What I Learned From Publishing 400 Articles On Medium
7 Valuable Lessons on Writing and Asset Creation
Today, I have just realized that I have 400 articles published on Medium so far. I have written these 400 articles during the last two years since the pandemic lockdowns. This was one of the most surprising things I have ever done in my life. I would have never expected that I could write so many articles. And I feel like this is just the beginning. In this article, I would like to share the lessons I have learned as a result of writing these 400 articles.
Lesson 1: Your life is short. Start creating and writing today. There might not be a tomorrow.
The pandemic has forced me to rethink my priorities and reinvent myself. It is never too late to design your life so that you live a life of passion, curiosity, creativity, and courage. You do have limited time in this world and you need to make the best of it. Stop scrolling through social media and start writing or creating something new. The ideal time is now. You need to act in 10 seconds — before your brain stops you.
Lesson 2: Spend some time every day on your Medium writing. Create every day.
Make sure you create and write something every day. Writing should be an indispensable habit for you, like sleeping and eating. Stephen King writes 2000 words every day and he never skips or breaks the chain. There is no writer’s block — you just need to reduce expectations and be gentle with yourself. Show up every day and do your work. I spent about 1 hour every day writing my articles on Medium. I did not skip a day. I did not wait for inspiration. Even if I was not able to publish, I made some progress in my writing each day.
Lesson 3: Establish your own game where you can excel. Make this game fun and exciting for yourself.
In order to advance in your journey of writing and asset creation, you need to create your own challenges which will excite you. How can you design your own game and challenge? What will you bring to the world? On which topics do you want to write? How can you take a small action every day towards your big vision? How can you continue your adventure every day without quitting and without breaking the chain (of creating)? Design your game in such a way that you will have fun, make regular progress, and win the game in the long term. After two years, I feel much more confident about the writing game that I am playing now. Below, you will find some sample rules for playing my game.
Lesson 4: Write something that you would love to read yourself.
As you start your writing journey, your audience can be just one person. Try to write something that you would love to read. Writing is all about discovering who you are and how you think. Do not create for any market, create for yourself. If you like what you have written, somebody else will like it as well. Do not target everybody, you will then end up helping no one. Instead, go niche, narrow it down, and make it specific. You are the hero of your life, and you need to act like it. Defend your ideas courageously, stand up for your values, and never give up on your dreams.
Lesson 5: Be patient and play the long game. You might not get fast results.
I have been writing on Medium for the last two years, and this is my 401st article. However, let me give you an embarrassing secret: Sometimes, I do feel like a failure. I have put so much effort and hours into these articles, yet I have not yet reached success yet. None of these 400 articles have gone viral. If I measure these articles by reading and engagement metrics, I realize that I have 400 different failures under my belt. I feel disappointed and tired at times. Nevertheless, I celebrate myself for these 400 failures. I have not quit yet, and I am still here, alive and kicking. I believe you need to give yourself at least 1000 chances for experimentation and failure. That is what I will do. Hereby I declare and promise: I will not stop until I create 1000 articles on Medium.
Lesson 6: Focus on your journey of improvement. Make a lot of experiments.
Aim for organic and gradual growth on your Medium writing enterprise. Develop your true voice and aim for complete honesty in your writing. Enjoy your journey and keep making progress. Your journey of growth is more valuable than the destination (success). Remember that you are competing with yourself and your job is to get better every day. This means you need to do a lot of experiments as you show up every day. You will develop your own system of creativity and productivity, and you will carve out your unique path. In your journey, your goal is to achieve 100% of your full authentic self and potential. You do not ever want to arrive at your destination, ever.
Lesson 7: Excite your mind and pursue your curiosities every day.
These two questions have changed my life: What will I learn that will excite and astonish me? What will I write about today? I aim to surprise myself every day through the pursuit of constant learning and discovery. I have read 25 fiction and 50 non-fiction books in 2021 just to surprise myself and open my horizons. The more you read and discover, the more excitement and flow you will go through. The more curiosity you have, the more you will open up your mind to new possibilities, new worlds, and new journeys of wonder. Curiosity is a game-changer for you. It increases the quality of your life and it brings you joy and flow. Be a hunter and learner of the most interesting things. When you are curious, you become a relentless learning machine. You get excited and want to explore the topics in more depth. As you read more, you get momentum and want to learn even more. Your super-power then becomes sharing your excitement with your readers.
Take-aways:
- Lesson 1: Your life is short. Start creating and writing today. There might not be a tomorrow.
- Lesson 2: Spend some time every day on your Medium writing. Create every day.
- Lesson 3: Establish your own game where you can excel. Make this game fun and exciting for yourself.
- Lesson 4: Write something that you would love to read yourself.
- Lesson 5: Be patient and play the long game. You might not get fast results.
- Lesson 6: Focus on your journey of improvement. Make a lot of experiments.
- Lesson 7: Excite your mind and pursue your curiosities every day.