This year I set out to try and write and publish an article every single day.
I’ve probably missed a solid 20 days this year. At some point I’ll calculate the exact number, probably on January 1st when I see what the total outcome is. I am 100% certain I am busting past 300 published articles but it will probably be more like 335 instead of 365.
This exercize has been really good for me to recommit to something religiously. I have forced myself to write when I had nothing to say and as a result I feel my skills at producing 750 words of something worth reading has improved. I don’t need to feel inspired, this is mechanically a job I can switch on when needed. Or at least I’ve learned to tap into when I can get it done fast and blitz it rather than allocating time to staring at blank pages.
The way I compose these articles has evolved and the way I feel about the content I produce has changed.
I am often left questioning if this is the best use of my time and it feels like time for a change.
2025’s will be a year of experimentation and evolution
I’ve spent so much time focusing on writing that I've neglected other things.
I have not made my articles look prettier. My website looks exactly the same as it did a year ago, including advertising a show that happened in 2023. Lately it feels that between business opportunities and pursuing my musical dreams there is less and less time available.
Spending something like an hour a day working on my blog is actually getting more complicated. I feel this pressure to publish based on some arbitrary goal I set for myself 11 months ago. Yet today I find myself wanting to do other things and still fighting on in the pursuit of something later in life.
These blogs are the precursor to my mid 40’s pivot into being an authour.
I don’t want to stop writing. I do think I need to take a break and evolve. Do some research into keywords and categories. Find some peers to emulate. Make my newsletter look prettier in your inboxes.
This isn’t limited to my writing, it feels like all over I’m just procrastinating on things I should be doing.
There isn’t going to be more time so I need to focus on what I care about
Writing music and performing it is the most important passion in my life.
It’s also expensive and lately my goal has been to focus on lowering debts. That being said, I've still spent about 1500$ on beats this year. I’ve thrown some money at travel and song releases and dropped another 1200$ on a portable PA system.
As I hustle down my debt (it’s down 40% since the start of the year) I am stuck facing all these opportunity costs. I know that I face financial freedom from daddy Visa and mommy Mastercard within 12 months if I focus. The problem is that it’s taxing as all hell to try and do everything at once properly.
Chances are I’ll be spending more nights getting into bed at 4 AM after hours of driving only to be in front of my computer for a call at 10:00 AM. The reward for doing this will be the ability to spend even more money on music and travel.
It’s worth it to me but I need to start questioning if it’s more important for me to continue to produce these articles for the 20 or so people who appear to be reading them (love you all) or to produce the music I want to make for the even less people who care about that.
It’s getting harder to both with the pace of writing every day so maybe there’s value in slowing down on the articles until I can commit with passion to taking a few hours a day to publish.
Save that passion for when there’s really something to say, go back to the 2000 word articles that covered a lot more like 2023’s efforts.
Those ones forced me to live life more.
The art of success is grounded in identifying relevant pivots
When you face moments where you aren’t able to handle the various things you are facing, the solution is often to put the less fruitful things on hold.
I still need to work. That is my biggest priority. But I actually made more money rapping live than I did off my blog this year. I was hoping to sell more but frankly I never really set up my business in a way you are aware of.
Over the next few months I want the freedom to not write if I am distracted with other priorities. I am probably still going to be writing things. Proposals, summaries, project plans and most importantly songs. It may come at the cost of me publishing as frequently. December could end up making my final number look worse than I’d like.
Writing over 300 articles this year is just as impressive as writing 325 articles this year. Neither are 365 which is more impressive, but I messed that up back in April. Getting my business on lock so that everything I do pays me more will just give me better things to write about.
I feel like I produced a lot of theory this year. I’d like to test it and then tell you all what happens.
Until then I’ll still try and write every day but if I lose track of the world I’m not going to stress missing a day anymore.
Besides, I skipped a week and no one even asked about it, I’m literally the only person who cares.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
Comments