no matter how great the talent or efforts, somethings just take time.

warren buffett

1. It’s mine 

I decided to start a blog years ago for one reason and one reason only. Myself. I carried so much baggage that I needed an outlet to put my thoughts. To try and understand them. To work out who I was? What I wanted to be? What’s my purpose here?

I didn’t know what I was doing. There was something thrilling and risky about sharing my inner most thoughts. Pressing publish. I might get caught. It scared me. But it scared me more to keep a cauldron of thoughts trapped in my mind. We weren’t the greatest sharers as a family, more stoically ploughing on, perhaps this was part of the defiance and rebellion of some things I was taught as a child. 

2. start a blog to share 

to start a blog was the first step, A few posts on, i got a little braver. I shared it. With a trusted friend. Someone I worked with and whose opinion I greatly valued. It made me nervous. I’d exposed my soul, my trauma, opened my wounds to judgement and scrutiny. I felt sick. He called me and said something along the lines of gosh, it’s dark, but addictive.’ 

that was the validation i needed or wanted to start sharing a little bit further. to optimise some of my posts. It wasn’t a necessity for me. in fact it was a chore. Writing for SEo is a great skill that I didn’t at that time have the patience for. Also if I wasn’t Writing to be optimised I wouldn’t be completely visible.

3. i need a big change 

Several years later I worked in an estate agents and hated it. I was floating, in limbo, unhappy and I needed an out. 

I would walk the World’s largest sand desert in the Middle East. Link 

I needed a shop front. Isolating myself for three weeks, I stole every evening, every opportunity to improve my blog and website. My own spot on the World Wide Web. 

Far from perfect, it was a foundation to be built on. Later a production company got in touch. They found the expedition to the desert that I posted on the royal geographical society forum. We made a teaser. The website felt as if it were paying off. The production company came to nothing. Neither did the next one that got in touch. Carrots on sticks.  I’d do it myself. Somehow.

4. A friend that’s always there 

My blog was always there when I needed a friend to offload to. When I didn’t want to burden anyone else. Or grew tired of my own record. I spent a year with a cognitive behavioural therapist. One of my issues was under stimulation. My lady suggested I write as a way of coping.  Actually I would say it was more of a plead. I wrote nonsense. Half my blog posts remain unfinished, as I would lose my train of thought. Or digress on a tangent which made no sense. Perhaps they can be a category in themselves. My unfinished symphonies. 

5. start a blog for A place to connect 

Despite morphing into a home bird I thrive off connection. Nothing so satisfying when someone reaches out on reading a blog post. I crave a comment notification. Where will it come from? Who is it? what do we have in common?

It never fails to fascinate me that people from all over the World can see me, read me, contact me. I see the World Map on my analytics map and I’m in awe of the countries that I can reach. I wonder who they are, what they do, how they feel, have I helped them. It’s such a curious space. I love it. and i want more. other people inspire me, us. they plant seeds within us and help us to make decisions on what kind of people we do or don’t want to be. that’s magic.

Where’s my blog going now

Now I want to write more. I planned a book, but honestly a whole book feels so overwhelming for me. I make things complicated. I’ll get there. I want a life that suits me. Where I can make an income sharing my experiences, my knowledge and help people in similar situations. I want connection, deep connection, people  to reach out to me. We learn from one another and by opening our minds to new people, concepts and ideas we grow. 

you know what i’m also finding fun is making small goals. I want to reach x amount of people, how do I grow it, what platforms do i use? My fears of judgement are still very much there. but it’s judgement over my weakness of consistency and feeling like a letdown. But the honest truth is – I think people are mostly too worried about paying their own bills, to be so worried about whether I post at 1000 on a monday morning. and if i’m earning a few pence from affiliate links. this is now a personal challenge to increase that. And I’m starting from nearly zero.

I’ve made 8 pence in the last 3 weeks. Winning. just a little patience with Google and myself required.

i had an online facelift to give me the improved motivation. to start a blog once again. only with history behind it.

Question is – what are you waiting for. take the first step. start a blog. if you need help then reach out and let me know how I can help you. let’s do this together.

coming soon … how to start a blog and build a website