100 Articles!

After plugging away for over 5 years, I have amassed 100 Articles – the coveted triple digits! Now, why is that important? I’m glad you asked – and thanks for reading!

I’ll give 5 main reasons why it’s important to me – and why it’s important for the medium.

1. It Demonstrates Tenacity

Never give up – keep at it little buddy

First things first: by continuing to write bimonthly and get to 100 articles over 5 years, it demonstrates something I’ve long been an advocate for: tenacity. In fact, one of the most popular articles here – talent vs tenacity – I argue that tenacity overcomes talent ALL OF THE TIME. You’ve seen it even if you can’t identify it. It’s the person who grew up poor but refused to stay that way, it’s the person that struggled to make it through higher education, it’s the individual who refuses to stay down no matter how many times they get knocked down – and many other examples I won’t take the time here to highlight.

Tenacity is one of the most desirable traits you can obtain and if you have it, cherish it.

2. Consistent Content

Some things are more consistent than others

Consistent content demonstrates to readers and myself that I am not just an authority in the space I occupy – it’s also to prove I am ever present. It’s hard to try and maintain relevancy when you are sporadic with your content and I am well aware of that – which is why consistent content has been a perennial on my goals list for 2 years now.

One of the problems – at least for me, anyway – is the desire to write ebbs and flows. It’s kind of like a spark; when I get the inclination to write and have a topic in mind, I can really crank out the content. But there are times when I either do not have a great idea, have an idea but am not charged by it, or have a lot of other things going on that take more time than I’d like them to. I know I know – I’m making excuses and in the end, I need to stop. See, I try to hold myself accountable, too.

This is also one of the reasons I have been hesitant in starting the podcast – I want to be sure I have enough ideas to roll out consistent podcasts, whatever that schedule may be. I have about 10 I’m trying to flesh out on paper that will be foundational and once I have them in the queue I’ll start dropping them. I’ve also got numerous ideas that I need to conceptualize also; topics, people to have on, Q and A episodes – all of those and more are topics I have in mind. I’m really looking forward to it!

3. Allows for Continual Improvement

Everything can benefit from some improvement

For those who may not know, no one begins something and is at their peak – you can always improve. What’s more, many people find that if they do not use their skills they lose them. For that reason, I believe the writing process continues to hone my work. When I look back I can see how my writing has improved over these years. I can be my own worst critic and I can read old work through a specific lens – so I have to be cognizant of that, too. All in all though, as I write and read I become more aware of the need to get better – and then I polish up accordingly.

Unfortunately, many people lack the tenacity to keep at something the first signs of it getting tough. We live in an instant gratification society and when things take time, become hard, require patience, or simply need more effort, many quit. How do you expect to grow as a person or gain experience when you simply flee from adversity? It’s simple: you don’t.

The truth is that through struggle you gain experience and it’s no different with writing. As I write on the regular, I see ways I can improve. What’s more, I write a bit different than the model they taught most in school. You know – topic outline, first draft, second draft, third draft, etc. I sit down, flesh out what I want to write about and the flow – and then put words to page. Sure, I tweak it after a quick reread at times but overall, what I put down first makes it last.

Plus – and this is important – is that if I am forcing myself to write because of a deadline my writing is inferior than when I get fueled by the topic. I have scraped entire articles because when I read them I realized they were rigid, forced, and just were not good – at least to my standards. I’m keenly aware others read what I write because I have a way with words and that makes me want to ensure better quality.

So yeah, writing consistently allows me to continually improve and I’ll embrace that.

4. Helps in Building a Brand

The bees are building comb and I’m building a brand but both take time

This one should come as no surprise but the more you get out there and grind away the greater exposure you get when trying to be relevant. Again, you don’t get instant gratification when doing this; rather, it’s the slow and steady grind that takes time, patience, and most importantly, intentionality. You HAVE to know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and have an end goal of how long you can REALISTICALLY expect to build that brand. For The Wealthy Ironworker, this website has been putting out content-rich articles for over 5 years and the podcast is getting ready to drop in a couple months. Most people would have quit a long time ago but I’m aware of the mission, the investment, and I’m in it for the long haul.

Writing consistent content allows me to stay in the space of relevancy throughout it all and that’s a necessity. You can’t realistically expect to be sporadic in your space and maintain a following that takes you seriously – especially if you haven’t gained a respectable audience in the first place. And this is where most people falter. IT TAKES TIME and I’m here for it. I’m looking forward to seeing how the audience grows from the podcast but I still plan on making good content in article form.

5. Highlights the Need to Address

Sometimes you just need to change some things up

As I research and write, I find abundant content to create. A good example of this would be current events; there is no shortage of things happening that impact the trades. Retirement, retention, recruitment, demographics – all of these and more are article topics and, coming soon to a podcast platform near you, The Wealthy Ironworker Podcast! I have sooo many ideas for episodes I’m really looking forward to getting it going.

Be on the lookout and if you are a regular reader you definitely will get heads up – through my monthly review articles as well as a structural change with the website itself. I plan to include and incorporate the podcasts to some degree here at Thewealthyironworker.com and I’m excited about this next evolution of content.

Moreover, as I continue to research and write I note plenty of additional topics that – while I may not have originally considered, I should contemplate exploring. Time will tell how things flesh out but I have a ton of ideas for both media outlets.

Conclusion

All in all, I am super pleased that over 5 years have passed and I have reached the triple digits for articles – it’s something I feel rather proud about. It has taken a lot of extra work on my part to put forth so much good content and if I’m honest, it will only get heftier from here with the addition of a podcast. I hope to keep a bimonthly pace here and perhaps establish the same for podcasts – I’ll see just how much work it turns out to be. What’s more, I spend a fair amount of time traveling for work (as I type this now I am in a hotel room), and that has its pros and cons when it comes to putting out good content. In the end, I’ll keep grinding and expanding the audience base.

Thanks for reading and joining me on this journey – here’s to the next 100!