Thank you for 100 followers: 5 Ways Medium catapulted my personal development journey
Forget about the algorithm for a moment, let’s talk about how an online platform can change someone for the better: Me.
I started writing on Medium by desperation. I was looking for like-minded people and hoping people will connect with my journey, my thoughts, feelings…. anything. I was not lonely; I was surrounded by people, but I did not feel understood.
So, it was never about the followers for me. The algorithm could pretty much do whatever it wants, I just wanted to write about my experiences and god knows I have a treasure trove of crazy, life changing ones! It was like I was writing privately on a public blog. I would write something and send the links to my friends who would then forward it to their friends. I was content.
Every time I would sign in, I would see endless lists of articles cantered around writing for money, stats, finding followers, more articles about getting paid for words. See I was scared if I started monetizing my experience with writing, I would lose my passion for writing. That freaked me out more than not earning for my writing. I had a previous experience where I started a food blog as I am also a travel foodie (woman of many interests and am not apologising for that) and I cut it short as it made me not looking forward to food or traveling anymore!
So, I would write sporadically and randomly; every time I had a life changing experience or a part of my journey worth talking about. I look at numbers all day and the last thing I wanted on Medium is to read stats, views, analytics. I come here for an exchange of words, emotions and lessons learnt.
On some level, I think we are ungrateful. While I choose to ignore the Medium bashing, I think people tend to forget that the platform owes us nothing. We are the ones who decide to share our intellectual property and expose our creations on a platform that could die tomorrow. And they do not even need to apologise to us.
Before Medium, let us not forget we had to pitch to other publications and wait for days. Medium gave us a platform to connect and share, in an easy format and with a very forgiving audience (content is more important than grammar mistakes, and I have seen a lot of those, myself included!).
I never even knew I needed 100 followers until my feed was bombarded with articles about getting 100 followers. Suddenly I had a new challenge and I got curious about the partnership program. But what I did not expect to find was a community of well-wishers! And that blew my mind!
This episode coincided with two very important milestones for me, getting on a bike and celebrating my one-year immigration to Canada. I received so much support, it was unbelievable! I will never forget the words said to me during the past few weeks and I would surely repay the favour one way or the other. So, thank you for 100 followers, it makes me want to share more and bring words to my journey. If I could just impact one person to learn how to ride a bike or just to take a leap of faith, my job is done here.
Here are 5 ways Medium changed me:
1. Putting myself out there
For the past few years, I have been telling friends and acquaintances that my lifelong aspiration is to become a writer. Yet I would only write in my private journals and make very pretty captions on social media. But no articles per say. One day, I will do it, I said. I was not walking my talk. So, I discovered Medium and called my own bluff. I will never forget when I hit publish on my first article. But turned out the sky did not fall down and I got some great feedback. I became more comfortable in putting more of myself out in the universe, not just via articles.
2. Make more mistakes
I went to a sort of grammar school where we would compete for the best grades. That stays with you. So, in the early days, it took me longer to churn out articles (or anything at all!) because I would scrutinise everything, up and down, right, left and centre. I read a lot in my daily life and I read on medium too. Every time, without fail, I would catch a mistake in articles by well-known writers. People did not care as the content they were provided were of great quality. So, I put less pressure on myself and decided above all to enjoy myself while writing. Indeed, a friend caught a mistake once in one of my published articles and I said thank you, modified it and moved on. If you are a perfectionist, you would understand that this is a big deal.
3. Become an online connector
By nature, I like connecting with people. At the risk of sounding like an ad for Nokia, I am a connector of people in real life. I love connecting with people, but face to face. Somehow, I dismissed the idea that you could make friends online. One of my best friends today is someone I met on the platform called Meet-up and we support each other as if we have been friends for decades! But it all started with Medium. I saw real people behind real stories, I connected with their emotions, their pain, their fears. As much as we think the online world is vile, there are good people out here!
4. Organize my thoughts better
It is one thing to be a creative type with an overwhelming number of light bulb moments per hour (shout-out to all my creative types who feel the same way) and another to be a good writer with the ability to capture all those thoughts. The best writers are those who are able to sit with their ideas and turn them into something that others can relate too. In real life, I am articulate and communicate very well most of the time. But when I am in daydreamer mode, sometimes it is hard putting words to all the abstract thoughts running through my head. Thanks to Medium and its pre-designed formats, I am able to organise my thoughts better. I can still write freestyle while having some structure. I am still a work-in-progress but grateful for the progress, nonetheless.
