5 Ways to Keep Your Blogging Enthusiasm Alive
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Blogging is not easy. It’s mostly solitary, totally misunderstood, and unlike any other business in its structure so it doesn’t even always feel like a legitimate hobby or real entrepreneurial endeavor (at least not until tax season rolls around, ha). Keeping the mojo alive, keeping your enthusiasm up, keeping your energy level high for tackling challenges and charging head-on into new territory takes a serious effort. Fend off burnout and discouragement with these inspirational tools and strategies designed to help you refill your cup with fresh life and enthusiasm for your business.
Find Your Tribe
Blogging is notoriously misunderstood as only a hobby, but while some of your immediate circle may not get it rest assured there are people out there who do! Bloggers are everywhere, and pretty much all of us love to talk about the craft and connect with others (it’s part of the job description!). Join blogging groups on Facebook (you can find mine here), follow and engage with other bloggers on social media, and network network network. Besides the moral support that can help you push through tough times, connecting also creates opportunities to hear about the successes of others, which can be inspiring and motivating and make goals seem more attainable.
Read Success Stories
Being self-employed is hard, and scary! And as a blogger especially, since it all feels a little unreal when you’re first getting started. Feed the positivity, and support your ability to really envision success, by reading up on others who have created something from nothing. Heather Delaney Reese from It’s A Lovely Life has an amazing blogging story and ever heard of Origami Owl? Chrissy Weems has a fun story of how that business started as a result of her 14 yr old daughter wanting to buy a car. Find a story you love and keep it close.
Keep a Success Journal
This is a big one for me. Keep a journal of nothing but your blogging business successes. Your first affiliate sale. Your first sponsored post. Goals met. Compliments received. No matter how small or seemingly insignificant (your first five cents earned from Google Adsense? woo hoo!), if it made you smile and it’s about your business, write it down. Over time those first successes and seemingly momentous achievements are easy to forget, but that journal will remember. Read through it occasionally as a reminder of how far you’ve come and everything you’ve done — and what you have yet to achieve!
Adopt a mantra
Just keep swimming, Just Do It, I Got This – find a mantra or favorite quote that speaks to you and give it a prominent location in your daily routine. One of my favorites: “Someone less qualified than you, and less talented than you, is doing what you want to do right now simply because they chose to believe in themselves.” ~Anonymous
Set Realistic Expectations
As Shakespeare once wrote, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” Blogging is a long game. If you started today you will not be getting loads of traffic and/or be making a meaningful amount of money next month, or possibly even next year. It will have ups and downs, it will have joys and disappointments, it will have setbacks. But it will also have unexpected pleasures, hard-earned accomplishments, and victories large and small. It might be absolutely life-changing (in a good way!) but it definitely doesn’t happen overnight. Go into it with realistic expectations so when challenges and frustrations arise you can embrace a “this too shall pass” mindset and keep your eyes on the big-picture view that blogging is a rollercoaster ride: don’t jump off during the downs or you’ll never experience the ups!
What helps you keep your enthusiasm alive? Do you have a favorite motivational quote? (I love quotes!) Share in the comments.
