Last week I shared about how my video show is celebrating one whole year of production. It started out much different than it is now, but all the same, I haven’t amassed a whole bunch of followers yet. Truthfully, I had expected to be further along than I am.
This happens often in the life of a writer. We all believe that the Internet has made visibility so much easier, but that’s not the case. I told you last week that this is a long game, that the people who show up every day in spite of who is listening or reading or watching—they are the people who will have staying power. Because they’ve decided they will have staying power. When we are dependent on our visibility for whether or not we continue doing what we do, we are bound to be disappointed.
So how do we stay motivated, as writers, to continue producing content every week, spending hours on the writing of words we’ll give away, just so a few people can show up and maybe like it, maybe not? What’s the point?
There is a very important question we have to ask ourselves when we are flailing and wondering why no one is paying attention. And this is not the question that most business people will tell you to ask. I’ve studied business. I know the right questions. But this is something that burrows down to the heart, which I believe is the truest indicator for what we should do next. I trust my heart. So I always ask myself the question: Do I love this?
This question can be asked in other ways: Am I passionate about this? Does it really matter whether anyone shows up or not?
It’s okay if the answer to the first two are No and the last one is yes. You have to decide that for yourself. (One caution, though. If you’re having a bad week, maybe wait until your emotions even out a little to do this sort of analyzing.)
If you decide that you do love what you do and you are passionate about it, at least at this point in time, and that it does not matter one little bit whether someone shows up or not, then, by all means, keep doing what you’re doing. And then ignore the stats.
I know that business people will say. You have to analyze stats to see what’s working. I’m a bit nontraditional when it comes to this sort of thing, because I don’t believe that it’s necessary to write for the market or tailor our stories to the market.
If we’re not concerned with statistics, we’re never going to be bothered by what the market does anyway, right? I mean, logically, that makes sense. So I’ll write what I want to write. I’ll produce what I want to produce. I’ll keep growing and changing and learning and sharing all of that with the handful followers I have, and one day, when my staying power has been proved, people will wonder why they didn’t notice in the first place. Stats don’t matter at the early end of the Long Game. Passion matters far more.
It’s not always easy, but remember it’s a long game. It’s easy to fall into the sort of envy that says, well, that person got a viral post, why doesn’t mine ever go viral? It’s easy to compare and contrast and try to figure out what we can do to possibly get more attention. But we have to remember—those attention spots? They usually go away tomorrow—unless you have a store of information already at the fingertips of people. And when you do, you’ll hit those attention spots and you’ll stay there.
Build your vault. Somewhere along the road of your building, you’ll discover your treasure—because it’s with practice that we become brilliant.
And after all this, don’t forget to reevaluate often. Sometimes our goals change. That means our actions have to change, too. Sometimes we learn something new that feels right. If, at any point in the future, I find that my video show falls outside of my goals, I will not hesitate to cut it from my schedule. The same should be true for anything we decide to do.
Let’s recap my tips for persevering when it seems no one really cares:
1. Analyze the depth of your passion for what you’re doing.
2. Ignore the stats.
3. Remember it’s a long game. Sometimes it’s a long, long, long game.
4. Reevaluate often.
Enjoy what you create, and the passion will see you through you invisible days.
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