Wherever You Are, Just Look at How Far You’ve Come.

A lot can happen in a year

Photo by Robert Gomez on Unsplash

Man, comparisons are crazy. It’s just this never-ending treadmill of self-sabotage. That person has more followers, views, claps, money, time…whatever. It is so easy to get sucked into that.

Even when you are being mindful of it. It takes massive concentration to see it and not let it work you.

You cross something off your list, and don’t pause for celebration…it’s just on to the next. I am terrible at this. I recently got published in a Medium pub that I had submitted to for a long time and received many, many rejections. When I read the acceptance note I stopped, smiled, and thought — okay, what next? That’s so lame! Take the time to enjoy it fully! Throw your laptop on the couch and dance around your house!

June 2020 was the first time I posted an article on Medium. I had been a member since January 2020, but I didn’t have the courage to post anything. I didn’t know what to write. I didn’t know where to start.

After a hike with a good friend, she told me a story that I had to get down. I wanted to remember it at the very least. I wrote it, asked her if I could post it, and hit submit. I didn’t know about publications. I wasn’t sure how to use hashtags or write my profile. I wasn’t signed up as part of the partner program; I just wanted to post regularly and decide what to write about.

I kept at it. Publications connected with me. I started to read more and learn about the platform. I joined the partner program. I learned about headlines and formatting. I found writers I really liked. A community began to build. I kept learning and I wrote whenever I could. An hour in the morning. A quiet night after midnight.

I built this thing slowly and steadily. I kept writing and found what I really liked to write about and what others wanted to read.

I started a newsletter. What? I know. How did I do that? I googled a lot. I cannot even tell you. I googled everything. I now publish the newsletter once a week, and it gives me another creative outlet outside Medium. I encourage my readers to slow down, take a look around, and not sweat the small stuff. I can’t wait to read it in another year. I can’t wait to see what Medium…