7 Things I have learned within my first year of blogging

Today, we are talking about my experiences during my first year of blogging. If you are considering starting your blog, this blog post will enormously benefit you.

For context:

I started my blog in November 2021 because I wanted a platform to talk about everything on my mind and the things I’m convinced could benefit you, my reader. Also, the idea of creating a career as a blogger was and still is very fascinating for me. 

Working from home or anywhere I want (and where is WIFI, of course), talking about the things most important to me, inspiring many people, and controlling my entire business and time motivate me to move forward every day and get myself out of my comfort zone.

It all started on Pinterest, like most good stories. I came across a pin that said, “How to start a blog and make money” I clicked on it, started reading, and the rest is history. If you are curious about what blog post I came across back then, it’s linked.

The vision the author created with that blog post started to inspire some parts within me, and what, in the end, convinced me that I could do the same was that she claimed not to be tech-savvy at all. Just like I was and still am. I know the basics about surfing the internet, but creating a blog from scratch and everything that comes with that decision was new to me. 

Then, after I inhaled these words, the extensive research began. I started with my research on Pinterest. How could it be otherwise?

And then came this very life-changing thought to my mind: “I can do that too.”

These five words changed everything for me.

After I realised that there are many people out there, who do what they love, get paid for it, and are exceptionally successful while at the same time not being famous like a typical influencer, it blew my mind, to be honest. I never thought about putting myself out there on the internet. With all my thoughts and interests and being vulnerable while impacting many people, I never considered this an option for my life. 

Within these past one-and-a-half years of blogging, the amount of personal growth I’ve gone through is massive. Throughout this time, I evolved into a whole new person, not just because of blogging but because of the mindset a blogger needs to develop. You must be your biggest fan to inspire other people and to be able to put yourself out there every day. 

Because let’s face it, it can be terrifying to get out there and talk or write “publicly” about the topics you would typically discuss only with people you trust, like family or friends.

If you don’t see your potential, no one else can do it instead of you.

One and a half years later, I have gone through many challenging situations and found solutions for all the obstacles I encountered since creating and launching my blog. With all this, I grew and learned many new things that I want to share with you today. 

With no further ado, let’s dive into today’s blog post about my experiences within my first year of blogging, and hopefully, you can benefit massively from them.

1. Blogging is more than a hobby.

Of course, blogging can be a hobby. And to be successful as a blogger, you must love it as a hobby or even more. Otherwise, you won’t be consistent, but consistency is rule number one! No matter what you do or plan to do in your life, consistency is the key to success.

But the difference between treating your blog like a hobby or a business is if you’re willing to put energy and time into it at times when you feel no motivation to deliver. And many times within the past year, I did not feel much motivation. 

The topic of motivation is enormous, but I can tell you this much: you do not need any motivation to develop discipline, and if you’re waiting for your motivation to appear magically, you will permanently lose the game. To succeed and make your efforts pay off, you don’t need any motivation but willpower and discipline. 

And that’s fantastic news! 

Even though it sounds like a nightmare, if you cannot hope for your motivation to support you on your blogging or business journey, discipline you can train, and willpower, you can learn to use it effectively. 

Motivation comes and goes. 

It’s like a wild spirit. And in my experience, motivation will only show up when you’ve already implemented new routines and habits about what you initially wanted to be motivated about. 

This means you will have to suffer in the first place and go through the discomfort to feel motivated to continue. And you will feel motivated to continue. Trust me on this. But in the beginning, you won’t feel anything but uncomfortable.

I love blogging, the writing part, and connecting with you guys! There is nothing I don’t love about blogging, but I want you to be very intentional about it: you enter a whole new world with blogging. Everything will be unique to you; it’s like learning to walk, talk, and use your motor skills simultaneously, just like children do.

There is a massive difference between reading a blogger’s content and being the one who puts the content online. 

Also, you cannot compare blogging with being active on social media, like Instagram or Pinterest. Both have their challenges, that’s for sure, but with blogging, you are not only responsible for content creation but for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), creating your blogging platform, legal and technical questions, marketing, and so much more.

Blogging is more than a hobby.

This is the reason why I tell you that blogging is more than a hobby. With a hobby, you’re active when you feel the vibe, but with blogging, you do what needs to be done every day. If you feel the vibe for blogging, that’s great – go with the flow! But if you don’t feel anything, you still do what needs to be done. 

I know it sounds like a lot, and I had to learn many things, predominantly how to have the correct attitude when it comes to blogging, which is why I’m writing so much about it. Because I learnt how to be consistent the hard way, and I’m still learning. 

