Embracing the Journey: From Creative Struggles to Personal Triumph as a Writer

Hey, friends!

I’ve been reflecting on the rollercoaster of creative writing and the challenges of maintaining good writing habits for sustainable online practice. 

Have you ever poured your heart and soul into writing and crafting inspirational videos to build a viable practice, only to fail to generate revenue to sustain your creative endeavours? Why is that? Let me share a few insights with you.

Do you struggle like I still do to achieve results from writing and creating other forms of online content?

I’ve spent over twenty-five years successfully writing, leading, and developing cutting-edge counselling and coaching projects across Canada. Writing for well-funded national programs was not difficult.

Everything changed once I left the comfort of a corporate setting and branched out as a creative freelancer. Writing as an independent content creator on a shoestring budget and trying to make a decent living is a much more complex undertaking!

FYI Read  Have the Guts to Leave Your Job at the Height of Your Career

One day, I read a famous Steve Martin quote: ” Be so good they can’t ignore you.” He said this to explain how he became a well-known comedian.

Ask Steve Martin how many years it took to master his craft. He once worked at Disneyland in the Magic Shop on Main Street, USA. He also worked for the neighbouring amusement park, Knott’s Berry Farm, as a comedian in their “Birdcage Theatre.” During these jobs, he honed his skills in live performance, such as improv comedy, banjo playing, juggling, and lassoing. Read his impressive bio here.

Steve’s quote got me asking: How can we be so good as independent writers that people won’t ignore us?”

After all, we creatives DO have the potential to be so good that folks can’t ignore us.

But here’s a brutal truth I learned the hard way: Not many people care about your writing if you’re producing content that’s typical as muck. Know that readers are too self-absorbed in their own poop to pay much attention to yours (or mine).

Steve Martin tells us that the secret to success is being disciplined, struggling, and mastering our craft. This is simply part of the creative journey.

Good or Best- which is it?

Wait. Let’s back up. Steve Martin was never said to be the best. He was said to be so good. There’s a huge difference. Think about that. 

In our context here, I’m referring to being the ideal match for others when they need that specific thing only you can offer at that moment in time. Be so good at that.

I don’t aim to be the best writer, coach, or anything. I strive to be me — warts and all. I’m continually refining my craft, wondering if I’ll ever get there.

Early Lessons Learned

Do you obsess over likes and followers as I did in the early years? While these two metrics can be a barometer of growth, they’re not a comprehensive measurement for making a decent living. You must also offer relevant solutions that people seek. — to master your craft as a creative thought person who communicates in a manner that moves people to action.

When I began my online journey, I longed for traffic, in part to justify the countless hours and dollars spent writing, crafting videos, and sharing unique photos. But, in a more significant realm, I realized that I was influenced by ego and the dopamine rush one gets from social recognition. — I lost my focus on writing quality.

In part defence, I was blissfully enjoying a decade-long sabbatical. I’d taken six months off every year to hang out on my 30-foot sailboat at Toronto Island — oh yea, and then I’d bugger off to Brazil or Bangladesh a few months at a time in the winter. So, I averaged only three to four months a year of semi-focused work on my creative projects.

People ignored me because I ignored them, and my writing sucked. ‘Duh, are you kidding me, Daniel?’ Others would say, ‘Do you not see how your lack of focus and consistent effort are part of the problem?’

I made it easy for people to ignore me by posting confusing content that offered few practical solutions. I cut corners, pumping out jibberish to get likes. You know the stuff: silly TikTok humour, superficial coaching advice, random poems, and self-absorbed journal entries.

A new creative endeavour can initially be a scattered, inconsistent, and clumsy experience. To succeed long-term, you must embrace discipline, persistence, and focus.

My refined aim became to connect with others, inspire, provoke a thought, share a chuckle and offer viable solutions to their problems. To stand out and consistently refine my craft. – to be so good they can’t ignore me.

The day I permitted myself to speak a raw truth and take bolder chances, my writing and videos became a joy. I had to become a ‘wild and crazy guy’ (another Steve Martin quote)

I had to learn to find and nourish my authentic writing voice through consistent practice. Today, I’m blessed to have the freedom and resources to express myself sustainably, a privilege I don’t take for granted.

That level of freedom unshackled my creativity and helped me produce better-quality work.

We aim to connect with others, inspire, provoke thought, and share a chuckle. We want to stand out and consistently refine our skills—to be so good that they can’t ignore joy.

Unfortunately, I still habitually let my moods dictate my schedule. Sometimes, I spend weeks away from my computer as my creations teeter on life support. I tend to act like I’ve won the lottery, have five years left on Earth, or have retired. This attitude feeds a lack of urgency and discipline to innovate, which hampers progress.

In retrospect, I won’t beat myself up. Decades of hard work and sound financial planning have earned me a certain level of economic independence from any rat race. — Writing can turn into a rat race if you let it.

I am blessed that Allah has granted me a decades-long sabbatical to be creative to my heart’s content.

The New Existential Crisis

Circa 2024, times shifted. The success strategies that worked a decade ago no longer work in today’s messed up world of rapidly changing social, economic, and technological change.  

We must adopt new strategies and approaches to raising the resources we need to create—to live, love, and learn to be proud of our lives on our terms. 

Financial returns on investments or traditional careers are less predictable. Therefore, it’s become critical to innovate and broaden sources of income. Due to inflation, my investments were beginning to erode rapidly.

I faced two options: get serious and launch a fulfilling, sustainable online practice or return to a soul-crushing 9-to-5 rat-race grind. I chose the former -to be an online Creative living, loving and learning a proud life on my terms and the terms of those near and dear to me. — what about you?

Either option is not easy, but I will take the self-employed creative path.  

Get Back on Track

Acting like a hobby vlogger trying to make an online living in a hyper-competitive coaching space fails without discipline and a strategic plan.

For me, the notion of “Be so good they can’t ignore you” begged the question: What does being so good look like?

It’s time to improve your online writing habit, meet new, like-minded people, and build a foundation for online income.

Do what matters and give it your best shot.

On an intellectual level, I am mindful of the importance of distinguishing oneself in a crowded freelance writer and blogger world. Crafting one’s unique proposition in a highly competitive marketplace takes time.

The social agency and political blurbs I spewed for years served my conservative past employer well but rendered me common as muck in my new liberal way forward.

“I needed a new voice to be radically different.

Make it about the journey, not the destination.

Today, I choose to express myself on my terms. I am adequately blessed to do what I want, when I want, with whom I wish to, the way I want, for the reasons I want, as long as I do so with love and integrity.

Being so good in my field of view includes helping others experience a sense of significance, connection, belonging, contribution, and personal growth as they consume ‘my stuff.’ It’s no longer about likes, traffic or accolades.

Hopefully, as a writer, videographer, and graphic image guy, my story today has inspired and challenged your thinking, thrown you a curve ball (I didn’t see that one coming), or made you chuckle at the odd truth of the matter.

I’m not here to say that I’ve yet to achieve the level of ‘standing out‘ I desire or deserve (yet!). — it’s a journey.

Sure, we all crave a little ego stroke and validation, but first and foremost, we must leave this sometimes retched Earth knowing we made a difference. Can you relate?

Let’s keep it real, be ourselves, and strive to be so good that they can’t ignore us. Together, we can inspire, provoke thought, and share a chuckle along the way. Are you ready to embrace your creative journey? Let me know in the comments!