I love personal projects.

They develop skills for me, make me grow as a person, add excitement to my life, open up opportunities (professionally and personally), and more.

However, I am a terrible executioner. Arguably, one of the worst.

Each time I begin a new project, one of two things occurs:

1. I plan but never begin.
2. I plan, begin, build quick momentum, then quit two weeks later.

It’s a terrible pattern. I’ve planned or started close to 100 personal projects over the last few years, but have only executed a handful to a satisfactory level. This makes me realize I am a chronic planner and avid quitter. No sane person enjoys being “that guy” who quits everything. Yet, right now, I’m that guy.

This only applies to my personal life. I’m quite successful at executing projects in my professional career. Whenever I plan a project at work, I know I will follow through until the end. So, why am I less successful in my personal life? One word: stakes.

People rely on me to keep my word and ship projects at work. If I don’t fulfill the requirements, my coworkers lose faith in me, and the organization suffers. Those negative consequences motivate me. I don’t want to ruin my reputation or hold back the company from success. The stakes are high. But, in my personal life, no one depends on the projects I concoct. So, there are fewer downsides if I don’t execute them. The stakes are low.

Or so I thought…

I now realize there is someone who relies on me to complete the projects I embark on. That person is me. When I give up too early, I do a disservice to myself. It’s a shame this has happened so much, but I can’t change the past. What I can do instead is change my future habits.

That’s why my next personal project is a writing challenge.

The concept is simple: I will publish a blog post every three days for the next 90 days.

It’s only simple in theory. Executing and completing the challenge will be tough. But I have faith in myself.

Why am I doing this?

There are a few reasons…

1. To write more consistently

Like most, or perhaps all, writers, I want to become better. More specifically, I want to become one of the best. How to become one of the best is a conversation for another time, so I won’t get into it here. However, to become better is easy. All I need to do is write often and do so consistently. That’s easier said than done.

I struggle with consistency. It’s why so many personal projects (and writing projects, specifically) have failed. Since I began publishing my writing in 2020, I go through phases where I publish frequently, followed by phases where I never publish anything.

By publishing here once every three days, I force myself to write more consistently.

I don’t want the posts I publish to suck. Not all will be great, I know, but there’s potential for a few great ones to churn out of the process. I cannot guarantee I will write great posts, but I can guarantee there will be none if I do not stay consistent. So, I have no choice but to write often.

Luckily, I put myself in a solid starting position. I have a backlog of ideas and topics I want to write about, so writer’s block will not affect me. The only obstacles in the way are focus and willpower.

2. Share my ideas publicly

When I wrote and published online often, a few things happened. One, I built an audience (over 8k followers on LinkedIn). Two, I networked with fascinating individuals who shared a similar passion and obsession for the coolest subject out there—data. Three, I conversed with many people through DMs and phone calls.

But once I stopped publishing online, all of that disappeared. My audience became cold, my tech network fizzled away, and the conversations vanished. What a pity.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it.

I want to revive all of that, but it’s impossible to attract a worthwhile network or grow an engaging audience without sharing your thoughts online. If writing online has grown me a network and audience in the past, it can do the same now.

3. Make a name for myself in the data industry

Remember when I said I wanted to become one of the best writers? Well, I feel the same about my position in the data industry. Most view data as a boring, unsexy topic, but I’m weird enough to love it. I’m competitive and have the drive to become the best at what I do, no matter what it is I’m doing. For now, I see myself staying in the data industry for the foreseeable future, and that encourages me to become one of the best.

Some people are content with making a good salary and producing average to above-average work at their job. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I respect those people. But I’m not like that. I want to be at the top.

To make that happen, I need to make myself visible to people in the industry. That means making my name, skills, and, most importantly, impact known. I’m sure there are many ways to do it that don’t involve publishing blog posts. However, this seems like the most scalable way for me to make it happen fast.

I don’t expect this challenge to put me near the top of the data industry by the end. It’s only 90 days, which is far from enough time to build authority in an industry. However, this challenge will give me a much-needed kickstart in the right direction.

4. Improve my communication skills

One of the keys to success and growth in any industry is strong communication skills.

