21-Day Blogging Marathon | Day 21: Lessons

When I graduated from college three years back, I used to feel like I’ve learnt whatever there is to learn in life, and now it is time to apply my learnings in real life. Three years later, I feel like I have more to learn now than I did ever before. One of the values I hold very dear to me, is the value of taking away lessons from everything I do. I strongly feel that each experience in life teaches you something, perhaps one experience teaches more than the other does. Nevertheless, there is something you can learn from everything you undertake. On that note, I would like to mention the things I have learnt in the past 21 days.

1. Do not wait for motivation to hit you: The moment I realized that I would be having more time on my hands for the next few weeks, I undertook this experiment of writing for 21 days continuously. I usually overthink whatever I do, but this time, I decided not to think too much, and simply started to write. I knew that since I would be writing each day, I would not be able to create the best content, and I might not like everything I post, but I made my peace with it. And I am glad that I did. Most of us wait for inspiration to hit us before we want to pursue something we love, however, as I learnt recently, action is what leads to inspiration and motivation, not vice versa.
2. Consistency is key: You do not become an expert at anything in one day, one week or one month. People, who are experts at anything they do, put in a lot of consistent hard work, perhaps years of it. They are consistently at it, learning from their mistakes and picking themselves up after each failure. I used to often wonder why I am not able to launch my writing career when I’ve been posting on this blog for about six years. Somewhere during this blogging marathon, I realized that it is so because I used to lack consistency. Hopefully, I will carry this lesson with me and pick up pace once this marathon ends.
3. Your passion will also let you down at times: There were many days in the last three weeks, when I didn’t feel like picking up my laptop and getting to it. Despite having a topic in mind, I would sit and stare at the blank screen in front of me, the inertia being too strong. It was in these moments, when I felt that writing, while my passion, is also work. I’ve always had such strong interest in writing, and always dreamt of becoming a successful writer. However, this is the first time in my life when I had the realization of what it would be if I had to do it every day, and that pursuing one’s passion is not as glamorous and easy as it is made out to be.
4. Spending time doing what you love is rewarding: This is the best part of the entire experiment. Despite the inertia, I would always feel satisfied after completion of each blog post. Writing each day has become a habit, and it puts me in a state of flow where I completely lose track of time and space. There aren’t many activities that make me feel like this. I’d say if you are lucky enough to find something that puts you in this state of flow, do spend more time pursuing it!