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The Role My Medium Stats Play
This subtitle captured my attention: “Your stats don’t determine your value.”
No numbers on Medium, social media or anywhere else will neither determine, describe, or judge the quality of your writing. Assuming Jessica Lynn is only referring to her stats on Medium, the only thing these numbers show is how many times an article is viewed or read. We don’t know which members read it or how they came across it. Unless they clapped or responded, we’ve no idea what they thought of it. Jessica’s absolutely right. Stats are entirely beyond our control.
When I focus too much on stats, I subconsciously derive my value from them; I’m elated when they are high. I’m down when they dip — making me complicit in the process that’s killing my love of writing. — Jessica Lynn in Every Time I Ignore My Stats, They Go Up
I experience this dynamic each time I step on the scale. If the number is down, I get complacent about what I eat. If the number goes up, I wonder why I even bother trying. The number is always a trap. I need to ignore the number and keep doing what needs doing every day whether or not I feel like it. I do know from experience that the more tools I use each day, the sooner I’ll reach my goal weight.
It’s no different with writing. No matter how hard I work, I’ll never see a difference between one day and the next…
