It’s been a little over a year since I began blogging guys!
Happy one year anniversary to my first baby, A Breath Of Fresh Air! Thank you for being part of the journey thus far :)
I am so happy and grateful! God has sustained me all through and more than anything, He’s taught me a lot of things about myself, that haven’t been easy to realize and work on, plus I have had to learn some hard lessons along the way.
If you have a desire to get into blogging, go for it! However, just like anything in life, it comes with challenges. Today, I’d like to share some of them :)
1. You’re not going to be an expert right away
Everything has a learning phase. Through blogging, I learned that I like to be an expert at everything, no matter how new and foreign it is to me, which is so unrealistic. In your beginning days, you won’t know everything, and that is okay.
You’ll know what you need to know, when you need to know as long as you keep on going.
Be okay with being bad at something, be okay with not having the latest equipment, be okay with making mistakes. That’s how you learn and grow, and it’s evidence that you’re willing to try. Making those attempts gives you experience and will take you much further than choosing not to take action because you don’t have this or that, or you’re not as good as so and so.
You’ll know what you need to know, when you need to know as long as you keep on going.
2. It takes time to grow
You’re going to need an extra does of patience before you see tangible growth.
It.will.take.time.
You may desire to have thousands of followers, lots of traffic coming into your website, or selling out your entire stock if you have a business. Those things are great, and I personally don’t think they’re bad desires to have, but before you see that, it will take time.
Stay focused and keep showing up. Your investment eventually compounds and will pay off with tangible results.
3. Be flexible
For someone as imaginative as me, this has probably been the hardest lesson.
You see the way you can envision something unfold, then when you actually execute, things turn out waaayyy differently than what you thought. Then in comes the discouragement, disappointments and overthinking. I’ve been battling that a lot recently.
However, I’ve been learning to hold tightly to the vision, but hold loosely to how it will turn out.
God’s promises will indeed come to pass, we need to learn to let go of the need to control how they will unfold. Trying to control everything will paralyze and exhaust you. Have a plan, but learn to flow too.
4. Sometimes…no, most times you’re going to have to move by faith
Especially when walking into uncharted territory. You’ve never been here, or done this. Well good. You get to set the pace and blaze the trail for those coming after you.
When you choose to trust God and take that leap of faith, He will carry you through , He will sustain you in difficult seasons and He will bless your obedience.
5. It comes with risk
Just like anything worthwhile.
You’ll invest the money, time and effort, but you just never know if it will pay off. I say it’s better to try and see what’s on the other side, than not trying at all. The biggest risk is taking no risk at all.
6. Comparison
I’ll tell you for free! Comparison is something we all struggle with, especially with people we see on social media. In the blogging world it’s honestly the same.
I’ve had those thoughts like;
‘I’m not like so and so’
‘I’m not as extroverted as that person’
’I don’t have great equipment like that person’
or ‘my personality doesn’t suit this kind of work’
and stuff like that.
It’s important to acknowledge these thoughts, but do not let them control you. Comparison will steal the joy you get from creating, it will make you want to be like someone else and abandon those parts of yourself that make you unique, beautiful and authentic.
You see, none of us are the same, none of our journeys are the same, none of our visions are the same. And they never will be!
Thus, it’s a waste of time to compare yourself with someone who is completely different from you. Learn from those you admire, but don’t let your dream die by comparing yourself to them.
Whenever this happens, I like to take breaks from social media, or from viewing certain content, just to get my mind in the right place. If you need to unfollow someone, just do it, nobody is holding you hostage. Plus, your mental and emotional state matters a lot in creating, which leads me to my final point.
You see, none of us are the same, none of our journeys are the same, none of our visions are the same. And they never will be!
7. Creating takes a lot!
It’s not just about the time and effort it takes to type out a post, film and edit a reel, or come up with an IG caption.
Creating takes a lot of mental and emotional capacity. When I show up here, I try my best to show up as authentically and as real as possible, and I pour out my heart into the things I create. At times, that creativity depletes and I feel very drained, such that I stop creating.
It could be caused by lack of inspiration or just life stuff getting in the way, such that there’s simply no energy to create.
This isn’t to draw sympathy, but to encourage and advise any creative out there, it’s okay to take breaks to find that spark again. And if you are more of a consumer on the internet, kindly extend grace to your fave creator out there if they happen to go MIA unannounced, it gets tough sometimes.
Anywhoooo, if you’ve reached the end of this post, thank you! And I hope you enjoyed reading through this.
If you want to, kindly like and share this with anybody who needs it, and don’t forget to subscribe to the e-mail list down below!
I’ll see you on the next one!
Xoxo
B.
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