Never obsess over your last piece.
Once we hit the “publish” button a bunch of things begins to flood our mind. We are so excited to see how our masterpiece will be received and read by many or probably by thousands of eager readers out there. In that sense, publishing represents everything for us after a long and repeatedly refined process.
If we now jump into the sports field, a soccer match has 90 minutes. Those minutes represent everything. After that, there’s no more than cleaning our minds up to prepare for the next. It’s over.
Just an Analogy
When I was a teenager I dreamed to become a professional soccer player. I played in a “semi-professional” league but then I decided to focus on my engineering career since I needed to put food on my family’s table and at the time it was the only option I had.
The most remarkable moment I can remember from my short soccer career was to listen to my coach and his favorite phrase after every single match.
“What happened here at this match is over. Focus on the next one and let’s prepare for it instead.”
Certainly, in the writing sphere, things behave a little bit differently. In spite of that, there are similarities. I will explain them throughout this post.
Whenever you hit the “Publish” button, your expectations are high most of the time. You worked hard on it and don’t see any faults, therefore have enough reasons to be optimistic and to think the piece will play really well.
It’s Over, You Can’t Control It
As a result of those high expectations, I bet that 90% of new writers and bloggers including myself fall into the same trap of actively seeing stats either on our websites or here on Medium just to follow up on how our most recent piece is playing. The sad truth is that we cannot do anything. Things will not change just because we look at it.
The piece is now fighting to eat a little slice of the target’s cake. You cannot control anything at this point, your piece is alone with its only weapon, the content itself.
More than one will probably say, “But what if you promote it?” Yes, you not only have the chance to promote it but if you are like me, without a huge list of followers here on Medium or without followers on social networks, your posting there will not gain much traction. It’s wasted time doing it.
The success of a piece comes down to how helpful and unique it is as well as the size of the audience where it is distributed, not in beliefs and hopes. Having said that, forget the idea that by promoting it will become viral content. Hence for us as writers, once we hit the publish button, the game is over. There’s nothing else to do about it.
As I argued in the previous sections, it works the same as a soccer match, after it’s ended we should only think about the next match. The final result doesn’t matter. No matter if this was a win or a defeat. No matter at all. What really matters is the mindset and preparation for the next match, nothing else.
Preparation is Everything
As a fan and soccer player, I know that preparation is everything. Practicing, working out, and refining things during one or two training sessions a day is the only thing that will increase your chances to win your next match. The previous match has gone. With a quick review, you can get what happened, good or bad. You don’t need to spend much time analyzing it.
The same theory is true for writing. After we hit the “Publish” button, the only thing we should focus is on the next piece. If you are like me, a dad, a husband, a full-time developer you need to figure out what routine fits best for you. Then find the best time to devote at least one hour every single day to sharpen your writing skills.
On the other hand, if you are a full-time writer, digital entrepreneur or any other role just make sure you are letting your piece play alone. Don’t waste your energies thinking about the outcome; start to write one word, one phrase, one paragraph of your next piece, instead.
Just embrace the game, and flow with it. Now we know what the game rules are. We can embrace and start to do things differently than before.
The Outcome Could Be Overwhelming or a Total Silence Instead
I won’t lie. The outcome is not controlled for you, but by the quality and the quality of its content, publications, followers, and curation.
The interesting thing about playing the writing game is that sometimes the outcome is really overwhelming and surprising since you wake up and look at the stats, you get a shock. Nevertheless, other times you feel disappointed with a total silence around your piece, there’s no claps, zero comments, zero shares. Nothing encouraging.
The most interesting about this is that sometimes it happens with pieces you thought were so powerful and helpful. However, the outcome was zero. You find yourself back at square one.
Stop Anxiety and Expectations
Until now, I don’t know even one new writer or blogger who brags about how he has defeated this.
However, now you are conscious of what really matters after you hit the “publish” button. Start to create a better player. That’s will help you to prevent anxiety and expectations. Your piece is playing and fighting now, therefore it’s time for training and preparing yourself to put out better, refined, and quality content.
The sooner we leave behind anxiety and the hope of a good outcome faster you will be one step ahead.
Ending Thoughts
Publishing a piece works the same as when a soccer match is over. You cannot control anything to change the direction. What you can do is to start to write the next headline, a new word, a new phrase, a new paragraph of your next piece.
Time is short. Don’t waste it on thinking about how your piece is playing. It takes time to create your next player, now stronger and more helpful.
