Reflections on me writing for 3 Months

I decided to dedicate my free time to do more writing. Here are some takeaways I’ve gotten in the first 3 months.

Why I wanted to start writing in the first place

As someone interested in business, creativity, and a lover of writing I thought why not share some of my ideas online. For the last year and a bit, I have been an avid journaler and often use writing as escapism so it seemed quite natural to write about some topics on my mind other than diary entries. A big inspiration to this was the book; ‘What I talk about when I talk about running’, it’s a beautiful, memoir-styled nonfiction in which the author talks about his habits, writing career, and the stillness of his routine of writing. So with that, I got to it.

How I found out about Medium

For those of you who know me personally, you’ll know I have quite an obsessive personality. Whether that be nerding out on obscure running gear, delving deep into the coffee world, or consuming lots of books. So when I decided I wanted to write I did some research about copywriting, writing blogs, and blogging platforms. This is when I stumbled across a platform called Medium.

Born out of the creators of Twitter. The makers wanted a space for more long-form content without the distractions of advertisers and instead a more community-based feel. A small membership fee to support the writers you like, rather than ads of things you don’t want to be dictated by people you don’t know. I loved the idea so I signed up.

(Just as a side note as it currently stands Medium is where I primarily write as it provides an audience to me and also financially helps me out. To join the platform and support me at no extra cost click here. However, there is no stress as I publish all my blogs on this site for free as I believe no one should be forced to pay for content).

What I did coming in

Simply put it I knew nothing about the platform but I knew I enjoyed writing. I launched my first article about a book I really enjoyed and within 24 hours it received over 500 claps (Medium’s appraisal system). I was over the moon. I could already picture it:

“Noah Douglas- author/ blogger/ all-round cool dude”

Oh boy, I was wrong.

I don’t know whether Medium’s algorithm likes to boost your ego before you’re hit with the reality about writing on the platform but that's what it felt like. Articles two and three didn’t do anywhere near as well as I expected.

Then I realised simply writing and publishing work wasn’t good enough.

How I tweaked what I was doing as a writer

I also recognised that consistency and quantity win when starting out. I was taking 3 to 4 days to write one blog and being very perfectionist over it. Articles I shed blood, sweat, and tears on often were uploaded and barely received any reception. Recently I have been releasing closer to 4–5 blogs a week and this has been great for me. An article that took me half the time as one of my older ones ended up getting double the amount of revenue. Just write more. It enables you to practice your craft and have more chances of landing a great story.

Hand in hand with writing lots is the actual content you choose. Coming into blogging I thought I would write about one topic and become a master. But you don’t know what content works online especially on sites like Medium. You may love cat stories but the demographic simply may not be there on your website or platform. Personally, I’ve moved on from exclusively writing about business to now branching out to things like running, books and faith. This has not only made writing a lot easier as I have multiple topics to choose from but I’ve seen more people enjoy them too. You can’t expect to be an expert in your area in the first few months of writing- experiment, experiment, experiment!

For earning cash as an author, read time is what really matters so articles with tips and tricks or soulless lists didn’t go well as people can read one point and easily leave. The more personal my article, the more enticing it was and ultimately the longer people read. Upon noticing this I moved to integrate more personal stories and interests into my articles. To date one of my least clapped articles on Medium is actually one of my highest earners as people got invested in the story. The read time was high as they were invested in me. If you like running I highly recommend it.

Knowing your platform and the place you want to write is essential to growth. Spending time to research the updates, new features, and how to optimise articles. Things like learning how to title blogs well, using images to my advantage, and knowing the best publications to feature in. Although, I definitely don’t know it all I try to implement as much knowledge as I can.

What I am going to do moving forward

Personally, I don’t believe in cheating your way to success or overnight cash grabs. I joined Medium to write and share wisdom and stories I’ve acquired over the years as well as a way to join a community of writers. I don’t expect anything of it nor want to put pressure on that to happen. I’d also recommend to all new writers don’t focus on the numbers as you will get discouraged and is not a sustainable source of motivation.

So as steps going forward I’m going back to the basics. Simply put it I am going to write as much as time allows. I’ll invest in myself with courses, reading more, and practicing my craft to improve my articles. None of this is out of a desire for money but an enjoyment of the art of writing. If I never achieve a writing career that's fine but I’m content with the journey and I’m grateful for the challenge it provides for me.

Why I’m not aiming for Greatness anymore

The fight between consistency and momentous achievements.

I’m the sort of guy that goes all-in. Wants massive things to happen. Momentous occurrences happening on a daily. Yet this is often far from reality. After months of this perspective, you can develop somewhat of a bad view of life due to the fact you are constantly being let down. Maybe it's me being idealistic or not wanting to implement hard daily habits.

