Over the weekend I decided to do some math and see exactly how far I was through this current project of writing and publishing a blog post each week day for 30 week days straight.
I was a bit taken aback at how long I’ve been doing this and how many more weeks it will be till I finish.
Sure, it’s pretty basic math. If you write for 5 days each week and you are going to write for a total of 30 days… you simply divide 30 by 5. It’ll take 6 weeks to complete the project.
I guess I didn’t do the math before I started. It’ll be the middle of June till I finish.
Quitting
Someone I know started a 365 day project at the beginning of this year. The plan was to publish a video blog each day for 365 days straight. At the end of those 365 days they would reevaluate and decide whether to keep going or stop.
Since I knew this guy it was really cool to find a new video in my YouTube subscriptions each day. He was creating great content and I found myself fascinated by what he was doing. (So fascinated in fact that I decided to do my own series of video blogs.)
A little over a week into his year of vlogging he had a really awesome video… And then at the end of that video he let viewers know that he was quitting. That this wasn’t the right time for him to continue pursuing that particular project.
At first I was a bit ticked. I was actually really enjoying the videos… And he had promised. How dare he quit! Just writing the last couple lines made me almost laugh. It’s not my decision whether someone else keeps on doing something or not. Also, he has a family and a bunch of other responsibilities. The reasons for him quitting were all quite valid. I was just disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to watch his vlogs.
So, when it comes to quitting I think there is definitely a time and a place to quit things. There is also a time to push through the difficulty of continuing on in the thing you are working on and not give up.
For instance, if you’re reading a book and its not interesting. Quit reading. Unless of course your English teacher made it required reading, then you have to finish it. Sorry.
When it comes to relationships or things that really matter though, you’ll definitely want to continue trying to push through the rough patches.
This thing of “when to quit” and “when to keep fighting” is quite complicated. Not something that can be easily summarized in a couple of paragraphs.
The 30 Day Approach
I once started and completed a 365 day photography project (which has since been mercifully removed from the world of the internet). I posted one photo each day for an entire year. That was an incredible year in a lot of ways. I learned a ton about photography and about pushing through things when I didn’t feel like it.
As I mentioned above, at the beginning of this year I decided that I wanted to give vlogging a try. It was something that I’ve always wondered whether I could do or not, and it was a fascinating personal project that helped me learn some things about myself.
In one of the last vlogs I talked about some things I learned. One of those things was something along the lines of “a person can do almost anything for 30 days straight.”
That concept is something I kept thinking about. The idea that I can set myself up to do something for 30 days, commit to it, share it with others, and then see how things turn out… for me this is an interesting concept. And its why I’m currently a bit over half way through this 30 days of writing project.
In fact I’m already thinking some about what I might do for my next 30 day project. Any ideas? Feel free to drop a comment below and let me know what you think I should do.
So, in case it wasn’t clear above, I’m not quitting. I do plan to push through on this project. But this morning as I was waking up I wanted nothing more than to just hit snooze and go back to sleep. At which point I knew I had something to write about. 🙂
Happy Wednesday!
D Tomman says
I like the snapshot “life hacks” that show up in these epistles! Now you’ve got me thinking!
Dogged determination or the relief of relinquishment….that is the question….
Thanks!
Eldon Yoder says
Thanks Dad…
Also, you can feel free to use your real name. I don’t mind… 🙂