To The Bloggers That Want To Quit
To the bloggers that wanna quit, this one is for you.I've been in this thang for 6 years and I've seen so many bloggers come and go. So many young ladies and men alike enter into this thang bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, probably inspired by social media famous bloggers like Blog Xilla, Karen Civil, and Necole Kane (when she was Necole Bitchie) to create a platform and then boom, get rich. The three I have mentioned became wealthy, influential, and famous off their platforms..... who wouldn't want a piece of that?Who wouldn't want to get paid to do what they love? Be around celebrities? Travel on a whim? Go to these award shows?But here's a secret:In order to do shit like that, it takes work... and it takes time.That's right. Work + Time.Blogging is not for the faint of hearts. It's not for those who seek instant gratification.I've seen so many bloggers come and go these last few years. I myself have taken a few hiatuses and just LAST year, I wrote something about me questioning if I should stop writing cuz I felt like I wasn't getting the recognition I felt like I deserved. I was sensitive back then, I've toughened up so much more now.I said all that to say this: Whether you are a new blogger or a vet, understand that you're going to have moments when you want to quit. The most common reasons are:
- Lack of support
- Wanting that instant gratification
- Comparing yourself to other bloggers
- Lack of consistency
- Not defining your own version of success
And much more.But have no fear, in my normal Kia fashion I am going to call you out on your shit but I'm also gonna encourage you. It needs to be more bloggers out here and I hate to see people start something and then just up and quit.
On Lack of Support & Wanting Instant Gratification
Look. Get this through your head, ESPECIALLY if you are new around here: 9 times out of 10 the people who share, support, and read your shit will NOT be your close friends and family. It could be a number of reasons behind that but understand that most of your support will likely come from a stranger.Blame the internet.Remember in my What's Your Support Love Language post, when I said that if we focus on who isn't clapping for us, we overlook the ones that are?Stop looking for reasons to be upset and just blog!Maybe your loved ones will come around and maybe they won't.Learn to be okay with either outcome.
On Comparing Yourself To Others
This is a world of instant gratification, I get it.You see someone's blog go viral and wonder why your shit doesn't have that many views.You see people like Karen Civil and wonder why you're not as popular.There are 2 very simple answers to this:
- You ain't put that work in.
- Stop comparing yourself to others.
Comparison is the thief of joy.Don't we know by now that social media is an illusion?Successful people are STILL making sacrifices to achieve what they have, whether that is spending less time with their loved ones or dealing with the financial burden of funding all their dreams.You're comparing yourself to them when you could be using that energy to perfect your craft. You should be inspired by your fellow blogging peers, not envious.Remember this: It takes time to build an audience and even what looks like overnight success typically isn't.
On Not Defining Your Own Version of Success
You can't model your success off someone else's. Are you willing to put in the same amount of work?Don't even let others put their expectations on you, ESPECIALLY if they don't have a blog themselves.You also can't let social media define what type of successful blogger you should be, that's not fair to you.It's okay to draw inspiration from other bloggers but wanting to be like them is a whole other ballgame. Get you some paper. Ask yourself what does being a successful blogger look like for you? Write down your goals, standards, and expectations. Set them. Work towards them. Then exceed them.
On Lack of Consistency
Life gets in the way sometimes and I definitely understand. I also know that when you feel unsupported, constantly compare yourself to other bloggers, and don't define your own version of success, you will have little to no energy to stay consistent with blog posts. The longer you stay inconsistent with blogging the easier it is to quit.Maybe you become inconsistent because you thought this would be a breeze. Or you're confused about what your niche is. Or maybe it's something as simple as you not knowing how to balance your personal life with a schedule for producing content. But instead of quitting, you need to rest. You need to revamp, you need to figure it out. They say procrastination comes from fear so ask yourself what are you so afraid of and do the shit anyway!
Moral of the story:
Blogging is tough, but it's not impossible to do. Even if you feel like you don't have all the tools you need to succeed as a blogger, you have two options: Seek it out or create it yourself.But what you can't do is give up on yourself by quitting when you realized this is tougher than it looks.
Rest if you must but quitting is not an option.
Get back to blogging beloved,
Kia ♥♥♥♥♥♥