100. The beginning

I’ve been imagining this day to come. I’ve even thought of the what I should name the title and the content to write about far ahead. And the day is finally here. Day 100. I’ve made it, the end of #100NakedWords.

For someone who has been failing his personal projects halfway, I am proud of myself for completing this challenge. On around day 30 I thought I would give up. I ran out of ideas, steam and motivation. But I pushed through. And the few things that I found are key to the success are:

• Having a structure. I made myself write during my morning commute every day. Regardless whether I got any idea for that day, I will put my laptop on my laps, stare at the screen and force myself to produce words. Felt extremely uncomfortable in the beginning, but it became a habit after a while.
• Having an accountability partner. My public commitment on Facebook gave me the pressure to go on. On top of that, I got someone to monitor my progress and I told him I will pay $20 for each day I didn’t post. Every night I will think about that $20 I will lose. I’ve never paid him once. Works like magic.
• Having something to look forward to. I broke down the seemingly long and arduous journey into 4 attainable milestones of 25 days each. The reward and the feeling that I’m almost there got me going.

And through a hundred day of writing and a lot of looking inward, I’ve become very attuned to my thoughts. I will no longer let an idea slip by. I’ve developed the ability to notice a thought, take the time to process and expand on it. A blurb of blurry feelings, thoughts or curiosity can now morph into meanings, insights and lessons. This deepened self awareness, I think, is the biggest gift I take away from this challenge.

It also taught me about what I’m capable of. What our minds are capable of, more than what we give them credit for. There were countless times when I panicked for not knowing what to write about on the day of. But you know what, I always thought of something. I doubted that I could ever last till day 100, and you know what, here I am. I’ve learned that as long as I set my mind to something, have the right system and just keep pushing and pushing myself, I will always find a way.

Having this personal project has also kept me anchored in my life. At times where I felt my life is going nowhere, that I had nothing great going on in life, I know that at least I will still get one thing right. I will still post that writing by the end of today. I know that I am still progressing in life.

So what’s next? I might take a break from writing for a while. I might do a longer post from time to time but I’m thinking to explore the creative side and do fictions. Or maybe focus more on reading, learning new skills such programming or a new language? Who knows? Completing 100 Naked Words has built a new confidence in me that I’m capable of taking on any challenges that I set my mind to.

This is not the end, it’s the beginning.