The Instant Gratification Monkey is Wrecking Your Writing Progress

The Instant Gratification Monkey is screaming for attention.

Please, do not listen to it! It wants you to fail.

You have goals and aspirations with your writing. All upcoming and successful writers do. We need goals to get a sense of purpose and direction. To keep motivation.

But I’m 99% sure that your goal settings are wrong.

Maybe your goal is to reach X amount of followers or earn X amount of money. If that’s the case, my hunch has been affirmed.

Here’s Why

When we set goals that are not 100% in our control, how can we be sure to reach them?

Yes, you can work hard and publish every day. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll reach X amount of followers or earn X amount of money.

If you work hard and don’t reach your goals, you’ll feel as if you’ve “failed” — even if you made good progress.

Instead, focus on effort. Set goals that are 100% in your control.

Goals like:

Write 100 articles before June 2024.
Read one story a day about writing.
Write for at least 30 minutes every day.

When you focus on effort instead of results, you’re in control. You’ll feel empowered. You’ll keep motivation. And you’ll reach your goals.

I know… just writing 100 stories with zero views, will not get you where you want to be. But don’t just sit and hope that the story you published yesterday has gone viral overnight.

It probably hasn’t.

Instead, focus on effort. On becoming a better writer. To learn everything you can along the way.

What Is The Instant Gratification Monkey?

The Instant Gratification Monkey lives in our heads. Some have a baby silk monkey, while others have a full-grown gorilla.

The Instant Gratification Monkey is the reason we lose motivation and eventually give up on our dreams.

The screaming monkey is the reason we set the wrong goals. It tells us we deserve to be successful.

The Instant Gratification Monkey says:

I have used so much energy and time on this story, it should get a lot of attention.
If I continue to publish every day, I will soon have 1.000 followers.
Why do I not receive the attention I deserve?

Do not listen to the monkey!

When things do not turn out like you hoped, you will panic. You will feel bad. You will slowly lose motivation and eventually quit.

You can’t lose, if you don’t quit

Patience is your best friend towards success. The Instant Gratification Monkey is not.

Nothing worth having comes easy, and what comes easy is not worth having.

Focus on effort, not results.

Eventually, great results will follow.

…

Let me know the size of the Instant Gratification Monkey in your head!

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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