The slow and steady climb
Why your content journey is a hill, not a mountain
Gary Bloomer | SHAKING THE TREE # 240
You’ve been walking for hours until eventually, you’re standing in a valley, neck craned, eyes squinting up at a point that’s so far above you that it’s shrouded in clouds.
That’s the peak.
That’s “making it.”
A million subscribers.
A stream of virals post.
Whatever making it is to you.
All hail the algorithm for blessing you with the glory of its ever shining divine light.
You take your next, ambitious step, your eyes locked on that distant summit.
And you fall flat on your face.
This is precisely where most content creators go wrong.
Sadly, we’ve all been sold a lie about content creation—you, me—all of us.
The lies is that we’re told to “crush it,” to “hack growth,” our way onwards, and to chase that oh, so elusive virality, as if it’s the only prize worth striving for.
See, there’s a problem with this mindset.
As inspiring as it might sound and as good as it may look on paper, if it’s left unchecked, it’ll turn the joy of the creative process into a sweaty, grueling, exhausting slog up an endlessly meandering path that throws up one false peak after another.
You trudge up one part of the path, thinking you’re at the top, only to crest the rise and find yet another twist of the path ahead of you.
You’re so focused on the thin air at the top that you miss the solid ground beneath your feet. You don’t climb a mountain. You climb a hill. And the secret to not going crazy is to stop looking at the peak.
The peak is a mirage … a constantly shifting target.
Hit 10k followers? Great. Now the peak is 50k. Get 50k?
The peak is 100k and a brand deal.
You see, the peak is external validation, and it’s a cruel master that will never love you back, no matter how much effort you put in.
This fixation with more, higher, better creates an endless cycle of anticipation, anxiety, comparison, and burnout. Every piece of content that doesn’t “perform” feels like a failure, a slip down the icy slope.
When you focus on the peak you’re creating for the algorithm instead of for a human being. Your voice becomes strained, robotic, and hollow. Bit by bit, any joy of content creation that you might have had, whatever it was, begins to evaporate.
So, what’s the alternative? Take the hill one step at a time.
The hill is right here. It’s this step. And the next step. And the step after that.
It’s each article, line by line. It’s each video, scene by scene. You get the idea.
It’s not the one thousandth follower or the one millionth subscriber. It’s the action of the action itself, not the end goal.
The hill is the process in and of itself. As such, it’s the only thing that is real and it’s the only thing that’s within your control.
How do you do it? You look down, not up.
Focus on the very next step: Your goal is not to “get famous.” Your goal is to capture one meaningful idea and to write one true sentence. Your goal is to edit one clean scene of video or to find one perfect piece of audio. Your entire world should shrink to the next task and ONLY to the next step. Did you do it? Good. That’s a successful climb. Now, take the next step.
Measure process, not just outcomes: Did you publish consistently this month? That’s a win. Did you experiment with a new format? That’s a win too. Did you genuinely enjoy making that last piece? That’s a massive win. Keep going. These process-orientated goals are yours to own. They cannot be taken from you by a changing algorithm or by a disinterested crowd. They are the solid rock you plant your feet on.
Enjoy the view from right here: When you’re not gasping for air and staring at a distant point, you can actually look around. You’ll notice the community forming on your latest post. You’ll read a comment from one person who was genuinely helped by your work. You’ll feel the quiet satisfaction of having built something, however small, that didn’t exist before. This is the fuel that keeps your engines roaring. This is the oxygen that tastes sweet and clean when you take a big breath. This is why you started climbing in the first place.
The beautiful, paradoxical truth of content creation is that by ignoring the peak and by focusing on the hill, by keeping at it and by not quitting you actually climb faster and far more sustainably.
And you’ll climb far higher than someone who quit after three months because they didn’t go viral!
Consistency compounds.
A single step means practically nothing. But take it anyway. And then the next step. And the step after that … whatever those steps are for you. And while a single step might seem insignificant, a thousand steps taken one after the other, taken with focus and purpose, that’s the sort of distance that means everything.
Over time you build a body of work. You hone your craft. You build trust. And you instill belief.
And then one day, you’ll stop to tie your bootlace and you’ll glance up. You’ll be shocked to see how high you’ve come.
The air will be clear.
The view, spectacular.
And you’ll realize the peak was never the point.
The point was the climb itself.
The summit?
It’s just a place to stand before you see the next, more interesting hill on the horizon.
Now, stop reading and go and take your next step.
As always, thanks for reading.
—Gary
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P.S. If you found this useful, share it with another creator who needs an ego check (in a nice way). Want more unfiltered takes on content creation? Join my newsletter. No fluff, just the stuff that works.
Next time on Shaking the Tree: The rewards of boldness
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from the U.K., Gary Bloomer is a writer, branding advocate, marketing specialist, and an award-winning graphic designer.
His design work has been included in Creative Review (one of the UK’s largest design magazines). Since 2009, he has answered over 5,000 marketing and business questions in the Know-How Exchange of MarketingProfs.com, placing him among the top 3% of contributors. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, USA.