Hello lovelies,
Hope y’’all are doing amazing and fantastic!
I think by now, everybody would be aware of the fact that I am into the blogging space for over 10 months now and if there is a question that keeps catching up on me, it is the one where people from all walks of life, DM me asking me on how I stay sane and motivated as a blogger amidst having a full time and freelance career.
I gotta say, it’s not a piece of cake as being depicted on social media. The struggle is real. I have had my fair share of burnouts, falling to prey to the impostor syndrome and even clasping the comparison game.10 months of juggling it all hasn’t been easy, but with set routines and systems in place, I can now speak out of experience as a blogger.
But before I begin on how I keep myself inspired; I want all my readers to take a note of this. This is one of my favorite quotes and I keep reading this again and again till I get a knock on my head to get up and start working.
“It’s nobody’s job to motivate you, other than yourself.”
If you’re someone who has just started out in this space or have been blogging for a while now, its applicable for all. In this post, I am gonna share with you all my personalized tips on how I keep slaying as a blogger amidst all the obstacles.
Let’s begin!
(i) Understand your WHY
Now now…I know this seems cliché, but hear me out. Before you try to find motivation, first understand with your inner self, if this is what you actually want to do. There are many occasions where we get confused about passion and desire. Whatever it is that you do in life, without a proper summation of passion and wants, nothing can be yours, come what may. Just ask yourself this simple question “Is this something that I really enjoy doing against all odds? “If the answer is YES, then well done! I suggest you to read this whole post. If it was a NO, then I’d recommend you to rethink what you really want to do.
(ii) Set realistic Goals
Now here is where most of us fall into the bandwagon. We see our idols and the influencers whom we look up to. We sort of wish to go from 1 to 100 in a whiz and try setting goals in accordance with them. But the thing is, we fail to set goals according to our lifestyle. If someone who is blogging full time writes 2 to 3 posts a week, we tend to compartmentalize it the same way without keeping in mind the reality. And that’s what called as non-realistic goals. You need to set SMART goals. The clearer your goal, the more likely it is that you will be pushed to stick with it.
(iii) Time blocking method
For every task that you do, you need to create a set routine. It’s very easy to come up with something like “Oh I wanna write a blog post”. But without a direction on answers to the how and when, you’re definitely gonna land up feeling unmotivated. Pick a day and time that works the best for you. It could be either weekdays or the weekends. Anything that suits your lifestyle. I personally find weekends very comforting to write, because of my work schedule throughout the week. And once you have chosen the day, try blocking an hour or 2 for uninterrupted writing or for brainstorming your ideas. This helps you to get relieved of so much of what’s going on in your head.
(iv) Eliminate distractions
Now that you have come up with the day and time that you would wanna write, the next step is to switch off your phone! Yes, I mean it…You might be thinking like How could this help me stay motivated? Let me spill it out! Tell me if this situation sounds familiar to you. You woke up one morning and you’re ready to conquer the world by finishing off your post that you promised yourself that you would get it done. But suddenly, a notification pops up in Insta or Whats App. You think to yourself “I’ll get back to writing in another 5 mins” and before you even know it, an hour would have passed in the glimpse of an eye. By this time, you would be updated with all the social media posts that your competitors were posting and this thought of not feeling good pops up. There!! End of story!
So, to emulate this, is why I encourage you to start small. First switch off your phone and commit to 10 minutes of diligent writing. Not a second more and not a second less… (I learnt this technique by reading many articles on time blocking). Once you have started, believe me if I say this…. You wouldn’t even know that 10 minutes had passed by and you would still be writing…If you think otherwise, I suggest you try this RIGHT NOW!
(v) Focus on Quality over quantity
Right from a young age, we have all been conditioned to bite more than we could possibly chew. While sometimes this is okay, if you’re a writer…this is a big NO NO. This is a pact that I made with myself right from the early days of blogging. And that is, quality over quantity. One post of in-depth research, plagiarism free and SEO optimized content can take me to places rather than 10 poorly presented posts. You get what I am saying right? Even if I publish more than a post a week, I ensure that the content is still valuable enough to give my readers exactly what they want. In a nutshell - don’t post for the sake of posting. It just ruins your drive to write more.
(vi) Turn comparison into inspiration
“Comparison is the thief of joy” - Theodore Roosevelt.
And how true could this quote be! You need to understand that growth comes with a package of abandonment and hatred. One needs to strike a balance between the good and bad. Instagram is a perfect example of reel life and they have defined happiness in such a way that real life has become completely undesirable. Trust me... I was also doing the comparison game and the only thing that came out of it, was looking at my life in a pity. But if there is something that I understood out of all this, is, I AM ME AND THAT’S MY SUPERPOWER. It’s unfair to compare your chapter 0 to someone’s chapter 100. In the exterior, they might seem overly accomplished but that sometimes turns out to be bait too. You never know, what that person is fighting behind the scenes. You have a flair for writing and that’s your style – it’s something that can never be taken away from you! So, the next time you find yourself looking too much into another person’s life, remember to put blindfolds on!!Because, it’s absolutely not worth it.
(vii) Celebrate tiny wins
Success is how you define and perceive it. One piece of advice that I can give is, don’t wait for someone else to celebrate you. Let’s just say that someone appreciated you for being so raw on your posts, or someone applauded you for the freebie that you created etc.…This is a huge win and make sure that you put the same in social media and celebrate it with your community. Ignore those who feel that you’re bragging about your success, but in retrospect, it will serve as a reminder to you as and when you’re unmotivated.
(viii) Upskilling is key!
This is one field, where you need to be upgrading yourself in the dispersion of competition. The most successful people in the world are the ones who make a commitment to never stop learning. They're always incorporating new skills for their resumes and learning new aspects of the world around them. Instructional courses aren't particularly difficult to find, either, especially in the modern era. To kick start this routine, you can find all that you want to learn from industry leaders in platforms like Allison Courses, Skillshare, Coursera, Udemy to name a few.
Some of my recommended course for newbie as well as experienced bloggers are
Do let me know your recommendations in the comments down below.
(ix) Get yourself a mentor
Last but definitely not the least, getting yourself a mentor is one of the sane ways to stay accountable as a blogger. A mentor not only grooms to learn the best things, but they can also audit your blog and you can get pretty awesome takeaways from them. I mean let’s face it, this is not a conventional field, where it’s really easy to take a stride on. You do need help in the initial days and that’s why having a mentor by your side can be of utmost help. From creating the right content to reaching the right people, a mentor is a fantastic boost to your life.
So here it is my readers…
These are my top 9 SUPER INSPIRING TIPS which helped me to overcome the rut. As a new blogger, I am still thriving and learning a lot of new things. Blogging requires immense patience, determination, and creativity. It might seem like a cakewalk but it really isn’t.
In order to grow your blog, you need to stay committed to creating engaging content on a consistent basis.
When you show up being consistent, motivated and charged up, you will start seeing the results. And by any chance, if you seem like things are a bit too much, feel free in taking an absolute guilt free break to rejuvenate yourself.