Being popular does not equal being successful
When you have a clear vision of where you are heading, everything else is just scenery along this journey. So, pull up your sleeves, sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful scenery.
I gave an update on my Substack journey recently. I bet it has given you the impression I am doing well on this journey. Or at least that was how the article was framed to make you think. But like I have said in the post, “Sometimes the statistic does paint a motivating picture, but many times it doesn’t.” I wasn’t lying. I have only shown the data I wanted you to see, but not the others that were depressing.
There have been many Substack writers giving up because their numbers are falling. If you are also on the verge of giving up, I hope this article will make you think twice.
If you think your statistics haven’t been good lately, you are not alone. Even my journey has not always been smooth sailing. You see, for some reason, my subscriber count has been dropping. This downward trend is likely to continue through mid-August. This is part of a correction I have to deal with, and it is frustrating.
Yet, the drop hasn’t affected my writing spirit. If anything, it has given me more reason to continue. I wanted to share this with you because many of us will face similar depressing situations. But how we want to feel about it is a choice we can make.
I first started writing on Medium.com in Aug 2021, and a month later, in Sep 2021, I founded Coffee Times publication on Medium.com as an open publishing house for all new writers to publish their work. It was a great idea at that time. My writing didn’t quite take off, but my publication did. By the end of 2021, Coffee Times have garnered over four thousand followers on Medium. Owing to the success of Coffee Times, I also became popular.
Being popular does not mean being successful. They are not synonymous.
In my diminutive mind, I thought being popular equals being successful. If this is also your mindset, let me definitively tell you this—it is not! If you chase after popularity, I can only wish you know what you are going after because I found out the hard way.
Coffee Times on Medium grew too big, too fast, and way beyond my capacity to cope alone. I had to bring in volunteers to keep the publication going, and these editors weren’t getting paid for what they had to do. My popularity rose, but my writing wasn’t doing as well. For that period, I was blinded by my fake success. I thought I was making it, but in reality, I was only burning out.
I realised I was on the wrong path, but being the owner of a fast-growing publication meant it was not going to be easy to pull the plug. I was ‘stuck’ with the flow, and I found myself getting more miserable by the day, even though my followers count was growing at an astonishing rate.
By then, I had gained 4K followers on Medium, but my articles weren’t getting seen by four thousand people. If I had a hundred views on any article, I would be popping champagne to celebrate. Regardless of how high my followers count grew, my articles just ain’t getting the corresponding exposure. They were ‘stagnating’ or, worse, ‘declining’. I realised popularity is just a number, and the number doesn’t even mean anything. I was the top writer in many categories on Medium.com, but none of these accolades meant anything.
I have a day job to juggle with, so I don’t have a lot of time to spend on Medium.com. I have to split my remaining spare time between running a fast-growing publication that has endless submissions to vet and my writing. There just wasn’t enough time to do the necessary research into my own writing. Plus, I waste a lot of time staring at the statistics and over-analysing the changing numbers. Logging onto Medium was turning into an addiction that was leading me nowhere but in circles. I needed to get out.
So when I made a mistake that had my account blocked, I seized the opportunity to make a clean exit from Medium.com. It was a blessing in disguise.
Writing on Substack makes me feel a lot more comfortable. I am not in competition with anyone here. If there is someone I wish to compete with and surpass, that would be myself. Believe it or not, even after a year of consistent writing here, I still haven’t found my mojo. I write about self-improvement, but my writing style keeps changing, and till today, I am still experimenting with different ways of writing. I still haven’t found my true voice.
It has become clear that writing is a process of self-discovery. And in this process, time is of the essence. I need time to explore and make new discoveries, try new tricks and experiment with new techniques. I may never find my mojo, but that is okay; it doesn’t mean this search is a failure. In fact, the whole idea of this journey is to continue with the search and, in the process, inspire myself to do better.
Writing has healed the tension I had with myself and gathered my strength to face my weakness. In the past, I had imposter syndrome; I fear not being good enough, I fear losing out to other new writers, I fear not retaining my top writer title, I fear not garnering enough likes, I fear not gaining enough followers, and I fear defeat.
Today, I am at peace with myself. I now see this entire journey from a completely different lens. We are all in this marathon called life, and in this journey, we are not in competition with anyone else other than ourselves. The only objective is to keep going. Rain or shine, just keep going. It doesn’t matter if I am running ahead or falling behind. It doesn’t matter if I am walking or running. All that matters to me is I do not stop.
When you have a clear vision of where you are heading and a clear determination to get there, everything else is just scenery along this journey. So, pull up your sleeves, sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful scenery.
If you find my articles to be worth your time, it would mean the world to me if you refer friends.
Whether or not you will receive benefits shouldn’t be the reason you refer your friend because that would be selfish. Refer them to Coffee Times because there is something they can gain from hearing about my stories, my journey, my struggles. Or when my writing inspires others to be better versions of themselves.
Thank you for helping to get the word out about Coffee Times!
It's good that you wrote this article. The way you write about your departure last year and where you are now explains so much.
Good to hear from you Winston! I truly enjoyed writing for Coffee Times - a belated thank you for all your heroic efforts to keep it afloat! I enjoyed your post, stay the course!