Several months ago I decided that if I really wanted to take my writing seriously I would also need to take my blogging seriously. I joined Jeff Goins’ Intentional Blogging program and with excitement, I began a journey to self-hosting my own blog and learning what I needed to do to get off the ground. It was a time of excitement and a time of really being committed. I did not complete the intentional blogging challenge, but and this is a big ole booty but…I learned something important. I learned four important things.
1 – I should not start a new program and a new blogging platform at the same time.
-The fact is that I am a woman who needs time to get comfortable with new things. Even though I have blogged off and on for several years. I have never began a blog from nothing before. Not that the WordPress platform begins you with nothing. The thing is, WordPress was and still is something new to me. For the intentional blogging challenge, I created a blog quickly and tried to follow the assignments to get content rolling and so much more. I simply was not prepared for it all.
2 – Just because you aren’t flying along with the herd does not mean you suck.
-I loved this wonderful intentional blogging challenge, but it was not loving me. Once I got behind, I could not get myself caught up. I watched in wonder as others set up email subscriptions and offered amazing pdfs of books or guides. I scratched my head and tried to figure out how to simply add email (I could not get it figured out and I had no real time to look into it). I was inspired by so many but also felt like a major yabbo (not really a word but I felt like one just the same). When it came to juggling this amazing and worthwhile challenge (I am no fool, I knew this was going to be good) with my day to day life, job and still learning a new platform, I just couldn’t get it. I felt so bad for a while there. I was sure that I was one of those people who would never get it. I had to finally smack myself and tell myself the truth. I don’t have to get it all when someone else does. I just need to not give up. Well…at least not forever.
3 – Sometimes you have to walk away.
– That is what I did. I walked away from the challenge. I felt defeated, but I also felt better. I am a strong believer in God’s timing and this was not God’s timing. This was an incredible opportunity to learn, but the timing for me was not incredible. I gave myself the permission to stop, breathe and say “This time is not my time.” That doesn’t mean that another time will not be my time, but for now I had to enjoy what I had done and be fine with it.
4 – Just because you fail at one thing doesn’t mean you will fail at something else.
-Yes, I failed at the intentional blogging challenge. At least I didn’t complete it. I had to be okay with that and promise myself I would not give up on writing completely. There was something that I was anxious to do for seven years but never did because something always came up. That is participate in NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month). For one month you write like the wind with the goal of writing 50,000 words from November 1 to November 31. After feeling a big floppish, I really felt a bit like an unlikely success story for NANOWRIMO, but my desire to be a writer is still strong. I still want to move, I want to act, and I want to write. I signed up a few days before November 1st and also picked up the free Scrivener trial for NANOWRIMO to give myself some help (yes another program to learn, and thanks again to Jeff Goins, I learned a bit…he sure gets around). I was determined, I was tired, but I kept plugging away and…
I actually finished a few days early. One defeat does not make a person defeated. A defeat can actually make you determined.
So yes, four things. I know five always sounds but this is where I stop on what I learned from my error. The important thing about the intentional blogging challenge is it got me excited to try. I am not excited by what I will learn as I keep trying and excited by the process of it all. My blog looks completely different now and I am happy that I am self hosting. I would not have begun this part of my journey without that challenge. Pass or fail, at least I am moving.
God knows. He understands. He sees. His will, his call and his gifts are irrevocable. He will prevail no matter how great you blog. There is so much rest in these truths. – From Kelly to Kelly 😉
Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. This comment is verrrrry late but I have to say that you did NOT fail. You kept plugging away and writing and that was the goal. Completing all the challenges was ONE way to accomplish the goal.
You took another path and it worked for you. You are a writer. Keep writing. The only failures are those who don’t.
I completed many of the challenges and I remember your struggles and confusion but unlike you I stopped writing.
I’m looking forward to picking up the gauntlet again and reconnecting with the blogosphere in general and members of our little group in particular.
Keep writing and learning and I’ll keep following.
SC
Take the things you did learn from what you completed in the intentional blogging challenge.
I feel God is having me increase my blogging and as I do, at my pace, I’ve been getting new blog followers. I haven’t seen a huge increase in my book sales…but have seen a teeny, tiny increase.
Thank you Nike. You are an incredible encourager. 🙂 I appreciate it. I am hoping for a huge change this year. And I am going to put in the work to get there.
Kelly, i so appreciate your candid, self-reflective writing here. I got so fired up reading Jeff’s books that I wanted to buy SOMETHING from him, but I was also looking for honest feedback. I’m a recovering workshop/online course junkie, and an aspiring writer-at-heart. For me, knowing “I’m a writer” doesn’t instinctively translate right away to “make six figures money sharing my voice like Jeff did”. There’s an unnatural gap… Your listening to the Friend Inside (God) and working with that organic sense, that is the missing piece Jeff appears to not address. You wrote the review sometime ago, but I wanted to share that it’s really helped me today. Best, Kayoko
Kayoko,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write to me here. You blessed me a great deal. My day-to-day life and job have kept me from blogging lately. Today I jumped on with a new goal. A goal for writing and also a goal to just blog again. Thank you for being a voice of encouragement in a pile of Viagra comments and various other odd notes. 🙂 I am definitely a recovering workshop/online course junkie as well. I will say I totally love and admire Jeff because he definitely opened my mind to that dream again.
Thanks again for visiting.