A recent book that was monumental in my change of view was ‘What I talk about when I talk about running’ by Haruki Murakami… never heard of it. Can’t blame you. I found it amid a late-night online book shopping trip. As the title suggests it talks about running quite a bit, however, my main takeaways were actually found in how the author expressed his routines, musings, and reflections.

Throughout the book, he reiterates how he isn’t talented, special, or clever but instead dedicated to his craft. It was his discipline learned through running that enabled such ease into a career where that is the focus. Inevitably we have fluctuations of emotions, bad days, and stints of procrastination. I think it’s simply through recognising this which is key. We don’t just wake up with an unlimited supply of motivation. We just have to turn up every day. 

“For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself.”- Haruki Murakami

So you may be wondering what I’m trying to get at. Maybe to be good and consistent at work you must run? No, I’m definitely not saying that (although as somewhat of a running obsessive I always advocate for the sport)! 

The key takeaway is the change of mindset from aiming for massive moments to small routines. It provides lots of benefits such as:

• it’s rewarding to achieve little habits each day

• relieving the pressure to achieve something ‘great’

• it is often unobtainable to go from zero to something amazing, even if you don’t achieve your small habits one day you won’t feel as deflated

• working on small daily habits doesn’t take much

• the routine of focus and taking a long term perspective positively spills into lots of areas of your life rather than just the one intended habit

“In each shave lies a philosophy”- Somerset Maugham

Weird quote eh? I love it. No matter how mundane some actions might appear, keep at it long enough and it will become this sort of meditative, contemplative act. Consistency beats the all-or-nothing approach every single time.

I personally went through a long period of having a bit of anxiety about my future and self-sabotage due to me feeling like I’d not achieved something big. Taking that shift from trying to go big and reach the momentous I’ve gone after small attainable goals. Sleeping better, having a routine in exercise, eating healthy, writing and reading often, and reaching out to friends and family on a regular basis. 

Although I can’t say I’ve gone and gotten a Nobel prize or changed the world I feel much more content and happy than I have in a while. Multiple people have mentioned they’ve noticed a difference in me. Being at peace with the future not being 100% laid out but happy that what routines I am doing today will set me in great stead for anything coming my way.

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come”- Dwane Johnson

I believe we are all gifted with opportunities in our life. Sometimes we are prepared and other times we’ll have no clue what to do. Using the mundane to refine, reflect, and reposition ourselves can be the preparation for when the big things do happen. It does take some work though and a whole bunch of consistency.

The Biggest Life Lessons Running Has Taught Me

Maybe this is me secretly trying to justify the amount of time I spend running, who knows, you can be the judge.

So maybe you’re a hardcore runner, a couch to 5km sort of person, or someone who just completely hates the sport. No matter the case, these five lessons will still provide some value (or at least I hope so). When lockdown arrived, I found myself becoming somewhat anxious. Yet, after covering a lot of miles and spending a bit of time in introspection, I found more clarity within my position and an undercurrent of happiness in the day-to-day. Lightbulbs occurred and perspectives shifted. Here are the life lessons running taught me:

1. Starting sucks

There is this unofficial rule for all runners that you need to ignore the first mile. Why? Because it’s the worst! It usually takes that first mile to get in the mojo of your run. Maybe you need to wake up a bit. Your body needs to loosen up. Your stride gets steady. Your breathing begins to regulate. Starting out you don’t really feel yourself. That initial resistance is the make or break for many runners; once you’re out the house and past that initial hard point though, it’s onwards and upwards (usually).

Obviously, there are outliers. I’ve had runs where I’ve been cruising right from the get-go and then out of nowhere, I’m in agony. However, that is most often not the case. The same can be said with a lot of things in life.

I find starting out with something I often lack the experience and when faced with my first trial, there are voices of doubt appearing. Motivation drains by the second, procrastination occurs, and the end seems unreachable. Yet it’s beyond this initial hurdle that growth lies and very often things get easier or (dare I say it) fun!

We have this imagery notion that we are going to start every day with an unlimited supply of motivation, but that is simply not the case. Obviously, we can train ourselves to be more disciplined but ultimately, we just have to get on with it.

“Start before you’re ready.” — Steven Pressfield

I’ve been training for a marathon the last couple of months and honestly, it's been hard. Running five or six times per week often in very inconvenient times is difficult and I’d much rather be sleeping. That initial start is the worst. But there is no run I can ever remember doing that I regret.

Starting sucks, but endless opportunity awaits just beyond that dip.

2. You need community

I’ve run for years and it’s great fun. Getting out, stretching your legs, clearing your head, and getting some alone time. However, I never enjoyed running as much as I have now that I’m part of a big community of runners. Weekly meet-ups, races, and events with people of all ages, stages, and abilities. Running alone, you can easily believe you know it all and you can improve on your own as all you have to do is move your legs faster. Well, that’s a big fat lie.

