The Things That I've Stopped Doing In Blogging

2017 marks my sixth year in the blogging world and my journey has been full of twists and turns but this year I've really felt a shift. Blogging is so different to what it used to be there is no doubt about it and sometimes I do miss the innocence of it all like when I first started but I love what it is now. There is so much room for possibility and whilst it's not a perfect industry it's come so far and it's so exciting to see what's to come for the blogging world. Like I said, this has year has seen a shift for me in blogging and like any blogger, we're always so quick to share all the things that we do on a daily basis to keep the cogs turning but what about the things that we don't do? Well, here the things that I've stopped doing when it comes to blogging.

NO MORE STAT TRACKING

This isn't really a new thing because I stopped checking my stats last year as I don't find it something to motivate me. Of course, a steady rate of good stats is always nice but I find it so easy to get caught up with the numbers and when they aren't going well it's so easy to become unmotivated and bummed out and I don't want stats to rule my blog. I've never been someone to have goals for stats so it seemed silly to let them effect me so much. Some people thrive from checking stats and there is no right or wrong way to do it but for me, I don't find it to have a positive effect on my blog process.

CREATING CONTENT FOR CLICKS

By this point, I've definitely learnt what goes down well and what doesn't when it comes to the posts I'm writing and it would be all too easy to constantly want to create content that is always well received and gets a lot of likes and comments. And whilst I, of course, enjoy creating all my posts I never want to force myself to create for a reaction. Blogging full time does require me to somewhat make sure I know what is well received but it's also important to create what I enjoy before anything else. I'm such a big advocate of writing a blog that you would want to read yourself and that's exactly what I try and do and just pray that other people enjoy it too.

BEING WEEKS AHEAD WITH POSTS

In 2015 and 2016 I was always so ahead with my content and doing that was great as I never felt rushed or panicked but after a while, it did start to take the fun out of the process of creating content. And I didn't mean to fall so behind with my posts at all and the thought of it used to throw me into a spiral of worry but as of right now I'm only a couple of days ahead of myself and it's made me completely fall in love with the process of blogging again. It's made things feel more fun and spontaneous as well as a lot more current as obviously writing so far ahead does mean when the post goes live you might have done things a little differently. I do want to get somewhat ahead of myself once again as it does allow for things to go wrong or if I need to take a day off due to health reasons which happens a lot so I need that wiggle room.

GROWTH

When I started this blog I was 21 and now I'm 27 so you can probably guess that a lot of things have changed and I think that's an awesome thing. Trying to stay the same as when people first discovered my blog and decided to start following along is very tempting but it's just not feasible at all and so many people find themselves cracking under that pressure. Giving myself permission to let my content evolve and change as I do as a person is something I've found to be incredibly important. Of course, if I was just writing about beauty then this would be different but I don't, I do include elements of my personal life so I have to stay true to myself. As well as not being scared to voice my opinion as it's easy to keep things private but I'm fortunate to have somewhat of a platform and if I think something is important I should have the courage to share that if I want.

NOT CONSUMING TOO MUCH

As well as writing my own blog I of course also love to read blogs and there are so many that I read every single day without fail. But something I've consciously tried to stop doing is consuming too much. And the things that I am consuming I'm trying to make them different to what I create so I don't just narrow my vision of the world which when you have certain interests I think is very easy to do. I've done this mostly with the Instagram accounts I follow as I tend to gain the most inspiration from that platform over blogs which is odd really.

A DIFFERENT WAY TO MEASURE SUCCESS

I used to completely measure my success and worth by my stats or how many comments or likes something got and some people might feel happy doing that and that's fine. But for me, it's just not how my brain likes to do something at all. Finding different ways to measure my blog's success isn't easy but it's so important as in life, in general, I don't like to measure myself that way. If I'm happy with what I create and even if that just makes a reaction with one person that's truly what success is with blogging for me. I've come to really hate the word success as so often people just presume that to deem yourself as a success that you must have a lot of money or some sort of social status and in reality that's just not how life works. We all have our own ways that we measure our worth or success and for me, it's down to who I am as a person more than anything else.

BEING SOMETHING I'M NOT

The individuals who most people would say are the big hitters in the beauty and lifestyle blogging world are always very similar. And it's so tempting to want to keep up with that and I see the appeal as if they're doing well then obviously if you were like them then maybe you would too. Changing who you are to fit into the path of someone else isn't a good idea even though it might work for a short amount of time it won't work forever. Being true to who you are and what you believe in online or in real life isn't easy but it's something I know is so important. It might not always make you the most popular person but if you're happy isn't that more important than popularity? Especially now when there is so much emphasis on the high-end luxury side of blogging, some people absolutely adore that stuff and that's awesome. There is room for everybody to share the things that they enjoy but I hate the presumption that if you're in a certain genre then you must all enjoy and do the same things. It's silly really because we all know that life doesn't work that way so why would the blogging world?