Today’s not that day. Satan knows it.
My mind’s scattered in at least nine directions, and the words aren’t coming in anything other than fuzzy images. Then, they’re dripping down in letters that won’t link up right; I’m having a hard time converting the pictures back to words.
So, here I am, dumping garbage on you. I apologize in advance. I know your time’s more important than that, and so I’ve put a TL;DR. I’ve never written one of those before, but this article has one. Feel free to use it.
Despite this being a drab article, I’m determined to write something. Publish something.
You see, three months ago, I committed to an 88-day writing challenge created by Rollan Roberts. Here’s his book if you’re interested.
During this timeframe, you write every day and grow a habit, and it’s worked. I’ve grown a good habit. I think I’ve done 50 days, honestly, sporadically, but still, my output is massive.
And my self-discipline is even larger.
Most times, writing’s fun for me, but I can’t think of anything useful that’ll help y’all. I really want to post words that provide value to y’all, and I can’t think of anything original.
So, I’ll tell you about Ayodeji Awosika
Technically, he’s an original, but you know what I mean, right?
Anyway, he’s been writing for seven years as of 2022. With 89k Medium followers, he’s a wealth of information on how to grow your Medium following, writing habit, and scrape your future from the greedy clutches of your ego.
My words, not Ayo’s. Ha, ha.
I’m ashamed to put his name in this article, as I know he puts tons of effort into his posts, but I’ll leave it here anyway.
Ayo writes a lot about getting out of our own way, which if you’re anything like me, is tough.
It’s like being pulled forward and having to knock down concrete statues of ourselves every few feet. All the time. But we don’t dodge or jump or try to stop the conveyer belt.
We just keep crashing, falling over. Being forced back up as the smooth platform keeps moving forward. We keep punching. Light jabs.
In our deepest selves, maybe we don’t want to punch or jump or dodge.
We just want to get hit.
That’s true for me a lot. I’m afraid I won’t succeed a lot.
Doubt.
Fear.
Writing articles like this one.
Yet, some part of me has an unshakeable faith I can have all I want. This tiny little part surrounded by insecure little whelps that need so much reassurance.
So, I’m writing this crap article anyway, because I made a commitment to write and publish for 88 days. No, I didn’t honor it every day. Sometimes, I went two or three days without publishing. Just left the mostly-finished post unfinished.
But, I’m growing into a person whose word means something. Whose word is their promise. To me and to others.
I don’t want to spend my life promising things, then not following through. Especially to myself.
There’s a long row of squares ahead of me, all of us, and the game loves to be played. Forward, back. Setbacks, bonuses. Square by square. The game loves to be played.
Always.
Let’s wrap up
with another tip from Ayo on starting a writing routine:
Write in the same place, at the same time, for the same duration.
I feel like I’ve heard this tip somewhere before, but Ayo has a way of shoving obvious ideas through my fog.
It’s refreshing; I like his directness. No excuses. No self-pity. Just do.
I’m a blunt person, and I value straightforwardness.
With his tip, I committed to writing every day at Barnes and Noble, 10:30 a.m., two hours. But any time you can squeeze in is awesome. Small steps and all that.
As he said, by answering these three questions, you know where, when, and how long every day. Saves your brain from decision fatigue.
For me, these two hours are reserved for Medium writing. Passive income.
Which is my ultimate goal — and maybe yours too.
Maybe you’re like me: Lazy and don’t wanna work all your life.
I’m a slacker by blood, so I wanna work hard upfront, then sleep, write, program, travel, edit, sleep, explore — and live — downback.
I wish I could say the title is one of those reverse psychology tricks, but it’s not, it’s just a crappy article I’m offering you today because I don’t wanna write.
TL;DR
- Try an 88-day writing challenge to build a solid habit
- Give Ayodeji Awosika a read; he knows his stuff
- Punch your self-sabotage as hard as you can
- Write in the same place, at the same time, for the same duration
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