Reflecting on My No Stats Challenge: A Month of Growth
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Chapter 1: The Challenge Begins
On March 4th, I embarked on a personal challenge to refrain from checking my statistics for the remainder of the month. Now, it's time to conclude this experiment.
This was not an easy task for me, given my love for numbers; statistics are no exception. Since I began writing consistently, I've felt a growing anxiety about watching those numbers rise. I've had previous experiences where significant improvements took time, yet my curiosity was stronger than I anticipated, particularly during the initial days when I noticed positive engagement on some of my stories. The beginning was the toughest.
This marks my first complete month as a Medium Friend, and I felt it was crucial to assess whether my investment was worthwhile for improving my writing, gaining practice, and enhancing my eloquence, especially since English is not my native language.
Section 1.1: The Language Battle
English isn't the only language I'm focusing on improving; I've also started learning Ukrainian. Over the last two weeks, I've sacrificed some evening gaming sessions and TV time to dedicate to my Ukrainian studies. Currently, my primary tool is Duolingo, which I've heard might not be the most effective, but I'm enjoying the exercises and memorizing new words. I aim to achieve proficiency in the next two months through daily practice. This new endeavor has allowed my mind to forget about the No Stats challenge, which has been refreshing.
If it weren't for my engagement with fellow writers and reading their content, I might have almost forgotten that I was part of this platform.
The first video, "THPS Challenge - THPS3 NO STATS - All Goals, Stats, Decks [Stream VOD]," showcases the fun and challenges of gameplay without focusing on statistics.
Section 1.2: Reflecting on March's Writing
Throughout March, I penned 16 articles, averaging about one story every two days. While I believe I could do better, considering I aim for a story each day, it’s been a long month, and I've enjoyed the process. I feel capable of producing more without significantly increasing my effort, but I want to avoid making writing a chore.
Writing has become a source of joy and tranquility for me. Experiencing writer's block isn't an issue, but filling space with meaningless content goes against my principles. I hold strong convictions and don’t take my contributions lightly. I enjoy sharing my thoughts, analyzing ideas, and offering feedback, sometimes writing comments longer than the articles themselves.
Chapter 2: Starting My Novel
One day, I decided, "Why not start today?" and I began writing "Rose." I have a foundational idea for the story and am committed to developing it until it becomes engaging. As with my other works, this one requires focused attention to maintain consistency and avoid unintentional errors.
Section 2.1: Medium’s Spring Cleaning
I’ve heard about Medium's recent stance against AI-generated content, spam, cryptocurrencies, and low-quality articles. I haven’t looked into official sources yet, but I’ve seen discussions among writers I follow. It seems like a positive move to uphold content quality on the platform. I remember discovering Medium while searching for learning resources, finding stories and tutorials that were hard to come by elsewhere.
Section 2.2: Future Aspirations
My goal is to continue writing consistently on Medium as long as possible. However, I'm unsure if all my interests can be combined into one account. As many of you may have guessed, I’m passionate about technology and work as a professional programmer. I plan to publish more technical content to aid young programmers in developing their skills.
Music production is another area I've been neglecting. It runs in my blood, but sometimes I need to step back to gather fresh ideas and reset my creativity. I prefer creating with purpose, and taking breaks often leads to greater inspiration. Although my mood hasn’t allowed for much creativity lately, I intend to release more music soon.
Before I Conclude
As the month wraps up, I plan to release my Earnings Report, detailing which stories performed best and were the most profitable. Also, don’t forget that April Fool’s Day is approaching, so take everything you read with a grain of salt. I’ll likely stay out of the pranks, as I find many of the fake stories more harmful than entertaining. However, I’ll share any interesting ones I come across—complete with the right context, of course.
The second video, "CK2: Wanderer #8 - Boris' Blursed Baroness (Series B)," adds an entertaining perspective to the gaming experience, showcasing creativity and storytelling.