Yesterday, on 31st January, I posted my 100th article for the month of January.
As I only seriously started blogging in the second week of the month, this meant that I wrote and posted almost 100 articles in 3 weeks.
I therefore fulfilled my commitment to my friend Kavit Haria that I would post 100 articles in January or else I would give him a cheque for £1,000 for his favourite charity.
It was such a wonderful feeling when I posted article number 100 just after 5pm yesterday evening. It felt like I had just finished a marathon. Only the morning before, I only had 57 articles posted.
The web hosting was switched the week before and instead of this exercise taking just a day, it took five days, which meant I could not post any articles during that time. But with the support of my friends, Suraj and Mik who helped me move my blog hosting to Cynergise, I got there with a few hours to spare.
I have learnt a number of lessons here that I would like to share with you:-
1. Set yourself a stretching and inspiring goal – I had been putting off with my blogging for over a year – and I just needed to get excited with the idea of writing daily once again. The goal of 100 quality posts in a month was a huge stretch – and I already know that I need to have big goals to really inspire me. I must admit though that soon after I threw down the gauntlet, I did wonder if it sheer madness to set such a task in such a small time.
So set yourself a big goal – and then go for it. If you going to set yourself a goal, make it a big goal 🙂
2. Create accountability – Kavit was there prodding and encouraging me daily.
So make yourself accountable to someone who cares as much about you getting the goal as you do.
3. Create an incentive / forfeit – I pledged to give Kavit £1,000 if I didn’t achieve my goal. This was a significant forfeit even though the money was for charity. But for me, an even greater incentive was the launch of my blogging website with 100 articles and a big bang.
So build in some kind of reward / forfeit for achieving your goal.
4. Build a support team around you – My friends Suraj and Mik helped me with the hosting and redesign of my website. They provided timely hints and ideas to help me get to my target on time.
So surround yourself with supportive and capable people.
5. Stick to your task – I kept going and drafted articles daily, even when the blog website was down for so many days. I researched ideas and also looked through some of my previous articles. As the end of the month got nearer, I got even more focused and spent ten hours writing, without a break.
So really get focussed and keep going – come what may.
(The phrase that came to my mind was something I wrote about in a previous post – “Inspiration of Desperation”!
6. Set your standards and stick to them – The pledge with Kavit was to write relevant and quality articles and not just anything to get to my target of 100.
So do notever compromise on your standards – if anything is worth doing, it is worth doing it well, and to the highest standard you can.
7. Believe in your self. I always knew I would get there. Even when the deadline approached, I just knew I would get to my target.
So believe in yourself – have supreme confidence in your ability to get to where you want to.
8. Pat yourself on the back and celebrate – Yesterday evening and even today, I have been on cloud nine. It feels like one does after finishing a college exam and knowing that you have done a good job, and you could now let your hair down.
So always acknowledge yourself and celebrate in someway – otherwise, why would you do it?!
After a relatively leisurely day today, I am now working up to some more fresh challenges for the month of February.
And the final word – when ever you set yourself a goal, don’t just try your best – do whatever it takes.