Sometimes we all reach that point where you just have to say hold up. Why am I doing this again?
I haven’t been the best blogger this month. I haven’t been the best at working out this month. Or really doing much of anything that I think I’m going to do. Except eating and writing for my internship.
But the other day I was trying to redesign my blog. I just knew this fancy schmancy blog design will gain me more followers. Yeah…probably not.
I then had to think…am I really just doing this to try to get more readers? Or am I doing this for my blog because it’s mine and I do what I want…
I needed to get back on the right page with the reasons behind this blog.
Of course I like to dream of being a big health/fitness/lifestyle blogger one day who just gets to travel and workout and wear workout clothes all day and eat all kinds of food. Now that would be the life. But why did I start this blog?
Let’s evaluate:
- To keep a record of my fitness adventures/experiences
- To show how healthy I eat. (Haha definitely not happening)
- Place to post my photography work
- A form of an online journal to keep up with my life
- College stuff
- Sorority shenanigans
- Family fun
- anything I feel like posting!
I think why I’ve slacked at blogging lately is because I wanted to write stuff that people were interested in reading and would bring me more followers. I’ve also been really busy. You know how life gets.
Does it really matter how many followers/readers I have? No it really doesn’t. If I’m happy and enjoy blogging then great. If I happen to increase my number of readers that’s even better. That shouldn’t be my main motivation for blogging though.
Major thought: Who does all the glory for my life and abilities go to?
God.
Now I know not everyone is “religious” or whatever you want to call it. No matter what religion you follow or spiritual deity you believe in, you have to remember where you came from and be thankful for what you have and how you’ve gotten to where you are.
He’s the one who has given me the body I have, the food I can eat, the family I am surrounded by, the love for writing, the passion for health/fitness, the ability to take good photos, this place to blog…well you get it.
I am extremely blessed, but when you start trying to do things on your own and for your own glory, that’s when you need to head back to the source of all of those blessings. You need to keep your priorities straight.
Since I had a little “come to Jesus” meeting with myself over my blog, maybe I’ll start having a better idea of the direction I want to take it. Or just be more consistent. Or maybe not. Maybe this is just an every now and then blog. We’ll see how God allows me to use this blog.
So really this blog post isn’t for anyone really except myself to realign my “blogging” priorities.
But if you have any advice, thoughts, questions, I would love to hear them!
The Blonde In Black 
BEST POST EVER, SKYLAR!!!!!!
I actually can really relate to this post. I have had my moments where I’ve forced myself to write posts or comment on other blogs I wasn’t interested in just because I wanted more readers, but when I got into the forced habit, my readership dropped! And it’s because I wasn’t being real and that shows. My posts that come straight from the heart have the most views and comments. I haven’t seen my stats in months and I am 100% okay with that. I don’t need to, because if I’m blogging for me, then I can be confident knowing that the followers will come.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one 🙂 straight from the heart is the way to go!
I definitely had a similar moment. I was thinking ambitiously-I could be self-hosted, get sponsors, (get sent free food….), have a ton of followers…but realistically, was I actually going to reach out to any companies? Would I do any product review or opportunity that came my way just to get more followers? That’s when I decided “no-no I wouldn’t.” My blog is for my fun, and there’s no point comparing myself to other blogs with more followers and commenters. Plus, in some ways I feel closer to those that do follow my blog because I can easily interact with ALL of them.
As for self-hosting, I know if I tried to figure it out myself I’d screw it up. So glad half of my school is computer scientists….
I was at the same spot! I wanted to be self-hosted, so I could get sent free products and yeah basically what you said. However it’s just not the right time…I have a long ways to go before I even think of doing that. And I hadn’t thought of how with a small number of followers you can easily interact with ALL of them. So true!