It was not really one of my goals - yet here I am, Top 200

When I started the Level 1 Training on October 6, 2018, I was just happy to be learning and doing. As I moved to Level 2 Training, my website started to take shape and began to grow, and I was extremely happy.

It never occured to me that I was moving up the WA ranks on a daily basis until one day it surprised me that I wasn't in the 100,000s anymore but I was in the lower 10,000s. Over the next few days I kept an eye on my rank and saw it drop by hundreds at a time. I was surprised at how quickly my rank dropped into the 1000s and then below 500. I then hovered in the 200s for about two weeks.

This morning when I woke up and checked my dashboard, I received a pop up announcement.

New Accomplishment Badge Earned! "You're in the Top 200 at WA!"

What does it mean?

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Basically, the Top 200 Badge means that I am an active member within the WA community. I even got a "Top Helper" title beside my name in the Top 200 list.

If you are new to Wealthy Affiliate, you might be asking "How active have you been?". To which I will answer you, "A little". Honestly, not near as active as I could be if I set my mind to it.

As I mentioned in the title, moving up the WA ranks was never really one of my goals.

What makes the difference?

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As you can see in the screenshot above, my post count in WA is only 4, my network is only 203, and I have only asked 2 questions. Nothing exceptional.

Behind the scenes I have answered a few questions, and I have had a few conversations. I try to keep up to the day on any private messages or comments. I've liked a few comments along the way and I have left a few comments on some posts that I enjoyed reading. But again, nothing astronomical.

I've participated in the website comment exchange thread and have completed 35 comments on Site Comments as well. But as of yet, I still have not fulfilled the requirements to become a Certified Commenter.

So what am I doing? And how did I manage to get into the Top 200 in just over a month. From what I can deduce, the simple answer lies in consistency. Doing a little bit every day.

The overall picture

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Even though the Top 200 recognition in WA doesn't really mean much in terms of my website or website rankings, it is a key indicator as to what I am doing. Let me explain.

The same habits I use within WA, I am using for my Website. I am not going to elaborate just yet, but I am seeing the same types of results for my website. I am slowly moving up the Google rankings (and I am documenting it for a future post). But again, I am not focusing on moving up in Google. What is happening is a natural result of me following the instructions given in the training, and putting into practice what I am learning here at WA.

Most have likely heard the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. As you move forward with your website idea, do so in a measured, sustainable way. Some days you will get more done than on other days. On some days you might get bogged down and feel like you got nothing done, while on other days you might feel like you are soaring and feel like you fulfilled a lot.

Regardless of the ups and downs, keep your purpose clear. And keep the training clear. Don't reinvent the process because this process works and you will get results. Be patient. Follow the example of the tortoise, one step at a time, doing a little bit every day.

What you need to do

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If you are looking for instant gratification, you won't find it here at Wealthy Affiliate (thought getting accomplishment badges comes close). What you will find at WA is the building blocks for a solid foundation towards future success.

Don't spread yourself too thin trying to do EVERYTHING. You will burn out, and lose interest, and be disappointed. There are likely thousands who start out in Wealthy Affiliate recognizing the great opportunity that was presented to them. But after a few days or weeks of "doing and not getting anything out of it", they throw in the towel and move on to the next "promising venture". They lose focus on what attracted them to WA in the first place, great training and a great community.

Focus on what you need to do now, one step at a time and the results will happen. If you need training, do your training. If you learned something, do it, practice it, develop it. You don't need to focus on moving up the WA ranks in order to move up the ranks. My experience is proof of that. Just follow the training, be involved in your learning process and help others out when you can. You will be surprised at the results, if you just keep moving forward a little bit at a time.

And don't forget to take a break. Disconnect and recharge once in a while or you'll find yourself getting stressed out or overwhelmed. Taking a break should be as much a part of your weekly schedule as any other task.

Action Point:

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Two weeks ago I wrote a post celebrating my completion of Level 3 Training and my cracking the Top 500 in WA. In the post, I describe what I am doing on a daily / weekly basis. You'll notice that it is nothing fancy and nothing all that special. My method can be summarized simply as "Doing a little bit every day". That's it.

You can read the post here: Moving on Up on Two Fronts

On a personal note: I can't dedicate 24 hours a day to building my website. I can't even dedicate 12 hours a day, nor can I dedicate 6 hours a day. I have a family to take care of, I have teaching commitments that I need to fulfill, I have projects that I am working on. I probably spend on average 3 hours per day between my website and WA. I am not doing this full time.

When I am working on my website or when I'm on WA, I try to be efficient and productive. I try to get a task done every single day. Using that method, I am making progress in WA (Top 200 today), and I am making progress on my website. And YOU can too.

To your success in Wealthy Affiliate!!!