Progression Happens In More Ways Than You Realize
It’s been quiet during the month of September over at the blog, but if you follow me on Instagram, you know I wasn’t totally off the grid during my vacation. Visiting Iceland, Norway and Sweden was a great adventure (and also very expensive).
While I wasn’t able to get any new blog posts scheduled during my time away, I used the Buffer app to schedule my posts and other peoples’ content on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Even though I wasn’t away for that long, two weeks still felt like a long time to not be working on anything blog-related. From time to time during my vacation, I had these ridiculous thoughts. I thought I would be behind with my blog goals and so many people would unfollow and unsubscribe.
It’s so easy to play the comparison game even though we know not to compare your Chapter 1 to someone’s Chapter 20. And even if you did start around the same time, remember that it’s ok if you’re progressing at various rates. Everyone’s schedules and lives are different. Not only that, each person’s life is full of different commitments.
It sounds obvious and we’ve all heard it on countless occasions, but it’s something I need to tell myself time and time again. These types of reminders are the good kind.
You may not realize it, but you’ve progressed more than you think you have.The point from not having started (Ground Zero) to taking the first few steps and starting is a HUGE STEP. Seriously. I’m talking moving mountains.
I’ve been blogging on and off (to be honest, it was more off, than on) for over 4 years. Since I wasn’t “on” during the beginning of my journey, I felt I haven’t grown as much or as quickly as many bloggers have who started around the same time or not too long after.
Since making the decision not too long ago to re-brand myself, I feel like I’m starting over again just because it’s a new niche. The idea may have bothered me several years back, but it doesn’t so much anymore. I’m excited because for the first time in a long time, I feel I have more clarity in what I want to do. I want to help people who are just starting out, build their brand and their blog.
Anytime you take on a new project or new venture, it will be starting at ground zero. Give yourself props for taking that risk, taking that step to try something new. So many people are stuck doing the same thing and never try anything new.
It’s ok to be afraid. It’s ok to have doubts. Or whatever feelings of uncertainty you feel.
JUST TRY.
When things don’t go as expected, it’s still progression. You may need to step back a bit and look at the situation with a different perspective or maybe put it on hold. Maybe you need to go in a completely different direction to move forward.
When I worked for the government, I spent over a year networking, trying to put myself out there. I joined various boards to get to know people. Numerous conference calls were set up with upper management to express my ambitions. I even launched a successful career workshop which ended up having a decent turnout. I received great feedback about it and many people looked forward to future workshops.
Despite the success of the workshop and all my tireless efforts, there was NO PROGRESS AT ALL.
It wasn’t until I actually left the government and entered an entirely new industry and environment that progress started to happen and things to began to pick up speed.
Earlier on in the year, I was thinking about launching a podcast for the fall. I had carried out a few interviews on the blog via phone, Skype, and Google Hangouts, so I was pretty comfortable interviewing people live. I came up with a name for the podcast and hired a designer to do the artwork. My husband bought equipment for it and set me up. I even purchased music to use for the intro episode and recorded my first solo episode.
I’m not sure what specifically happened or how it happened or even why it happened, but I found myself not really wanting to talk about personal finance or technology as much. I became more and more interested in the idea of online business, entrepreneurship, social media platforms and treating your blog like a business.
And so the idea of launching a podcast was temporarily put on hold (and still is). I want to focus more on re-branding myself first before anything else. Once you do gain more clarity and find your purpose, you will progress even more. The ideas will appear and continue to do so.
Remember THIS.
Every new follower, every new like, new comment, new subscriber.
Every time you hit publish or send out that monthly newsletter.
It’s progression.
Every new concept you learn. Or system you try and you put in place.
It’s progression.
Just like success, progression is neither a straight line, but a path full of twists, turns, and forks in the road.
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