The Power of Public Commitment — An Experiment
By: Madalina Writes
Tags: Life, Experimental, Helping Others, Relationships, Commitment

Writing.com kindly let me know it’s been a year since I opened an account with them. A year since I stumbled from my cousin’s hen-do to her empty apartment at 4 in the morning, poured myself a drink, opened my laptop and started writing …porn. I didn’t have a job, a partner or even as much as a rented room at the time — hold on, I still haven’t got any of those things — but realised my life was right where I wanted it to be and better than I could’ve ever imagined it — and that also still stands. It had never occurred to me before that I could be a writer just as much as it hasn’t occurred since that I could ever give it up.

However, if there’s one reason the Earth revolves around the Sun is for you to look in the mirror and slap yourself across the face as you realise you’re haven’t done half the things you said you were going to do by now. Time to take out the map again, figure out where you are, where you want to be and how to get there.

The fantasy: I was supposed to earn a full time income from writing, have some respectable freelance clients, a solid fan base on Medium to transfer to a blog on the way to monetizing from online courses and coaching sessions.

The reality: I made $13.95 through Medium’s Partner Program. That’s it. That’s all my income in the past 3 months. I can’t even claim I’ve been busy with work cos I haven’t had a demanding job in over a year. I have less than 100 fans on Medium and a little over 1000 followers on Twitter, that I don’t engage with. I hate social media and promoting. I spent $500 on a Content Marketing Course that taught me all about writing blog posts and SEO optimization.

Passing the exam would put me in touch with high paying clients. For some reason exams don’t sit themselves. Articles don’t write themselves and what’s more painful, don’t edit themselves.

I touched people with my writing, I had deep meaningful conversations that stemmed from things I’ve written. My heart skipped a beat every time I hit Publish. I discovered things I needed to work on. I felt more connected to other people.

Quality wise, I’ve had amazing feedback. As far as the numbers go, I’m slacking.

The new plan: I, Madalina, hereby commit to publish one article a day from now until December 5th. They may not be as deeply thought and insightful as my usuals, they may not be free of typos, but I promise to keep them simple and honest. I may write while taking a shit, I’ll write on my phone, but I’ll write.

If I fail to do so, I’m open to suggestions for forfeits. It should be something easy enough to execute that I don’t have an excuse not to and also embarrassing enough that I won’t want to do it. I was thinking publishing a random page from the kinky story I was writing a year ago, but I’m open to suggestions.

The reasoning: I once read it wasn’t a good idea to share your plans with others, because you get recognition before you actually lift a finger and end up not following through.

It’s a very valid strategy that I used many times, but I also use it as an excuse to not take commitments at all. I’m not sharing my plans with others because I know I’ll have to follow through if I voice them. I don’t tell others of my dreams and ambitions so I don’t risk seeing the disappointment in their eyes if it falls through.

Time for an 180 degree turn. 30 articles in the next 30 days. Suggest forfeits. Nag me if I miss a day.

I’m asking for your help. I’ll choose a question a day to answer, so ask away. On December 5th I’ll share the results of this experiment. I hope you’ll join me all the way through.

Happy reading!

Love,

Madalina