100-day challenge check-in
Back in November, I saw Jibran el Bazi’s call for participants in a 100-day writing challenge. At the time, I had been wanting to commit to some long-term goal and see if I could see it through. Often I start projects and don’t finish them, and at the time, I wasn’t even sure whether I could break that pattern.
I’m currently ⅘ths done with the challenge (today’s post is #81). Every weekday since December 1st, without exception, I’ve managed to publish a new post here. After the first week or so of initial success, I started running into walls where it felt pretty difficult to come up with a post. Once I stuck it through the first couple times, though, I got a better idea of what I could expect of myself. I didn’t get discouraged when I didn’t know what to write about, because by that point I had established a track record of getting it done.
One of the biggest helps in writing has been knowing that others are participating in the challenge. Everyone’s contributions are aggregated and published on this Substack page. I try to read my fellow challengers’ writing when I can, and it’s been fun encountering everyone else’s daily thoughts. I have to give a shoutout especially to my man Kevin Zhai. He wrote a great post in reaction to my post about music listening, and he’s boosted my writing on Twitter a couple times. He’s written some great stuff over the challenge, about fear, writer’s block, and this great watercolor comic.
Once I’ve finished the challenge, I don’t think I’ll post every day, but I’d like to keep it up, maybe weekly at least. I have some other ideas for the site I’d like to put more focus into. I think I’d like to start another “100 of something” sometime too, maybe something musical instead of literary. In any case, I feel very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far. It feels great to look back through what I’ve written, knowing it’s the fruit of my persistence. I’m grateful to Jibran for offering this opportunity for me to take on a big goal like this, and to everyone in the challenge for keeping me interested & motivated.
Have you committed to a long-term goal with daily effort?
Did it take some “pushing through” to get over the early hump?
Have you tried to do 100 of something?
Let me know your thoughts at my Ctrl-C email: gome @ ctrl-c.club.