Substack: Micro Goals update at 4.5 months

Full progress report in micro detail…

Micro Goals update

Just to bring the newbies up to date, when I started this project I decided to set some Micro Goals to chart my progress.

Here’s the full detail of how they began and why.

We are now 4.5 months in and I must admit things are zipping along a lot quicker than I expected. 

So much so, I have totally failed on the original intention to celebrate when each one turned green. I know, what am I like?

I must, must, must pause and celebrate more, instead of just running on to the next white cell in a bid to turn it yellow and keep marching on with the progress.

When I created the initial table, I really wasn’t thinking it would be achievable in a year, I was thinking if I ‘ever’ achieved it, then it would make this a viable project, I could call myself a writer and put off having to get a proper job, however part-time.

I am really enjoying this project, trying different post ideas, seeing what flies, seeing what doesn’t, it’s all great fodder for an analytical brain like mine. 

I am delighted with this progress, and the strange, almost uneasy feeling I get whenever I think ‘this might just work’.

I don’t mean to be cringey, but I really do thank you for your support, without you I’m just the crazed loner shouting in the dark. 😘

Each and every single time I publish anything, I will, without fail, think ‘this one isn’t as good as the others’, ‘this will be the one that catches me out and everyone will hate’… until I get that first ‘Like’ and then I can breathe again. 

Phew!

I can’t tell you how important those ❤️’s are to me, thank you for each and every one of them, they are so encouraging.

Let’s get to those numbers…

Posts Launched: 36

I have actually stuck to my twice weekly posting schedule (Thurs & Sun), despite sometimes really struggling to find a topic that latches onto me.

I promised myself I wouldn’t ever do one of those nauseous ‘so sorry I have nothing to say’ type of posts. Please strike me down in flames if I ever do!

The most fun times writing is when you are desperate to say something, and the words just come tripping out. This is such a lovely experience, but once you know it’s possible, when things are not flowing it feels terrible, like not being able to sleep.

So if I embark on a topic that actually turns out to be a total lemon, my methodology is to drop it quickly and move onto another idea and try that one on for size instead.

If there’s one thing the digital industry has taught me it’s ‘Fail Fast’.

Keep trying stuff out, or ‘if you throw enough shit at the wall, something will stick’, is a popular digital marketing mantra.

My point is, if something is not working, then quit. As a poker player, knowing when to fold is even more important than knowing when to raise.

A quick recommendation for the brilliant

Annie Duke

book ‘Quit: The Power of Knowing When To Walk Away’.

Not only is it a hugely entertaining and informative read, it will also stand you in great stead if you ever meet anyone working on the ill-fated HS2 project in the UK… as I did last summer. He never even saw me coming.

The monkey and the pedestal analogy should be taught in schools.

Anyway, so what I tend to do is bounce around in different topics until I find one that latches on to me… which is easy to ascertain… my typing speed increases and a slight smile starts to appear across my face. Like it is now.

Obviously I have a folder groaning of started topics, most of which I still believe to be utter shite, but sometimes can be reframed to get off the starting blocks and go the distance.

So that is my rather long-winded way of saying that I’ve stuck to my publishing schedule over the last couple of months, and have therefore reached 36.

I wonder what the stats are on people quitting in the first six months?

Substack

Sarah Fay Writers at Work

do you have any info on this? 🤓

No. of Followers: 630

This one is interesting, as I was going to delete it because it wasn’t something you could measure easily.

Believe it or not, until a few days ago you couldn’t actually see a number for this. 

You could see a list and scroll down counting them manually, but you couldn’t see the total, so after about 50 or so I was thinking let’s ditch that stat, life’s too short to count them manually.

Then one day the number appeared, bold as brass, in the dashboard!  

As I stopped counting them at around 50, and only have 242 subscribers, I had no idea that my follower count had crept up to 630!

They can see my Notes and Posts on the Home Screen even though they’re not subscribed, so what a great revelation that I’m reaching that many people. 

Totally chuffed with that!

The full update…

Here’s the rest of the stats just for my inner circle and those of you cheeky enough to jump on the 7-day free trial to take a sneaky peak… in glorious technicolour.