I started writing on Medium by desperation. I was looking for like-minded people and hoping people will connect with my journey, my thoughts, feelings…. anything. I was not lonely; I was surrounded by people, but I did not feel understood. So, it was never about the followers for me. The algorithm could pretty much do whatever it wants, I just wanted to write about my experiences and god knows I have a treasure trove of crazy, life changing ones! It was like I was writing privately on a public blog. I would write something and send the links to my friends who would then forward it to their friends. I was content.
Every time I would sign in, I would see endless lists of articles cantered around writing for money, stats, finding followers, more articles about getting paid for words. See I was scared if I started monetizing my experience with writing, I would lose my passion for writing. That freaked me out more than not getting for my writing. I had a previous experience where I started a food blog as I am also a travel foodie (woman of many interests and am not apologising for that) and I cut it short as it made me not looking forward to food or traveling anymore!
So, I would write sporadically and randomly; every time I had a life changing experience or a part of my journey worth talking about. I look at numbers all day and the last thing I wanted on Medium is to read stats, views, analytics. I come here for an exchange of words, emotions and lessons learnt.
On some level, I think we are ungrateful. While I choose to ignore the Medium bashing, I think people tend to forget that the platform owes us nothing. We are the ones who decide to share our intellectual property and expose our creations on a platform that could die tomorrow. And they do not even need to apologise to us. Before Medium, let us not forget we had to pitch to other publications and wait for days. Medium gave us a platform to connect and share, in an easy format and with a very forgiving audience (content is more important than grammar mistakes, and I have seen a lot of those, myself included!).
I never even knew I needed 100 followers until my feed was bombarded with articles about getting 100 followers. Suddenly I had a new challenge and I got curious about the partnership program. But what I did not expect to find was a community of well-wishers! And that blew my mind! This episode coincided with two very important milestones for me, getting on a bike and celebrating my one-year immigration to Canada. I received so much support, it was unbelievable! I will never forget the words said to me during the past few weeks and I would surely repay the favour one way or the other. So, thank you for 100 followers, it makes me want to share more and bring words to my journey. If I could just impact one person to learn how to ride a bike or just to take a leap of faith, my job is done here.
Here are 5 ways Medium changed me:
1. Putting myself out there
For the past few years, I have been telling friends and acquaintances that my lifelong aspiration is to become a writer. Yet I would only write in my private journals and make very pretty captions on social media. But no articles per say. One day, I will do it, I said. I was not walking my talk. So, I discovered Medium and called my own bluff. I will never forget when I hit publish on my first article. But turned out the sky did not fall down and I got some great feedback. I became more comfortable in putting more of myself out in the universe, not just via articles.
2. Make more mistakes
I went to a sort of grammar school where we would compete for the best grades. That stays with you. So, in the early days, it took me longer to churn out articles (or anything at all!) because I would scrutinise everything, up and down, right, left and centre. I read a lot in my daily life and I read on medium too. Every time, without fail, I would catch a mistake in articles by well-known writers. People did not care as the content they were provided were of great quality. So, I put less pressure on myself and decided above all to enjoy myself while writing. Indeed, a friend caught a mistake once in one of my published articles and I said thank you, modified it and moved on. If you are a perfectionist, you would understand that this is a big deal.
3. Become an online connector
By nature, I like connecting with people. At the risk of sounding like an ad for Nokia, I am a connector of people in real life. I love connecting with people, but face to face. Somehow, I dismissed the idea that you could make friends online. One of my best friends today is someone I met on the platform called Meet-up and we support each other as if we have been friends for decades! But it all started with Medium. I saw real people behind real stories, I connected with their emotions, their pain, their fears. As much as we think the online world is vile, there are good people out here!
4. Organize my thoughts better
It is one thing to be a creative type with an overwhelming number of light bulb moments per hour (shout-out to all my creative types who feel the same way) and another to be a good writer with the ability to capture all those thoughts. The best writers are those who are able to sit with their ideas and turn them into something that others can relate to. In real life, I am articulate and communicate very well most of the time. But when I am in daydreamer mode, sometimes it is hard putting words to all the abstract thoughts running through my head. Thanks to Medium and its pre-designed formats, I am able to organise my thoughts better. I can still write freestyle while having some structure. I am still a work-in-progress but grateful for the progress, nonetheless.
5. Add fuel to my move to Canada
I started writing when I was still in my home country. It is impossible to join the partnership program there. Sometimes, I feel the developed world have no idea how easy they have it, to at least try to live their dream life. I would not say that I planned to move to Canada so that I can get paid to write on Medium, there were many more factors involved. But it was definitely a catalyst. I was tired of being in an environment where accountants, lawyers and businessmen were put on a pedestal. Somehow artists and creators are considered inferior by profession. I would have none of that mindset. Today, I am on the path to partnership as I just submitted my application. Thank you Medium, for pushing me to stand behind my creative endeavours.
