What I Want From My Medium Business
Setting goals for close of 2019 and the first half of 2020.
I decided to write and publish on Medium after coming across a story about Medium’s upcoming changes to its Partner Program. Before that, I didn’t even know you could get paid for writing on Medium. That was a few weeks ago.
The more I read about it, the more intrigued I became with the possibilities.
I had experimented with blogging and making money doing so. I was not ready. There was too much to learn, and it required personal growth. I needed to become the person who felt confident to share his struggles and victories with the world.
I didn’t mind sharing the victories, but I wasn’t willing to be vulnerable. I am still not entirely comfortable with the idea, but I am eager. I know that is part of my personal growth. We all have to deal with our shortcomings, our demons, to conquer or befriend them.
I have been on a personal growth journey for a long, long time. It is an everyday routine to face your challenges and make progress in life.
I started blogging in 2009 when I realized that I needed to make some significant changes in my life. I was feeling stifled and suffocated at the time. I needed a way out.
I always wanted to travel and share my adventures with the world, so I started blogging about nomadic living. I wrote about what I wanted and what I was learning in the process. I found it challenging to share my shortcomings and failures. The ego had a stranglehold on me. Blogging became a chore, and I abandoned it. I tried it a few more times with the same outcome.
I wanted to create a lifestyle where I was able to do what I enjoyed and at the same time, be able to earn a living doing that. I have many interests, and I kept trying to monetize all of them one after the other. I kept running to the same wall every time. I wasn’t ready or willing to grow into the person who could live the life I wanted to live.
I wanted to create a Freedom Lifestyle, and it took me a long time to realize that freedom comes from within. You don’t need a permission slip from anyone else.
As I read about Medium’s Partner Program, and how others have found success with it, I was inspired. I felt the inner me glowing. I was ready and willing to step out of my shell and take action. The years of self-development work coming to fruition.
I knew what I needed to do, and this time I was willing to patiently put in the time and effort necessary to do the work. I committed myself and devised a plan.
I am going to write and publish 100 stories by the end of 2019 and then another 200 stories by the end of June 2020. I set a goal to earn $100 by the end of 2019, and build it up to $2,000 per month by the end of June 2020.
I have been writing almost daily for the past six months. I have done that before, many a time. I am studying the rules of success on Medium from people who have achieved a level of success that I would like to accomplish.
I have found the work by Shaunta Grimes, Tim Denning, Tom Kuegler, and Shannon Ashley helpful. Their stories validate what I have learned in my self-development journey. If you do what is in your control and release what is not, Grace finds a way to surprise you.
“When one definitely commits oneself then providence moves too.” ~William Hamilton Murray
I made $1.07 in the first week after posting only three stories. I find it extremely encouraging, and I am looking forward to how this will pan out. I will be celebrating small and large victories along the way.
Rasheed Hooda is a regular contributor to #ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium, where they support each other to grow and prosper.
He is a self-proclaimed weirdo living a Freedom Lifestyle and writing about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Join the Tribe)
“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”