Why I Broke a 131-Week Newsletter Streak

And why I wanted to fail.

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You may have noticed that I’ve not written a single newsletter in the last few months.

I shattered a 131-week sending streak since I started, so what exactly happened?

A Broken Promise.

Publishing an original newsletter every week was one of my proudest accomplishments. Not because it gained readers or replies, but because I stuck with it.

Whether I’d returned from a grueling night shift at the hospital or was traveling through different time zones, I’d manage to find a way to write down my thoughts and hit send.

I’d even marvel to myself: wouldn’t it be something to say in my old age that I’d “written every week of my life”?

I never regretted the time I spent on writing, nor was I ever resentful of the commitment I made to keep on going. So why did I stop for so long? Why didn’t I just skip a week and get back into it?

The truth is, I think I wanted to fail.

I’m Human.

Keeping up a public writing streak meant living with the expectation that I would keep it unbroken — even if that expectation was self-inflicted.