It’s my blogiversary! I can’t believe that AliMcJoy has been live for a YEAR! The past twelve months have taught me a lot. I learned what a gravatar is and how to set up an automation. I learned how to create graphics with Canva. But I also learned quite a few things about life along the way. Today I want to share five of those gems with you!
1-Advice is valuable, but isn’t One-Size-Fits-All.
There are about 1.79 gazillion bloggers sharing their “secrets” for how to build a successful blog. There are shared experiences, testimonials, and ultimatums everywhere. In truth, there are people sharing advice to everyone everywhere. Our world is overloaded on information and advice. Often we think there are two options when it comes to advice, right? Take it or leave it. What I have come to learn is that neither of these options is really the best option in the majority of our life situations. Why? Let’s think about it:
If you choose to “take it,” you set yourself up to expect to do the same thing(s) as the author of the the advice and, in turn, you expect the same results. The problem with that is that this advice author is not living the exact same life with the exact same situation as you. So when things go differently, it is so easy to get discouraged and think that we are failures (sound familiar? I know I do it…). In the end, the advice could have been very good advice, but we can’t simply “take” advice.
If you choose to “leave it,” for whatever reason, you are choosing to ignore an opportunity to improve. Maybe you think you are the exception to the rule (we all fall into that trap more often than any of us care to admit). Maybe you think, “Oh, sure, he says that because…” and we ignore the suggestions or advice offered because we refuse to believe that there is any way we can apply any of it to our lives.
Instead, I have come to learn that we can always find some applicable takeaway from any advice. We may not be in the exact situation as someone else (chances are, we’re not even close), and we can’t expect the exact same results. But, if we listen to the basic principles being shared (instead of assuming we are the exceptions and ignoring the advice completely) and see how we can apply those principles to our own lives, we can find ways to improve that could potentially exceed the advice author’s original outcomes. Either way, effort never equals failure. It simply means different or delayed results. Let us constantly seek to improve.
2-I am me.
I am not anybody else. I know this seems obvious. My whole life I worked really hard to fit in. My brain never seemed to process things the same way that my peers’ brains did. In school, my teachers would often ask those questions that were supposed to have an obvious response. Everyone else in the class would seem to understand what the teacher was looking for. But I was always coming at it from a different angle. I learned early in life not to raise my hand to answer such questions because inevitably the teacher’s response would be something like, “Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way before….” With everything I do, I am painfully aware that other people are looking at me and wondering why I am doing it that way because it’s different.
Being comfortable with being different is challenging. But what I have come to learn this year is that my voice is different for a reason. We are all pieces of an intricate puzzle. If I try to change my shape, the puzzle would never be complete. Instead, I must embrace who I am and who I was meant to be and put myself out there. Doing so will help others find their places in the big puzzle.
As I am coming to the final chapters in the revision process of my first novel, I can tell you that every single day I have been filled with self doubt wondering if anyone will ever want to read this story (besides my loving and devoted friends and family, of course…). My prayer is that this story will touch hearts and change lives, but I just don’t know if I have gotten it to that level yet. I have learned—and am still learning—to embrace my own unique perspectives and my own creative voice. I am unapologetically optimistic and typically full of hope. In the past, I have tried to tone that down in my writing because I am afraid people will brush it off as naivety or ignorance. It is neither. It is who I am. I know the world is not a perfect place, but I choose to focus my energy on observations of growth and positive change instead of casting judgments and complaining. It’s who I am.
3-Helping other people is not stupid.
When I first started my blog, I felt like the majority of suggestions and messages I got were from people encouraging me to monetize right away and to focus on growth and numbers and income generators. I am not against making money. I don’t think that people who run big, high-earning, money machine blogs are bad people. They’re not. I just had to remember why I started this blog in the first place. I’ve share this before, but one of the most profound counsels I’ve ever received was this:
So as nice as it would be to have a huge income rolling in each month from my beautiful blog, the truth is, that isn’t what I’m trying to do. What I am trying to do is make the world a whole lot more joyful. If I can help you right now to feel a little more joy today, then I have succeeded today. I hope that as I move forward and continue to blog into the future that I will always keep that goal in mind. Maybe it isn’t the most “business savvy” approach, but that’s OK with me. I am not hoping to make the cover of Forbes magazine at any point in my lifetime, so I think my service-oriented approach will be OK; it is OK not only for my blog, but for my whole life.
4-It’s not all about numbers.
Often in Facebook groups or online forums, I find that many people and businesses make a huge emphasis on email subscribers and Facebook/Instagram followers. As if these numbers really say much about the quality of the blog. What I have come to learn is that quality is more important than quantity every day of the week. I have received comments, PMs on Facebook, emails, and even letters in the mail from amazing readers who have shared with me ways that my blog posts have touched their hearts and brought more joy to their lives. If those readers were the only ones who benefited, my numbers would be considered abysmal by the general masses. But if those few people were the only ones on the planet who benefited from my posts, I would consider it all worth it. I am grateful to know that somehow in some way I was able to bring more joy into someone’s life.
I think too often we try to measure our efforts by comparisons or with numbers. In reality, those forms of measurement are merely distractions. If my goal was to spread a little joy and I did that, I succeeded. If my goal was to fold a basket of laundry today and put it away, I have succeeded once I have put the final item away. I can’t dwell on the fact that there are two more sitting on the floor waiting to be folded—that wasn’t my goal. Maybe my success will help build momentum and I will be even more successful tomorrow, or later tonight, but those other baskets do not negate my initial success. We are too hard on ourselves. When we stop focusing on measuring and start focusing on progress, we realize that our potential is limitless.
5-Friends cheer for each other.
There is not a finite amount of success in the world. If your friend is successful, it is not at your expense. It does not deplete your success. This year I have voluntarily read books written by friends that I would probably never have read otherwise. I have no regrets. Many have done the same for me. I am thankful for every opportunity I have been given this year to support dear friends in their various endeavors. And I am humbled by the amazing support I have received from friends both new and old.
This week is no exception. I reached out to a handful of creative friends to let them know that I was celebrating my one-year blogiversary. I told them how much I love and admire the work they do and I asked them if they would be willing to collaborate to do some giveaways this week. My goals are simple: I want to share love with you, my amazing readers and I want us to join up to share love with some wonderful ladies this week. I hope you have fun this week! My posts for this week will be aimed at sharing a few fun and personal stories from my own life. I hope the posts—along with the week of fun giveaways—will bring you immense joy!
Blogiversary Giveaway #1:
To kick off the Blogiversary giveaways, my friend Ginny Hartman is generously sharing one of her books with all of my readers! Ginny and I met back in November when we both attended an incredible Premier Author Training event presented by Richard Paul Evans. She and her beautiful family live in Idaho. She writes internationally best-selling romance novels. But these are not your average best-selling romance novels. Ginny describes her novels as, “clean, historical romance novels that still contain spine-tingling, toe-curling passion along with endearing love stories.” So if you’re looking for a great love story with a beautiful happily ever after, but you are afraid to read a typical romance novel because you don’t want your kids to read them over your shoulder or you don’t want gory details and TMI, Ginny’s your gal. You can find her at GinnyHartman.com. As of this writing, she has written 15 novels, but the book she has given us is the first of a new series! So be ready for more greatness to come!
To download her FREE ebook, click here.
Also, go over to her beautiful website and leave her a little thank you comment! Let’s flood her inbox with love! While you’re there, she has a fantastic newsletter you can join. You’ll love Ginny!
