Taking small steps

I started last week with the idea gotten from a seminar about getting more sources of income (be it passive or active) and that it was now easier than ever to become an author/publisher due to the internet. The follow on idea from the seminar is to take action (instead of sitting on it and let it vanish with the progress of time).

Now, having an idea is a good start and it helps to define the goal. However, it can be hard to do a giant leap (if the goal is something big or hard to achieve, at present) and it is important to take small steps toward the goal. Also, there is a need to measure the progress so that we know that we are indeed progressing towards the goal.

Goal Setting

(Goal: Becoming an author/publisher to create another source of income)

As I am trying to create a source of income by becoming an author/publisher, it is important that the goals set are relevant and helps me progress towards becoming an author/publisher. As an author/publisher, the ultimate goal will be to have a book published and it generates royalty income for me. The guide posts that can help includes completing an introduction, individual chapters and finally compiling the book. But even before that, there is a need to get into the habit of writing.

Realisation of making my work public (like on Steemit, Facebook or other social media platforms)

When I first started to experiment with writing, social media platforms were the obvious choices as they are free and we can use the reaction to any written article, through likes or dislikes, to gauge how well an article is written. However, after writing the first article on this subject, it dawn on me that making an article public on social media is very different than writing it privately. First, I must be willing to let others read my thoughts and actions and readers can be critical (for example, poor English or bad content can have big negative reactions). Next, the fear of criticism and exposure of one's thoughts has led me to procrastinate on writing more articles.

Hence, it dawn on me that there is a need to have a regular schedule for submitting articles so that I can fight the urge to procrastinate my writings and to get into the habit of writing.

Guide posts

To sum things up, to help me become a better writer and to move towards becoming an author/publisher, I will set a regular schedule for submitting articles (via Steemit for the moment). I will post articles every week on Tuesdays and Fridays at around 2 am (Eastern Standard Time). The target for each article will be about 300 words. If I can hit the targets set, I will adjust the guide posts to achieve the goal of becoming an author/publisher sooner.

Hope everyone will have fun reading the articles.

Glossary of Terms

As I try to write these articles for the general audience, it is important to let readers know some terms used that may not be understood by a general audience.

• Active income
  • Income that comes from you, the person earning the income, using your time and effort in exchange for money. Some examples are doing your daily job, me writing a book that I hope will sell, etc.
• Passive income
  • Income that does not require any expenditure of a person's time and effort to get money. Some examples are receiving dividends, royalties, rent, etc.