I dedicate today's 200 words to the Streak Club.
Most of you are probably new to this, but I've been doing streaks for 2 years. So far it is the only thing that worked for me. This may sound cheesy, but streaks and tick-off lists have changed the way I look at work. I have always considered myself lazy. In school I was a typical underachiever and I was getting used to the thought that this might never change. I would start doing things regularly, but after a while the initial thrill would abate, I would lose interest and stop.
This changed when I first made a cross-off list and put it on my wall. Every day I completed a certain task I would cross that day off my list and I would see my streak grow. Eventually the day came when I was in no mood to complete the task. This day comes for every one of us. On that day I looked at the streak of crosses on my wall and thought again. I probably forced myself to complete the task that day and failed the next, but the idea persisted.
Taking something I don't normally do and turning it into something I do daily is the most powerful tool I possess. Don't give up if you fail. Write 200 words today. If you don't know what to write about, just write 200 random words.
This year I wrote more than in any other year before. I began by blogging daily for several reasons. First, I wanted to get better at writing. Second, I wanted to prove to myself that I can deliver on a promise, in this case to publish some text every day. Third, I wanted to get over my fear of having my writing judged by others by just don't giving a shit and publishing anyway no matter how bad it is. But it was after a month of posting that I realized I wasn't good at coming up with (good) new stuff every day, which was about the time when I found out about the streak.club.I liked that here I didn't have to publish my writing while still having this confirmation in form of the streak list, so I switched from blogging to the streak.club. Now, about 8 months after I made my first post, I would like to say goodbye for the following 2 reasons.
1) The streak was dead when I started posting, but right after that more people saw that there was some activity and posted their stuff too. Feeling like an inspiration motivated me hugely - for about a week. Then everyone dropped out again and I was the only person posting. After that there never was more than 2 posts a day - which was very rare as you can see to your right. Now I've been the only one writing for a long time and while it doesn't bother me that much I still hoped that more people would join. I don't feel entirely alone here (I know some of you will read this), but it just isn't a huge motivation being the only regular poster here.
2) Most days I write without aim. I just want to get the work done and that is killing the spirit of it. In order to write something worthwhile you need to have what others might call 'vision'. Something to aim for. While I write this I aim to create a text that explains my departure from the streak.club and it makes writing so much easier and so much better. In my experience, doing something just that you can put the cross on your tick-off list can be a good enough start to get the body used to this new activity. However if the mind just aims to get the task over with (as opposing to getting it done), this can become very demotivating. Sadly this is what my writing has become over the last weeks. If you've followed my entries you know that I followed some stories for a few days, or picked up old ones to add some details, but that after that I lost focus and went back to just mainly journaling. I am simply not good at going somewhere without a goal, because I am a thinker. Not trying to sound arrogant here - quite the opposite actually - it's just a fact that I think a lot and while this is ok most of the time, I tend to panic when I have too much time to over-think things. So when I work too long on something without knowing the direction I freak out and am likely to quit entirely, which is what's happening right now. I don't see a point in writing daily at the moment, so I will stop and start again when I feel like it.
This will definitely not be the end of my writing, because writing has always been a part of my life. I'll just continue when I've found something to write about.
Cheers and see you around, guys!
P.S.: I feel proud about this submission :)
Wrote the concept for an app I want to make
Wrote a little review about Telltale's "Game of Thrones"
I started my explanation on why I'm leaving the streak club. It will be published here.
Some philosophy and some comedy. Really didn't feel like writing today.
More "comedy". I'm not good at this so far
Tried to write comedy again
Wrote a short review of "Le petit prince" in German
I wrote about the deception of memories
I wrote a short review about "In the Heart of the Sea"
I wrote more about productivity
I wrote something about motivation and productivity
Wrote a short story about some pirates.
Started a little story about a man inside the head, who composes our dreams
I wrote down some thoughts about my girlfriend, about love and about the purpose of words.
Tried comedy, but wrote mostly about boobs.
Tried comedy again.
Wrote something motivational about myself
Tried to write comedy again
I tried to write comedy again.
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