phone and cigarette addictions, improve sleep quality, increase physical fitness, and boost overall energy levels. These changes were accompanied by an increase in workload without a corresponding increase in physical strain. The author attributes this well-being to the development of a strong foundation in basic habits, which is essential for sustaining the challenges of creating a successful online writing business. They acknowledge the competitive nature of the field, with a need to be in the top 1% to make a living from it. The author emphasizes that it's the cumulative effect of small, consistent improvements—referred to as "compounding pebbles"—that leads to disproportionately large benefits over time, not only in writing but in all aspects of life.

Opinions

The author believes that mastering basic life habits is crucial before attempting to adopt professional writing habits.
They suggest that the top 1% of online writers are those who can consistently deliver high-quality content, implying that the majority of writers do not reach this level.
The author expresses skepticism about quick fixes for complex issues like sleep quality, advocating instead for a holistic approach involving multiple small improvements.
They are optimistic about the long-term benefits of continuous self-improvement, suggesting that it can lead to outperforming peers in the writing field.
The author implies that the rewards of reaching the top tier of online writing are significant and justify the effort required to improve oneself.
They emphasize the importance of persistence and incremental progress, comparing the process of self-improvement to the compounding effect of small pebbles creating a substantial impact over time.

The Insane Byproduct of Writing Online That 10xed My Wellbeing (Has Nothing to do With Writing!)

I’ve been writing inconsistently for over a year. I didn’t improve much, but everything else did!

I cut off two of my biggest addictions thanks to writing.

Phone addiction: From 8+ hours of screen-on time to under 2.
Cigarettes: I was 17 when I had my first puff. I know it’s only been two days, but I don’t quit “often” so this is the longest I’ve been awake without nicotine.

But that wasn’t all.

My sleep went from borderline insomnia to 100% sleep scores for the past few days. I’ve added about 5kg of lean muscle, eaten my proteins, and balanced it all by adding some greens to my meaty diet.

I feel amazing. Even under double the workload!

I deliver food on my bike to keep this dream alive. I went from 20 hours per week to 40+ last month. Three hours used to hurt my back all night. Now I do 7 hours 6 days a week with the same ease of sipping tea.

My energy levels, disposable income, creativity, and positive outlook all increased to unforeseen levels.

But what does this do with writing online when I haven’t been writing online?!

It’s simple.

If you want to go the distance, you need to master the basics.

I failed to publish consistently because my foundation was shaky. I’d hit five days in a row and then fall off for 10.

I realized that the challenge of living from this is BIGGER than what I can deliver today. I needed to become a bigger person instead. I needed to level up.

The cost of making this fantastic scalable one-person businesses work is HUGE.

You can’t be broken on the basics and then add in professional habits. It took me a whole year to fully realize this and do something about it. I was trying to turn a turd into a muffin by adding chocolate chips.

A turd with chocolate chips is still a turd.

Let’s face it; There are about 200k writers here. To eat, you’d have to be in the top 1%. That’s the top 2000 people out of the 200k. The vast majority (60–80%) are like me. If you deliver daily, you can crank out their entire catalog in under three months.

Going into the 10%, it’s a different story, however.

It requires us to be at our best version without compromises. It’s not for everyone, but the rewards are extraordinary.

Compounding Pebbles

Let’s say you are trying to improve your sleep.

You buy an eye mask and wear it to bed. You wake up the next day thinking, “Not sure if I slept better really.”

So you ditch the mast and try another trick. A week passes.

“Nothing works; it’s all a gimmick!” — You comment on a Reddit form about sleep.

In reality, this is not how life works. Evolution compounds thousands of the tiniest tendencies to find the way.

In reality, revolutionary results come from evolutionary processes and not revolutionary processes.

It’s a lot to ask for one thing to fix your sleep. Each item can cause maybe a 1–5% improvement, which is hard to measure in the case of sleep.

So I added blue light-blocking glasses, a weighted blanket, sleep patches, and a hefty massage chair, and only then my sleep improved twofold. The effect of each item improved with every addition of another.

This synergy of the small things (Pebbles) creates massive disproportional results. My sleep score was a measly ~65%. The best I’ve ever gotten was 80%. Now I hit 100% and stay within the 95% range.

The compounding of these pebbles never stops.

Over the years, there will be hundreds of critical decisions that I will take with a rested and ready mind that will nudge me in the right direction.

I already have an extra 1 hour in the morning from not using my phone and sleeping effectively, so I am using it now for exercising. More exercise is bringing in better sleep and more energy throughout the day, and so on.

The same goes for writing or any long-term game.

I won’t feel the direct impact of, say, smoking (or not smoking) on my writing. However, not smoking, training, and resting well at night might give me 5-10 more years in the game after my peers crumble and fade away.

Given enough time, if you keep getting better than yourself, you’ll eventually surpass everyone. Period.

It’s not the small things that create astonishing results; it’s the synergy generated from the combined sum of pebbles.

Sooner or later, with or without intention, all the better habits we build outside of writing will pour into our pages like a delta with a thousand waterways.

Stack your pebbles today.