Here are the 6 lessons I've learned in my first 6 months of blogging that prove we can all benefit from challenging ourselves to learn and grow at any age.
In the blink of an eye, it has been 6 months since I hit publish on AYCLimitless.com and started my blogging adventure. This small step in the universe of the blogging digital space is a huge milestone for me as a new blogger.
Starting a blog at 50+ years has been the biggest learning curve and personal challenge to living braver and bolder.
After 20+ years of being in the corporate training and Learning & Development industry, I started my own consulting business 5 years ago. While I love the freedom and opportunities to help others grow with my consulting work, I felt a need to expand my passion for inspiring and motivating others to a more limitless channel.
AYCLimitless.com is my inspiration platform to share my love of self-help, self-development and self-care. Notice the emphasis on SELF. I believe that no one can help us if we don't first decide to help ourselves.
I believe everyone has the potential for growth and achievement in areas of life that matter most to them. We all have opportunities to create extraordinary impact in the everyday ordinary actions we take. We just need to get out of our own way, be brave and give ourselves permission to shine.
The past 6 months in my blogging life have been about giving myself permission to pursue my passion and being brave enough to grow far outside my comfort zone.
Here are the 6 lessons I've learned in my first 6 months of blogging that prove we can all benefit from challenging ourselves to learn and grow at any age.
Lesson 1: Find Your WHY and Let it Inspire You
You could say that starting AYCLimitless.com was discovering my Ikigai (ee-key-guy), the Japanese philosophy for a state of wellbeing that comes from devotion to activities that you enjoy and brings you a sense of fulfillment.
The Japanese word "Ikigai" is written by combining the symbols iki which means “life” and gai which means “be worthwhile”. When combined, these terms mean "that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose".
Starting my blogging life has given me an additional channel to fulfill my WHY as an advocate for self-help and self-development.
I have spent over 20 years of my life in the learning & development industry and have trained, coached and mentored people from frontline operations to executive management levels. The most rewarding part of my work is helping clients to realize and grow their potential through self-awareness, self-development and self-confidence.
My life's work of helping others has also been part of my journey of self-healing and growth. In helping others to see their potential and to help them shine, I have given myself permission to do the same.
As a new blogger, writer's block and insecurities about the value of my work are my biggest nemesis. Staying clear on why I started this journey and the value that I can offer with my unique experience, skills and talents keep me motivated and inspired to do more.
Find your WHY and let it inspire you!
Lesson 2: Don't Let Perfectionism Stand in the Way of Action
When I hit the publish button for AYCLimitless.com, it was not perfect and I was not fully ready. If I had continued to wait for the perfect timing and the perfect design, content, platform...I would still be waiting.
The dream of starting my website started 5 years ago. And for 5 years, the self-doubt voices in my head talked me down from the edge of my comfort zone every time I got close to stepping outside of it.
Self-doubt and my need for perfectionism told me to go back to the safety of waiting for the perfect timing, the perfect topic, the perfect website design, and the waiting list went on.
"You need more experience before you have anything to share."
"You need to take more courses on how to write a blog, build a website, market your content, etc..."
"You need to have a clearer target audience and a more unique niche or point of difference."
"You need to build up your portfolio of written work first."
The list of "You need to..." was endless.
In my blog Expanding Your Comfort Zone, I talk about how I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and what I gained in the process. The conflict between self-doubt and purpose created so much discomfort in my head and heart that the only way I could find peace was to take action.
Self-doubt lives in fragments of thought but purpose lives in the constant beating of the heart.
The truth was that I had done enough researching, planning, learning and creating to push the publish button on AYCLimitless.com. I just needed to be brave enough to launch.
It is good enough to start and I am still learning to make it better each week. At least now I am creating and publishing and acting on my purpose vs. still waiting for perfection.
Don't let perfectionism stand in the way of action!
Lesson 3: It's Not a Competition With Anyone But Yourself
There is a balance between healthy and unhealthy competition.
Healthy competition stimulates learning, growth and a sense of achievement. It can help unlock personal potential, increase a sense of motivation, and improve performance.
Unhealthy competition creates fear and anxiety. It comes from a scarcity mentality and the fear of losing or failing. The focus shifts from your own performance to comparing with that of others.
As a newbie blogger, it's easy to get caught up in unhealthy competition in a digital industry that is so competitive. The more I continue to research and learn about this industry, it is easy to feel small and insignificant when there are so many successful giants out there.
Getting caught up in comparing myself to others also put unrealistic expectations for results in my head making me fearful and demotivated.
I constantly have to remind myself that it's not a competition with anyone else but myself.