Running with a group of runners, I get to hear brilliant stories, I’m pushed in my ability, and I’ve got to know more about the sport as a whole from those more experienced than me.

“No man is an island.” — John Donne

I think this lesson can be applied to everyday circumstances. No one can master everything or have unlimited motivation, and I also believe we need to all be pushed with different perspectives and opinions.

Don’t get me wrong; as an introvert, I do love time alone — reading, writing, watching films, and even running alone are all dreamy to me. Yet, I acknowledge in this comfortable state I cannot grow as a person. So for every person and encounter, good or bad, I am grateful. Similarly, we often can think we know what we want and what situations and people we like being around. But it is not until we have fully experienced a variety of moments and people that we know what we ourselves are actually like with all our likes and dislikes.

No man is an island. Create community and flourish.

3. Consistency wins

For years, I used to run once a week. An event called Parkrun every Saturday consisted of a 5km run and a lot of very tired runners.

My mindset was I would run harder each Saturday and improvement would occur. But that wasn’t how it worked. I had a bit of natural athleticism, but ultimately for me to improve, I would have to run outside of these weekly runs. To start, I did an occasional second run every other week, yet nothing happened to my times. It was only when I consistently increased the weekly runs that I improved.

Fast forward to the present and after a lot of experimentation and slow progression, I can happily say I consistently run five times a week (sometimes more, sometimes less). It is here where I have found amazing progress. These runs mid-week don’t necessarily have to be hard but like any habit, you have to keep it up. It is in the space of long consistent repetition that action becomes second nature. Now, I don’t struggle to do these simple runs, and the cap on what I deem as ‘hard’ seems to be expanding.

The magic is doing the simple things repeatedly and long enough to ignite the miracle of the Compound Effect.” — Darren Hardy

When you look at this in relation to a normal schedule, it brings great hope. Acknowledging you don’t have to do some massive big action that will make your life 10 times better but instead just work on tiny habits and do them consistently relieves a lot of pressure. I don’t think I could ever do something spectacular, but little habits I can do.

Work on small, repeatable, healthy habits. It is a lot more achievable and often is the best, most sustainable way to reach great success.

“I accumulated small but consistent habits that ultimately led to results that were unimaginable when I started.” — James Clear

4. Not every day is a good day

I think everyone can relate to the fact that whenever doing something competitive, you can expect there to be off days. A recent half marathon I did consisted of me dropping gels, getting a nosebleed, getting a horrible stitch, and hobbling around the course for close to two hours.

No runner is always going to have a good day all the time. No amount of planning prevents hardship; we cannot predict the future. The same can be said with everyone that has ever existed! However, with the increased use of social media, we are bombarded by an influx of external information this is often just honestly not true. It’s easier to lie and say you're having a good day than face the truth and come to terms with the root of an issue.

For me, I view all situations as part of the journey. They contribute to me learning, growing, and ultimately becoming the person I am meant to be. A bad day inevitability will happen and I don’t pretend it won’t. Then when it does occur, I embrace it, tackle it, and learn from it.

The best thing I can do in these moments is to slow down. In bad days of high emotions, your rational head can go out the window. Evaluate why the occurrence happened. Was it just an odd day? Did it have to do with something you did? Does it point to something you should change? From there you can decide if you want to stick it out or move on; bad days test your character but refine and expose your true desires. Embrace them.

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive-to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” — Marcus Aurelius

5. Having a goal is essential

I can run, I can run consistently, I can even run reasonably fast. But what I can’t do is run without a goal. Having a focus enables you to look forward and is often the thing you need when in pain. Often in the middle of a hard workout, the best thing you can do is forget what you’re doing and remind yourself why you're putting yourself through pure agony. Knowing your ‘why’ is essential.

Practically, this can look like beating your previous PB, running for longer than you have before, going a long distance, or training/competing in a race. Focus on that goal and dig deep.

After finding myself doing this in running, I felt it naturally come over into my everyday life. The fluctuations in my mood, good and bad days, stuff just getting hard; it is often to recognise the long game. Running brought about that perspective shift. The sacrifice of momentary joy is often the essential ingredient no one likes talking about. It’s ugly, it’s hard, and it’s not fun. But it allows us to come about greater accomplishments than we previously ever imagined in our comfort zones.

Having that aim in life and sticking to it when the going gets tough creates brilliant character, and actually provides further direction for you. You complete goals and can evaluate what you liked and disliked, whether you want to go forward or back or start something completely new.

For me, I have annual goals, monthly goals, and lots and lots of to-do lists. I also reflect and muse over my actions at least a couple of times a week. Writing in a notebook works for me and helps me reflect and work out if my current actions are in alignment with where I want to be. Take that time to be introspective. Having a goal is essential.

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into visible.” — Tony Robbins