6 Important Lessons I Learned During My First Year of Blogging

Happy first birthday to my precious baby blog! She’s growing up so fast! 

On August 19, 2020, I published this website and my first blog post, How I Discovered My Inner Child’s Dreams, where I told an emotional tale centered around my passion for writing and storytelling. In that post, I shared that I read a book called Your First Novel on a family vacation in Florida in 2019. That book changed my life. That novel (that taught me how to write a novel) was the spark that lit the writing-fueled fire that now glows brightly in my heart. I remember the monumental moment of pressing publish. That click of a button shared a lot of hard work, a big dream, and a handful of fears with the world. But all it looked like was an amateur website with one blog post and a home page with a low-quality photo as the background.

Though I published the first blog post in August, I purchased the Squarespace plan back in April. I spent four months preparing, postponing publication, and preparing some more. Before April, I spent even more months watching Youtube videos, reading articles, and attending free online classes to learn how to create a website and how to be a successful blogger and writer. I’m a planner, you see. I like to create schedules. I tend to over-prepare. Before I started blogging, I learned something important. You can be the best planner in the world, but if you never actually take the step and JUST DO IT (team Nike), you’re not going to accomplish anything.

Naturally, I have learned a whole heck of a lot more since pressing publish for the first time. But this first year of blogging is connected to so much more. For me, this has been an incredibly beautiful year of self-discovery. I’m so inspired by everything I’ve experienced since pressing publish, but it’s not just blogging that taught me the lessons I want to share with you today. Every action I took led seamlessly into the next milestone. 

Imagine that a golden string connects everything you do in life. There are no gaps in the string because the path is linear and unbreakable. All of the different pieces of your journey are important because you can’t get from one piece of the string to the next without traveling the distance between those two arbitrary points. Can you picture that golden string? Can you see what this means? If I had never picked up that book called Your First Novel in Florida in 2019, you wouldn’t be reading this blog post right now. 

I spent the first year of blogging exploring myself and my writing abilities. I have treated this blog as a business since day one, but my focus wasn’t on making money. I first wanted to simply prove to myself that I could commit to writing a weekly blog post. I wanted to grow as a writer and as a human. I wanted to connect with others. I wanted to feel certain that this mental health blogging adventure was something I’d be thrilled to stick with for years. It needed to bring me joy before it could make me money. One year ago, I was quite unsure of the future. I had my doubts. I just wanted to try something new and let the results of this experiment tell me what I wanted to know.

So, the results? The results, after one year of blogging, look lovely to me! I published this website as an engineer and wrote this blog post a year later as a full-time writer. I think it’s safe to say blogging has brought me joy. It’s safe to say I am most certainly capable of committing to writing a weekly blog post. So, what have I learned as a blogger this past year? A lot about mental health. A lot about writing. A lot about business. But you know me; I’m going to focus on mental health. :) Here we go.

Mental Health Blogging Lessons Learned

It is important that I speak my truth. 

I am not a private person. I’m an open book. I live by the value of honesty. I think it’s important for mental health bloggers to let their writing be raw, relatable, and just - real! A person who reads a blog post about mental health is a person who wants to grow. How can someone grow if they are reading fake, unrelatable news? The well-being of our mind is a delicate subject. Our feelings are complex and wide-ranging, but most importantly, they are valid. To validate my own and others’ feelings, I must speak the truth. I hope that my readers know they can trust me to deliver an honest message.

My readers are the most important part of my blog. 

I am so grateful for you. You’re taking time out of your day to read my words, which is so wonderful. Without you, this would only be for me. And that would be lovely in its own way because this blog often feels like a journal to me. But the real satisfaction and fulfillment comes from knowing I am touching people. Connecting with other people who share similar feelings and experiences is one beautiful way humans stay grounded and feel heard. This blog has allowed me to meet some incredible people. It has also allowed me to deepen my connection with people I’ve known for a long time. It feels good to know you’ve positively impacted a person, doesn’t it? Small acts of kindness can go a long way. And it seems that blog posts can, too.

You have to bleed to grow. 

It can be very uncomfortable to grow. Growing pains exist because we’re stretching into a whole new form! It’s rewarding and necessary to grow, so on we go. This writing journey over the past year has forced me to learn constantly. My research as a blogger and writer never ends, and I’m always realizing there is a next step I need to take. But I usually have no clue how to get started on the next step, so that requires more research, more questions, and more growth. “Get comfortable being uncomfortable!” This saying has helped me accept that I will shed a few drops of blood as I grow. Accept the growing pains, and you’ll start to view them as an exciting, necessary adventure instead of annoyances you’d like to avoid.

Self-discipline is one of the most important skills an entrepreneur can have.

As a blogger and a freelance writer, everything is up to me. There is no boss to hold me accountable. There is no paycheck that just comes in, even when the work doesn’t get done. I don’t get paid vacation or paid sick time. If the blog doesn’t get written, it doesn’t get posted. For the blogs I now write as a freelance writer, I don't get paid if those don’t get written. What a concept. I mean, I know this is kind of obvious. But all I’ve known before this is corporate America, and I didn’t have to think in this way. This new career path requires a different type of discipline. I have to hold myself accountable because I’m on my own! Even though I love writing blogs, I don’t always feel like writing them. When motivation fails, self-discipline is the only thing that powers me through. And Abraham Lincoln taught me that “discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”

Fear is the number one thing that holds us back.

I’m on the other side of the fear now. (Don’t get me wrong, I still have MANY fears. I’m an anxious person; fear doesn’t just go away.) But I’m on the other side of the fear called Taking The Leap. Writing this blog led to me quitting my job as an engineer to pursue a career in writing. Some people are so scared to take that first jump that their feet remain firmly planted on the ground forever. Fear is so powerful that it can prevent you from moving forward. You’re just stuck there in that same spot when you let fear win. You have to find acceptance for the fear, let it exist, and move forward anyway. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of change. I felt all of these when I quit my job. But I’m proving to myself right now, on the other side, that fear is merely a concept that holds you back. It’s not reality. It’s just a scary movie that plays in your head, but it doesn’t happen in real life. Don’t let the scary movie prevent you from following your dreams. 

Everyone’s journey is different and all their own. 

I have a lot of role models. Some are famous and some are not. Some are entrepreneurs. Some are writers. Some are travelers. Some are authors. Every one of them has a unique journey. It has been easy to compare myself to others and to question my path as I learned how different people reached different places. But I’ve had to remind myself over and over again that I am on my own journey. No one is going to take the same route, and that is a beautiful thing!

It’s been a beautiful year. As I reflect, reevaluate, and prepare for another year of blogging, I feel a lot of good energy and excitement! I know this post was very focused on mental health. (Obviously, that is my niche!) But really quickly, before I begin Year 2, I’d like to talk about business. 

Within the next year, I’d love to do a few things for dis biz. I’m talking:

• Create freebies for you

• Monetize this blog (like more than make a few cents from Amazon)

• Become a better saleswoman (please send help)

• Grow my baby email list into at least a toddler

• Invest more heavily in marketing tools (me talking to me: Come on cheapo, you gotta bleed to grow.)

• Form a healthier business relationship with social media

• Make more blogger and writer friends and learn from them

I’m very excited for this next year! I really hope you are, too. :)

Mental Health Blog Disclaimer

I am not a medical professional, therapist, or mental healthcare professional. The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only, comes from my own personal experiences, and may be read, interpreted, and practiced at your own risk. Do not rely on this information as a substitute to medical advice or treatment from a healthcare professional.