Yesterday I celebrated 6 months of daily blogging. Here’s a glimpse behind the scenes of how I got there and what it’s really like.

Cultivating a Streak

On November 1, I noticed that I had a 3-day streak going with publishing to my blog.

I like streaks. When you get traction on a streak, you can ride it to some momentum. The trick is to nurture a streak slowly. In the early days, it’s like a fragile baby.

I wondered if I could make it to 5 days. I had never done 5 consecutive days before. Five days would be big.

I got five days. And then a week.
1 week extended to 2 weeks.
2 weeks became 3.
3 pushed to a month.
Suddenly, it was December.

Through the depths of the cold winter I kept going. Every day. Writing. Publishing. Letting go of perfection to publish something.

December became January.
I hit 90 days.
I hit the magic of 120 days.
I hit 150 days.

Yesterday, I wrapped 6 months.

Back in November, 5 days was a stretch goal.

Let me acknowledge that many people publish daily. I know I’m not the first. Or only. But I’m not comparing myself to them.

Each of us has our things that we find hard. This has been mine.

Please indulge me my moment of celebration. It typically doesn’t last long. 😉

Behind the Scenes

I wish I could tell you I’m so efficient that I write in bulk once a week, and set it up to publish every day.

Nope.

Sometimes (many times), I write in the late hours of the night to get it done because other shit came up during my day and I couldn’t finish in the morning.

My ADD brain often struggles to pull apart tangled ideas and distill them into a coherent article.

It’s often a struggle to untangle the knots of thoughts in my mind to distill a topic. I’m not always successful.

Sometimes I’m tired. I don’t want to write. Or publish. Nothing feels ready. But I do it because I committed.

My Sacrifices

The cycle of creation and destruction permeates all areas of life. Including this.

Here are some things I’ve sacrificed to maintain this practice.

I stopped importing to Medium in January because it became too much effort to do this every time.

I hardly (ok: I don’t) promote any of my writing (that’s the next phase).

I’ve sacrificed time on social media because I’m focused on publishing to my site and I set very strict rules about when I allow myself to be on social.

I’m developing carpal tunnel issues.

I’ve lost sleep. I’ve cut short nights out with friends to finish my day’s article. I haven’t read as much as I usually do. I haven’t watched television in 11 months (more on this another time).

My motto has been “published over perfect” but sometimes it’s been “published over proof read.” I’ve had some nights where I’ve been half asleep as I finished writing.

Find a Way

People say that with time and practice, things get easier.Not always. This is hard. It continues to be hard.Somehow, I find a way.

It helps that I have a system, which I’ve honed over years of creating other daily rituals. Daily blogging has tested the limits of my system. My system works. It holds up.

In fact, this streak is built on the foundation of my other streaks. If I hadn’t created the space through fitness, meditation, and a daily writing practice, I’d have nothing to publish.

My daily blogging streak is at 6 months, but it’s taken over 5 years to get here. By building up slowly, I’ve done a thing I never thought was possible for me.

That’s the power of commitment.
That’s the power of resolve.

That’s the power of rituals.

Thank You

Thanks for being here. Whether it’s your first visit or you’re a regular, I appreciate your attention.

Stay a while. Poke around. There’s lots to read here.

Tell me what you like. What resonates with you? What do you want to know? How can I better serve you?

Please let me know in the comments.