Thirty days ago, I signed up for a 30-day writing challenge.

During that time, I wrote & published 30 short essays, learned the fundamentals of digital writing, made friends, and gained clarity over my niche. It has been an enriching (and challenging) journey. I'm more excited than ever to keep writing online.

Here are the 3 biggest things writing & publishing consistently every day for 30 days taught me:

1.It Wasn't About The Writing

I thought this would be about writing daily.

But it was about commitment & discipline. During the month, a family friend died. Then, my youngest had a serious health event. I had several sleepless nights at the hospital, daily exhaustion, and a week of flu-like symptoms.

Despite the many excuses to skip, I wrote.

2. Commitment Is Everything

I've "committed" to a lot in the past.

But it wasn't real commitment. If a good excuse came up, I used it. This was followed by guilt and decommitment.

Commitment is about figuring it out despite readily available excuses.

3. Creating a New Habit Uncovers Bad Habits

It started with my desire to create a daily writing habit.

But as I tried to find optimal writing blocks, I uncovered bad habits lurking throughout my day. Busy being busy on the unimportant.

I realized eliminating bad habits was as important as building a new one.

Growth isn't just achieving goals, it's the discoveries and transformation along the way.

If you haven't committed to a 30-day challenge, you should. It doesn't matter what habit or activity you choose.

It's about what you learn along the way.

As for me, I am going to continue writing daily.

Next milestone... 100 days!