Everyone creating content in “professional” industries loves to say that communication skills matter. I often see cringey and shallow posts on LinkedIn or YouTube flaunting the importance of communication skills. While I’m not a fan of said posts, I can’t deny the truth they hold. Communication skills mattered in the past, they matter now, and they will matter in the future.

If you cannot articulate what you do, the problems you solve, or the value you bring, you’ll never grow in your career. Even if you have others within your organization advocating for you, their aid only goes so far. You need the ability to advocate for yourself, as well, if you want to be involved in A+ projects with the A+ players.

There are different ways to strengthen your communication skills, but I always found writing to be the most impactful.

When I write often, my communication skills flourish. And when I’m in one of those “I never write or publish” phases, my communication skills feel on par with a toddler’s. I don’t want the ideas or messages I share to come off like a little kid said it.

To communicate effectively, you need to think well and understand your ideas at both a high and low granularity. The better you understand your subject topics, the easier it is to communicate them. Writing helps me think clearly and understand complex ideas. So, this challenge will up my writing intensity and indirectly improve my communication skills.

Rules for this challenge

I won’t set strict rules for this challenge. The only hard rules I’m setting are to write often and publish something every three days. There’s no need to overcomplicate this project. I either do it or I don’t. (And I plan to do it)

However, there are two soft rules I’ll take into account throughout the challenge’s duration.

The first concerns word count.

I do not expect every post to be a thoroughly researched, 3,000+ word monster. After all, I’m publishing a high quantity within a short time frame. I still have a job taking up most of my day. So, I won’t have the luxury of doing six hours of research per day.

What’s fortunate is that there isn’t a positive correlation between word count and great writing. Longer posts do not guarantee a higher quality piece.

That’s the beauty of writing.

What defines a successful piece, instead, is the quality of the substance within it. Some of the most insightful articles I have read contained 400-600 words. Brevity, when executed well, can be good. Shorter can be better. So, if my pieces aren’t novella-length like some writers on the internet, that’s okay.

Although there’s no strict word count limit, I will aim for each post to hover around at least 500-700 words. Some will certainly go over, and some will be less. So long as the shorter pieces deliver at least one valuable insight, I’ll be happy.

The second soft rule concerns what I write about.

Since my idea backlog revolves around data, and I hope to make a name for myself in the data industry, it makes sense for the posts I write to be about data.

However, the data industry is broad. It consists of topics related to data science, analytics, engineering, database development, business intelligence, software development, and so on. The data industry is a subset of the tech industry and relates to many others. So, while most posts will deal directly with the data industry, some may concern other industries.

That’s fine. Data doesn’t have to be the main idea for each piece, but each piece will relate to data in some way, at some level.

Distribution

My top priority with this challenge is to commit to my publishing schedule. Obviously, I want people to read what I write, but content distribution is not on the top of my mind.

Distribution will eventually matter during the challenge. If no one reads my post, it won’t do justice to my goals of building a network, audience, and recognition. However, if I never publish anything (or anything useful, in particular), then how great I become at content distribution won’t matter. People can’t read what doesn’t exist.

So, I will begin the challenge focusing on writing and publishing. Once I build momentum and have a few good posts, I will experiment with different forms of content distribution.

I spent time a few years ago studying social media marketing and brand growth, so I have an idea of what will and won’t work. But until the time comes, I won’t stress about it.

Final thoughts

During my short tenure as a data analyst and SQL developer so far, I have made my name known within my organization. I delivered value beyond what was expected of me, scaled the level of projects given to me, and grew faster than most people would. That makes me realize that I have what it takes to accomplish difficult things in life.

Publishing a blog post every three days sounds easy at the surface. But once you dive deeper and begin writing, editing, and editing more, you realize how stressful the challenge is to endure. There will be many days I won’t want to write, and more days I consider quitting.

But after seeing the way I have grown in my professional life, I know this challenge is far from impossible.

Again, it won’t be easy. I’ll have to work hard and dedicate much of my free time to writing. Saying I completed this challenge in 90 days won’t come without stress and pain. But good things in life come from doing the difficult things.

The lucrative outcome accompanying success will be worth it, in the end.

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