WCP233 Fun with numbers

As a writing coach, I’ve heard countless writers complain about their numbers. Or, more accurately, I’ve lost count.

Often somebody will hook into a goal number (daily word count, annual income, how many likes on a post) that disappoints–whether they hit that number or not.

And many others don’t identify a goal number from the outset, but then lament that whatever number they’re looking at is “not enough” (or possibly “too much”).

Using numbers against ourselves in this way is largely counterproductive, both for achieving goals and for enjoying our writing lives.

I recently noticed that more than listeners have downloaded a quarter million episodes of the Writing Coach Podcast. 

250k is a data point that doesn’t actually mean much in practical terms. It’s a fairly arbitrary number … as are so many of our writing metrics. Even hitting the number of words you wanted for a writing session doesn’t necessarily mean that those words are brilliant, concise, or bloated. 

Choosing to celebrate with little #podcakes is a lot more fun than not having cake.

Having fun is valuable in its own right. And when we are in a playful state of mind, we’re far more able to step out of restrictive thought habits that shut down our creativity, energy, and motivation.

Some of the very same games that you’ve naturally developed through playfulness with words can be applied to numbers.

On this week’s episode, explore a few ways you can bring a little more fun to your own numbers. 

🎉 This week marks a big celebration for the Writing Coach Podcast: 250,000+ downloads!

If you’ve enjoyed an episode (or a couple hundred), please help another writer by sharing the Writing Coach Podcast. Recommend a fave episode or share a takeaway:

+ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts

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🔗 You may also like …

WCP 132 Archives: Celebrating

WCP 168 Wordle wisdom

WCP 1: What’s your problem?

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📝 More info and complete show notes: www.rebeccalweber.com/podcast233