When you are your own opponent, the focus is on pushing your own ability, being creative and improving your skills. Shifting my attention to what I have learned and reminding myself of how much I have grown in just 6 months keeps me motivated to keep going.
It's not a competition with anyone else but yourself!
Lesson 4: Enjoy the Process
The learning curve in creating a website, creating weekly content, and building an audience in the digital space has been steep like rock climbing in Patagonia for a novice trail hiker.
At times the process has frustrated me to tears, but once I began to learn and apply the skills, the pieces started coming together. The more I practiced and applied the new skills, the more enjoyable the process became.
The process of blogging became more enjoyable once I created a system that worked for me. Writing when I am the most focused and creative. Establishing a method for capturing possible blog and website ideas and fleshing them out for viability. (Find out how in my blog Turn Ideas into Action and Ignite Your Potential.)
Once the system was in place, it was easier to enjoy the creation process instead of being stressed out by it.
There are times when I still overthink things and make the process more difficult than it should be. There are still so many things for me to learn and improve upon. But I remind myself that it's just a part of growing outside my comfort zone.
And then I remind myself to just enjoy the process!
Lesson 5: Celebrate the Wins, Big or Small
When you are so busy achieving, sometimes you lose sight of what you have achieved. That's when you feel like you are running on the proverbial hamster wheel without any sense of accomplishment.
People who have a habit of goal setting and creating To-Do lists are good at reflecting on what they have achieved. While I had this habit during my years as a corporate leader, for some reason it was difficult for me to apply this to my creative blogging life.
So at the 6-month mark, I took an inventory of the results thus far.
29 blog articles published (to date of this blog) which is over 58,500 words written.
215 minutes or 3.5 hours is the estimated total read time if you were to read all my blogs in one sitting.
1650 total blog views via the AYCLimitless.com website and counting.
15 blogs featured as Editor's Picks on WIX Spaces App.
29,800 featured blog views via WIX Spaces App and counting.
Created, wrote and self-published my first books for sale on Amazon (Check them out via these links! Ideas to Action: Self-Development Ideation Journal and Ideas to Action: Mini Notebook)
Learned to film and edit art videos and created a YouTube channel to support my mindful art blogs. (AYC Limitless)
So while the results are slow but steady, I am celebrating each one. It took a lot of brain power, energy, persistence and determination to get the results that I have to date.
Celebrate the wins, big or small! They are all steps toward the bigger picture and more successes to come. You deserve to pat yourself on the back.
Lesson 6: Stay True To The Best Version of You
The toughest part of starting my blogging journey has been the fear of using my unique voice and talent. It has taken decades of self-awareness, self-development and hard work to find the best version of me that I am continually evolving.
Publishing it all for the world to see has been the most terrifying and rewarding experience thus far.
Throughout my corporate career, I thought my abilities and achievements were just a part of my job description and performance appraisals. It took starting my own business to realize that my talents are valuable, unique and in demand.
Since starting AYCLimitless.com it has been tempting to sway with the digital trends and imitate the voices of other successful websites and bloggers. It has been tempting to write for the sake of "Search Engine Optimization" and "Google Analytics Recognition" instead of the vision and purpose of why I created the website.
I know that to grow and become profitable in the future, I will come across this dilemma again and again. But if being myself is what brought me to where I am now, staying true to myself will take me even further.
Stay true to the best version of you!
Your Assistance is Required and Appreciated
One of my biggest wins in this 6-month journey is discovering the support of friends and family around the world who enthusiastically visit my website, read my blogs and purchase my books.
I have just begun to make new connections with like-minded, positive-hearted people who find a kinship with my work.
I am truly grateful for everyone's support and encouragement to keep going.
As my +50-year-old blogging adventure continues, your assistance is required.
Please engage with my blogs by liking, sharing and commenting so that I know I am on the right track. It goes a long way in helping my website gain exposure.
Please subscribe or become a site member as it is currently free. As I evolve and grow AYCLimitless.com, I hope to be able to bring additional exclusive content soon in the second half of the year.
Most of all, share the belief that you are capable of learning and growing at any age to be the best version of you!
Recommended articles to encourage you to keep learning and growing at any age:
Benefits of Lifelong Learning is Good for Your Health, Your Wallet and Your Social Life - Online Article - HBR.org
The Philosophy of Ikigai: 3 Examples About Finding Purpose - Online Article - PositivePyschology.com
I would love to hear your comments:
What is your "Ikigai"? What is something that gives your life meaning and purpose?
What is a new skill or hobby that you have recently enjoyed starting?
Thank you for spending time on AYCLimitless.com
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