Revisiting The Goal of One Thousand Articles
Earlier this year I wrote an article entitled The Goal of One Thousand Articles. Now, just over three months later it s time to revisit that goal.
When I wrote my article, The Goal of One Thousand Articles I created quite a response. Some said I was crazy, that it was impossible. Others said they were with me all the way and would attempt the challenge themselves. Many misread the article, thinking I was going to achieve this by December 2010. The article definitely said it was my goal to reach one thousand by December 2011. Others thought the goal was a competition and responded by writing articles about possibilities and impossibilities. No matter which way you looked at it, the article was successful. I even managed to write a second article, The 1000 Article Saga Continued
Now, just over three months later it is time to revisit my personal goal. How far have I come? And how far have you come if you were one of the writers who said you’d give it your best?
Shortly after writing that article I went back to work full-time. That hadn’t been on the agenda. However, the goal was still one thousand articles and the deadline was eighteen months away. Once back at work my creative energy dried up at fast. Writing at the beginning or the end of the day was challenging. But I hung on in. You see, I had been public about my goal and therefore I knew I couldn’t fail.
Because of work, I am nowhere as close to my goal as I’d like to be. But that is not a problem. I’m working for another eleven weeks and then I will be back to writing and submitting more regularly. So far I have 246 published articles on Triond and 93 on Factoidz, giving a total of 339 articles. This means I have 661 more articles to write – quite a few! I have fourteen weeks in which to reach the halfway mark by the end of December 2010. To reach half way by the end of this year I need to write another 161 articles, an average of just under 12 articles a week. Now, that sounds more achievable. But still a challenge while I’m working.
It won’t be a disaster if I don’t reach the half way goal, as I will be back to writing next year and will have time to make up any short fall.
Without having the original goal in mind I would have fallen by the wayside with my writing long ago. It’s that original goal that has kept me going. Like all goals, I’ve had to break it down into smaller, achievable chunks. I’ve had to monitor my progress, as I am doing now. And I’ve had to keep writing.
So many wonderful writers here on Triond have inspired me and kept me going. Without that support it would have been more difficult to keep going. If you were one of the original ones to commit to having one thousand articles published online by December 2012, I urge you to reassess your goal as well. How are you going? Some of you will be doing better than I am.
You may wonder what’s in this crazy goal for me? Nothing, except that having declared I’ll reach my goal, I am determined to do so. It isn’t an impossible goal, but I have lost time and need to account for that in my output. So, for the next eleven weeks my writing will continue to be minimal, by my standards. After that I’ll be free to accelerate.
If you are still with me on this journey, why not reassess your goal as well. How far have you come and how far do you still need to go? What do you need to do to achieve your goal? Does your goal need some fine tuning? I’m continuing with my goal right to the end and hope you will do so as well.
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October 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I know the importance of goal setting, and I understand and appreciate that it has helped you to carry on despite work pressures when it would have been so easy to drop off. I am not sure if I can do that. I just believe that I would give my best try – good if it goes through, and ok if for some reasons it does not.
October 3rd, 2010 at 3:22 pm
I am sure you will achieve your goal. I would like to publish over 1000 articles until the end of the next year as well. And I am pretty sure I can do that too
as writing is my only source of income (I want to earn as much as possible) and I plan to make my living from it even after I finish the university studies (which will be another 3-5 years).
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Anyway, good luck and don’t hesitate to publish more “revisits” like this one, they count towards the 1000 goal too
October 3rd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Thanks Michal and hey, I just tried messaging you on The Writers Facebook but you went offline just as I submitted it!
October 3rd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I admire your courage. My goals are normally short term. I have increased output this month to three articles per day after writing at least 60 articles per month for the last two months. I now want to put up 90 articles per month for October and November and thereafter 120 articles per month.
October 3rd, 2010 at 3:44 pm
I hope You reach Your goal. I set My goal at 500 articles, got it last month and I’m well into My second goal of 1000 articles with about 350 to go. Good Luck and Happy Writing.
October 3rd, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Go for it Val cheers
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Good for you with your self discipline.
October 3rd, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Keep on chuggin’. I wrote ten in September and I’m new to the art.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Hoping for your success, friend. Me – I’m stuck in one article a day.
Really have to reassess.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:26 pm
I am happy I am writing at all. My goal is to write one article a day. I cheer you for the success you have had so far and know you will reach your goal.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Those are wonderful yet challenging targets. I would set a goal as soon I have build better stamina to write more than one article per day.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Nice Share.
October 3rd, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Very challenging one, Val. And I believe it is not impossible. You can do that. So here I am cheering you on. Really looking forward to reading more articles from you.
October 4th, 2010 at 2:32 am
Hey Val,
I hope you get there. I haven’t set any goals myself yet but you have me thinking now. I also know how it feels when working a full time job. Sometimes it is hard to fuel the creative energies first thing or last thing in the day. Worse still is when it strikes when you are at work, and you end up writing and not getting your work done
October 4th, 2010 at 2:46 am
great work
October 4th, 2010 at 6:46 am
My goals are always shortest term. Plan for 15 articles today and end up writing 3 and be happy. Thanks Val
October 4th, 2010 at 7:18 am
I believe you can attain your goal.
October 4th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I got published 110 articles on Triond after your first article on 1000 articles goal. But only 10 on Bukisa. Now I am shifting this other way round, so I will post 10 for Triond this month for the bonus special and also plan to publish as much as 300 at Bukisa by the end of 2010. If there is any time left (if at all) I will fill in with articles for Triond!
Good luck to your long term goal!
October 5th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
All the best to reach your 1000 article goal.