You Will Never Be Successful Until This Happens

Succeeding is simple but not easy.

Every year, I set out with large aspirational goals, and every year, I fail to accomplish my tasks. I’ve had so many goals and plans for what I would do, but they always remained as goals and plans.

At the start of every new year, I tell myself and the world that this year will be my year. Yet, nothing ever changes.

2024, however, is very different.

There was no make X amount of money or win X tournament kind of goals. Instead, there was work deeply for one hour every day.

I followed this goal successfully in January, publishing three posts that got over 1k views and earned more than $30. Typically, I only get one of those posts out in a month.

But what was much more important than the views and money I earned was how the work made me unlock paths to higher highs.

I exceeded my January earnings in the first ten days of February and am moving rapidly towards accomplishing the goals I set out years ago.

Here’s what changed.

You Need To Focus

Working deeply for one hour every day didn’t just improve my ability to focus on one task without distractions, but it also enhanced my holistic focus on life.

Over the last couple of years, one of the most important life lessons I learned is that we can only handle a few things at a time.

I read a story about how Warren Buffett told his pilot to write down his top 25 career goals, circle his top five, and then avoid the other 20 at all costs.

I only realized how important this was recently. We all only have 24 hours a day, and much of it is already spent on sleeping and eating.

We can’t accomplish as much as we might have thought with so little time. Personally, I can only work on three things at a time.

Currently, these three things are writing on Medium, playing badminton, and coaching badminton. These three things occupy my time from nine in the morning to nine in the evening.

And I recently found that these three things are all very nuanced individually and require me to spend lots of time to get good at them.

Let’s focus on writing on Medium.

All Skills Require Time and Practice

One might think that writing on Medium simply consists of writing a blog post and publishing it, but it’s much more nuanced than that.

First, one must write a high-quality blog post that people would love to read.

Some aspects of writing a high-quality blog post include crafting an eye-catching headline, finding your voice and writing authentically, making sure the topic you write about is impactful, using images, etc.

When you actually write your blog post, you must consider where and how you publish it.

Which tags will you use? What publication to publish in?

I’ve been on Medium for five years, and I’m still learning new things. Granted, I did not work consistently enough on Medium during these five years, but that’s precisely why I’m writing this article.

I started so many side hustles, like YouTube channels, WordPress blogs, and e-commerce stores. I thought I could manage everything simultaneously, and I was wrong.

Don’t underestimate how much time and practice you need for the skills you would like to learn. You must focus on one thing at a time.

Don’t Become Mediocre At Everything

You will succeed when you can focus on one to three things in your life that you really want to accomplish.

If not, you’ll be like the younger version of me — able to do everything but not good at anything.

I built a lot of skills and know-how over my life.

I can play the piano, I like to look at stock investing, I play badminton, I sold real estate, I took a few programming classes, I built WordPress blogs, I learned how to use CAD, I built e-commerce stores, yada, yada, yada.

I can have conversations about any of these topics, but I am never the best or even good among those who focus on one or two skills.

However, things are changing.

I started limiting the things I’ve been doing. I haven’t touched any other online ventures in a month and have been focusing solely on writing on Medium.

And it’s paying off. Medium is my most profitable venture to date and will soon match the money I make from coaching badminton.

But it’s only because I’m focused now. If you don’t want to be mediocre, you must focus on one thing at a time.