Persist. (post 16)

It is amazing when you think about the difference in how others view you and how you view yourself. Others judge you by what you have achieved, while you judge yourself by what you are capable of achieving, or rather, to put it precisely, what you think you are capable of achieving. Sometimes all of these are vastly different from each other.

For instance, many newspapers write about me and they highlight 'blogger turned author'. This gives most people an impression that all you have to do to become a successful author is to start a blog. The fact is, I have always been in love with the written word, and I have always written. I used to write in a diary, every single day, since I was 12. In school, I have won lots of prizes for writing competitions. In college, I have won prizes at University level for short-story writing, creative writing and Public speaking among others. Before I became a published author, I wrote for many magazines, including Readers Digest. I have also written for Times of India.

The blog, no doubt helped me reach out. The popularity of this blog (this blog is among the top blogs in India) , no doubt pushed me towards my first book. But there was a lot of ground work, which had been happening for years, before that!

If you want to be a published author, it is not imperative to start a blog, though of course, a blog will help. A blog will help you to connect directly with your readers, give you a platform to showcase your writing skills, will help you get noticed, and you will also have a 'ready sample' of your writing when you approach people for writing assignments.

When I started this blog, it wasn't with any intention to get published. I wrote here everyday, because I loved to write and I wanted to connect to people. For months and months, nobody even read my blog. But I continued writing, as it gave me joy. I still remember how excited I was, when I first got a comment on my blog, from someone living in the UK. I remember flying down the stairs excitedly, telling Satish that someone from UK, actually could connect to what I was saying. That same someone, later went on to become a good friend. When I moved to the UK, I met him many times and to this day we remain in touch. Regular readers will know that I am referring to Niall Young, an awesomely talented artist and a wonderful human being. (My home is full of paintings by Niall)

The other day, at a social gathering, a discussion about writing came up and when I mentioned that I am doing a blog-marathon, most people in the group were taken aback. 'Oh my God, I could never do that. It just isn't my cup of tea,' they said in admiration. But I was just doing something that came naturally to me.

I write, because I love to write. I do the blog-marathon, as a challenge. Ask a marathon runner and he/she will tell you that he/she runs because they love to run.

I do believe that is so essential to success. You have to be passionate about something if you want to keep doing it day-in and day-out. Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'Outliers' (a brillant book--i loved it) says that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in any field.

And if you have to persist for that long. you will be miserable, if you are forcing yourself to do it.

Discover what gives you joy. Do what comes to you naturally. Do what you enjoy.

Persist.

Persist.

Persist.

And you will find success chasing you, instead of the other way round.


And even if it doesn't, you will still be  happy.
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