Okay, here comes your dose of truth for today . . . there are definitely some aspects of blogging that are just no fun. Not enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination. And please keep in mind that blogging is more than the writing. There are soooooooooooooo many different activities that go into building a blog. And I guarantee that if writing was the only thing involved in blogging, where you could gain an audience instantaneously once you publish some type of written content, then there would be a bajillion people clamoring for the reader’s attention out in the blogosphere instead of the several hundred millions of blogs out there today.
In all seriousness, you’re going to come across those “undesirables” in blogging activities that you’re just not wanting to do. You’re going to put off those tasks for a rainy day or for a time when you have no choice but to give them some attention. You may even hope that if you procrastinate long enough that maybe the tasks will take care of themselves or disappear altogether.
But one thing rings true for those who desire to experience success in their creative genius: they eventually figure out how to push through in completing the tasks they work so hard to avoid. And I think it helps to remember (well, it helps me, anyway) that the undesirables are only a means to an end. They must be dealt with in order to get closer to the goal post you’re hoping to reach one day.
In my own content creation journey, success is now quite different for me than when I worked a 9 to 5 in corporate America. While I have more flexibility in what I’m doing now as an entrepreneur verses my several decades stint of working for an employer, I have even more responsibility placed on me. Now, said success rides totally on the effort I put forth in the quality of my content, my consistency in blogging, the quantity of my output, my dedication to the craft (whether I feel like doing the work or not), the promotional strategies I utilize to get my content into the right hands, and my perseverance to work through the discouragement during down times.
As a blogger entrepreneur, I personally feel that you can easily find yourself in a position where procrastination comes knocking on your door and you enthusiastically lay out the welcome mat as it steps right on in to your inner sanctum. Then, those delayed and ignored tasks become distant memories. And since I don’t have anyone riding me to complete them — just me, myself, and I — then I can safely tuck them away for that rainy day or that TBD timeframe in the very distant future.
So, why not continue to delay or avoid the not-so-enjoyable parts of the blogging business? Who’s going to reprimand me? I’m not affecting my co-workers or employees by playing MIA (since neither one of those work-related groups has a place in my content creation space). Furthermore, I don’t see any disciplinary actions handed out by me to me for not meeting work-related expectations. I mean I’m certainly not going to give myself a pink slip with a nice little severance package to boot.
Oh, but wait a minute. I guess my inactivity (opposite of productivity) DOES affect myself and those individuals who have invested their time and support in my blogging efforts. Those supportive individuals make up the group that I lovingly refer to as the blogging community. It’s a community of members who serve as the best accountability partners out there (whether they know it or not).
If you weren’t aware of the important role you play in keeping me (and other bloggers around the blogosphere) coming back to produce more and more creative content, then now you know.
Personally-speaking, I have a made-up mindset about who you are in relation to me. You may be someone I’ve had the opportunity to meet and get to know face-to-face, or you’re more than likely a distant acquaintance who I’ve been privileged to meet by way of this online platform. Either way, you’re here and supporting Degrees of Maternity and other blog sites that have earned your attention.
This mindset of mine also tells me that I owe it to you to show up when I say I’m going to show up and to perform those activities I’ve communicated to you that I intend to do. As a matter of fact, the intent of the heart is the driving force behind the actions I take at Degrees of Maternity. When I communicate that I’m going to do something blog-wise, I always start out with the best of intentions, hoping to ultimately follow-up with some creative movement toward that initiative.
I never make a commitment with the mindset (at the onset) to fail at what it is I intend to achieve (undesirable tasks included). Is there anyone in his or her right mind who would? But there are, of course, times when I fall short of my expectations for myself and what I’ve stated I plan on accomplishing at Degrees of Maternity. Do I feel bad every time I miss the mark? Yes. Do I have justifiable reasons for not accomplishing my goals? Sometimes. Do I become my worst critic when I don’t follow through with what I say I’ll do? Yes. But, have I learned to quickly bounce back and give myself grace for being human? I most certainly have and do.
As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, human beings are not robots, programmed to highly perform consistently and efficiently every time. Human error and imperfection are factors in the human existence and they have to be taken into account and given credence to. So, I’ve learned to give myself that pardon for having the best of intentions in carrying out something but then not seeing it through or starting on it in the first place.
Nevertheless, I always go back to the heart of the matter with the thought process of “intentions”. And one of the best ways to keep a person’s intentions honest is to assign an accountability partner to him or her. For me, that supportive group is the blogging community made up of wonderful people like yourself. Just knowing that I’ve publicly communicated a commitment to do something to all of you sets me in the right goal-achieving frame of mind from the start of my goal journey. I intend to be a lady of my word and keep your disappointment of me (for not doing what I say I’ll do) to a bare minimum.
And as my accountability partner, there’s no official vetting process or contract that needs to be signed by you. The fact that you read my blog posts automatically qualifies you for the rights and responsibilities of the role. So, thank you for being here. Your presence is what’s going to keep me accountable for my work-related actions over the next several weeks and beyond.
I intend to get some major tasks completed that I’ve been putting off for another day; and quite frankly, that day is in the very near future. Meaning . . .
I’m getting ready to start a second 30-day challenge this month on Monday the 17th and it’ll go on for 30 consecutive days, excluding Saturdays. (I observe Sabbath on that day and won’t be doing any work-related activities.) Each day, I will plan on completing a task from my to-do list. These tasks are the variety that need some much-needed attention but have been put to the wayside many-a-time. So, it is my intention to get going on them during this 30-day challenge. Some tasks may take several days to complete and that’s okay. The point is to GET WORK DONE during this timeframe.
The only and one time I previously completed a 30-day challenge, known as “Procrastination Station”, was in December 2018 into January 2019. (You can read about how that adventure started out here.) I reported on my task completion progress each challenge day: 1 through 30. It was exhausting but so worthwhile. I got a lot accomplished and the plan is to get some things knocked out in this next challenge. A lot of the tasks will have to do with Degrees of Maternity platforms, but I’ll have some personal goals intermingled throughout the challenge as well.
I hope you’ll join me as I share my work progress with you this second go-around. Remember: the 30-day challenge starts on Monday, May 17, 2021. And, I should have a nifty title for it by then. So, stay tuned for some productive daily output. Accountability partners, get ready. We’re going for an adventurous goal-setting and goal-achievement ride.
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