How to keep going when your writing journey gets tough

Will Smith’s treadmill mantra to achieve your writing dreams

Life has ups and downs. Those hidden gems and lessons mould you into who you are today and who you will become sometime in the future. Yes, some of these lessons you’d rather avoid by all means. Some you only fully understand in years to come. 

Whatever you set out to accomplish, whatever goal you jot down on a large squared piece of paper only to aspire to for months to come, matters. It brings a dose of ups and downs, exhaustion, and disappointments along the way. Yet, it brings joy, which makes it worth it. 

It’s how pursuing something important works. 

There’s no shortcut.

There’s no shortcut. Many would believe there is, but there really is no shortcut. 

You know the saying: “What got you here won’t get you there”¹. 

Whatever your goal is, there’s so much work to do before you can reach it. Know that. As a starter, you will become a different person. You will. 

Your goal will usually mould you for the better. It will turn you into a different person because of those lessons I mentioned at the beginning. 

Each lesson carves you into the shape, but the piece is not finished for a VERY long time. 

As you get through the turbulence and pick up the lessons on the way, there’s one thing you need above all. That is if you wish to get to the end and reach the highs of goals. 

You need to persevere. By all means, it won’t guarantee the success. It won’t deliver the outcome you hope for.

But it will keep you standing and moving forward. 

Because—have I mentioned? Some of the lessons will break parts of you. 

The time will come: when you feel you’re done, you will want to give up, call it quits, and turn on Netflix. 

Because Netflix is not hard work. It’s 100% restful, mind-numbing joy. 

Thriving to accomplish something worthwhile is 99% of the time —pure hard work. (Side note: I am 100% making up those percentages to emphasise my point; the experience is different for all of us.)

So whenever I am thinking of closing down my newsletter and becoming a full-time Netflix enthusiast, I get advice: “The success is behind the corner. When you feel you’re about to give up, it’s lurking just behind that one more corner you need to turn.”

The advice usually sparks enough curiosity in me that I remember the old interview I saw with Will Smith (yes, that Will Smith). 

Will Smith’s treadmill mantra to achieve your writing dreams

I listened to an interview with Will a while back—many years back, in fact, but to avoid making me sound too old, we stick with vague “a while back.”

Right now, I cannot remember who did the interview, but for the sake of this post, I will dig it out from my YouTube history (it’ll just take a while). 

The interview was great and funny. Will is a funny guy— in my opinion.

But it’s one line he said that stuck with me, and I really want to share it with you, my dear reader:

“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die. It's really that simple, right?

You're not going to out-work me. It's such a simple, basic concept. The guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball. The majority of people who aren't getting the places they want or aren't achieving the things that they want in this business is strictly based on hustle. It's strictly based on being out-worked; it's strictly based on missing crucial opportunities. I say all the time if you stay ready, you ain't gotta get ready.”²

→ On a side note, the above quote is part of an extensive interview, so it may be considered taken out of context. I’d urge you to watch the whole clip I’ve included in the footnotes; it’s about 6 minutes long. 

With that being said, I feel the urge to make two points. 

→ First point

Don’t think of hustle as relentless work! Think of hustle as persistence, a way to keep going on your journey and move towards progress.

I don’t support hustle that leaves you drained, burned out, and exhausted. After all, this is a coffee break newsletter. We’re all about taking self-care, time out, learning, development and working smarter instead of harder. 

Yet hustle considered perseverance, is essential to persisting at your work for months, even years because there are no shortcuts. There may be some quick wins, but no lasting shortcuts. 

Yet, all of that can be done in moderation. 

The kind of dogged determination that keeps you showing up to your keyboard day after day, even when your subscriber count isn't skyrocketing like those "How I Got 10K Subscribers in 30 Days!" posts promise.

→ Second point 

Even here on Substack, where you realise your dream of becoming a writer. What most don’t talk about is that the process is slow. It's often frustrating. And yes, sometimes it feels like you're running in place.

You'll draft posts that feel brilliant, only to be met with crickets. You'll obsessively check your stats, wondering why that one follower unsubscribed. You'll see other writers in your niche seemingly explode overnight, while you're still trying to figure out if your newsletter logo looks professional enough.

Things are going to be challenging. You’re not going to have all the answers. You might even fall into the ‘insecurities’ rabbit hole for a while. You will doubt yourself. You will want to give up when the plateau hits. (This happens to all small and large publications. More on that in the future.)

But this is also the point where the real magic happens. If you can push through this plateau—this long, seemingly endless middle where nothing seems to be happening—you're doing the work that actually matters.

You're building resilience. You're honing your voice. You're figuring out what your readers truly want, not what you think they should want. You're learning the unsexy but crucial skills of consistent content creation, community building, and yes, even a bit of marketing savvy.

In other words, you're becoming the writer and creator you always dreamed of being, one plodding step at a time.

To me, the treadmill quote represents the willingness to persevere, learn what you don’t know, hone your craft, find the answers to questions you have, find solutions and not give up. 

That’s how I feel about the journey on Substack.

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Recently, I’ve noticed an increased number of posts (especially on notes) sharing xyz tips on how to get 1k subscribers in seconds. This is followed by notes of anguish over the increase in followers versus subscribers, followed by posts of lost hope, depleted efforts, and plateaus. 

This is why, my dear reader, I know many of you are also pursuing your wild dreams of being a writer and sharing your work here on Substack.

So the next time you're tempted to throw in the towel, to crawl back to the familiar confines of your cubicle, remember Will's treadmill. Remember that every successful Substack writer you admire has had moments where they wanted to quit. The difference is, they didn't.

Consider treadmill your Substack, and refuse to get off or give up on your writing dream. Just don't forget to hydrate along the way. Preferably with coffee.

Keep going x 

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PS 1: This is the 12th post of 24 essays I plan to write as part of the 

Sparkle on Substack

Essay Club to keep myself accountable and post regularly.

If life often gets in the way of your regular writing and you are a fellow Substacker (which many of you are), I'd recommend you join 

Claire Venus

’s

Sparkle on Substack

Essay Club.

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PS 2: I am considering starting a regular weekly Coffee Break Thread in August, where we can hold each other accountable and motivate each other to persevere and accomplish our big and small goals. Would you be interested?

Here are some ideas that we could discuss during our virtual breaks. You can vote in the poll on what stands out to you the most. Apologies to the UK friends; I know you voted last week. 

Ideas for the threads:

1. Thread idea #1: What if my problem isn’t saying “no” but saying “yes”? I turn down many opportunities because I’m scared. 

2. Thread idea #2: One single goal? If I pick just one, won’t I miss out on so many others?

3. Thread idea #3: My partner says I’m a workaholic. What is the right way to schedule things to make sure I’m balancing family time with publication goals?

4. Thread idea #4: I put everything I need to do in my calendar, but I don’t stick to it. Do you have any suggestions?

Now, PLEASE, help me decide and take the vote:

1.  It’s unclear if this is a common saying. It is the book title that stuck with me: What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith by Marshall Goldsmith

2. Will Smith Will Not Be Out-Worked