But you are not alone! This blog gives you plenty of advice, tips and tricks to grow into your blogging pants effortlessly! Because I want you to evolve into your most glorious self.

And on top of all the learning, I put much pressure on myself because I wanted to learn everything simultaneously. I wanted to see the success these blogging gurus talked about on day one. But I now know that’s not how it works, especially not considering how I treated my blog the first year, publishing one blog post per month or less.

I learned that to have a successful blog, I need to treat it like a business. And hands down, I’m still learning how that whole business thing works. But it’s okay. I’m a student who is still learning all the skills. And so are you. We all are students in some form. Every soul on this planet has their own experiences to make and must learn specific things, and that’s how it works.

But the one thing I always have in mind, even when I’m struggling, is my goal. Even if my goal is enormous. But I know that I will reach it eventually. 

And so will you.

2. It’s not as it seems on the internet.

On the internet, it all seems so easy and peaceful. All the people you come across seem to have it all figured out. It’s glamorous, and it seems to be just one step away from coming into reality for all of us. 

This may be true for some people. But for me, it indeed was not the case. I did not see massive traffic from day one. And I did not earn a single penny after one month of blogging.

But again, for some people, this can be a reality, and I’m grateful that there are people out there who can be this successful in such a short period. This massively motivates me to stick to it and move forward each day, even if it does not work for me that way. 

It’s okay if my success doesn’t resemble others. We all have our own beliefs and face different challenges. I find it hard to believe I can succeed online, but that’s my struggle. Therefore, it’s enormously motivating for me to see that my beliefs do not affect others and that it’s indeed possible to be successful online and make a living out of it.

But remember that most have been playing the game for years or centuries. 

This overnight success you can read online is not sustainable in most cases and can be unhealthy. If you must work on your blog for over 10 hours a day besides your day job and do this for months, you will likely lack sleep, neglect your body and your needs, and at worst, you can pay the price with your happiness, mental health and risk a major burn out.

You work to live and not live to work.

I’ve realised that it’s all right that I haven’t achieved as much as others in just one year of part-time blogging. I am content with my progress and have gained valuable experience and knowledge. No one can ever take away my personal growth and development. 

Still, on the internet, blogging seems to cure nearly any problem. And still, I believe that’s true, but I also feel that most content on the internet lets aside the not-so-glamorous parts and solely focuses on the positive aspects. 

Understandably, people don’t want to share their struggles while trying to reach the top of their mountain. However, to be truly helpful and inspiring, sometimes you must be vulnerable and show your most authentic self, even if it’s complicated.

And it’s okay. 

These are the things we all need to go through alone. Maybe nobody prepared me for this feeling because these people who are bloggers are different from me, and perhaps they simply never felt that way. And I understand that to be a successful blogger, it’s best to have a don’t-care attitude. You do what needs to be done.

Especially when I considered what successful bloggers need to do each day and each week to be successful, I couldn’t keep up with them – I was comparing myself with these hyper-successful bloggers who have done what they do for ages. And they do it full-time.

This was when I realised that it made zero sense for me to compare myself to others. And neither should you. 

Never compare yourself with anybody. 

This will always feel bad, and you deserve so much more. You are not comparable because you are unique. Your life is entirely different from anyone’s experience on earth. Therefore, it makes zero sense to compare yourself with any other soul.

And since I stopped comparing myself to others, I see a daily difference in my blogging journey. For instance, I can cope better than ever with lacking creativity. I always have something in mind, what I can write about. 

You can learn from my experience that you will likely encounter obstacles. Nobody could ever prepare you for all of them. But rest assured; you will find a solution for any problem on your blogging journey.

That’s what makes a blogger a blogger.

3. You need to develop a blogger mindset.

As I wrote above, blogging should be more than just a hobby for you to have a successful blog. But honestly, I treated my blog like a hobby for the first half a year or so. I didn’t show up every day, sometimes for weeks. 

I then realised this could never work out how I wanted it to. 

Consistency is key. 

And to my shame, when I heard this phrase first, I did not quite understand the core of it. Why should consistency be key? I didn’t see the bigger picture because until I started my blog, I was a consumer my whole life. I never thought about what effort a content creator needs to make to put all the content in front of my eyeballs.

But now I get it. Finally, I realised that every successful person is successful for a reason. Every influencer, or any other person who is creative in some way, showed up for their business every single day. They are successful because they have not one post, one video, or one blog post but hundreds and thousands. 

This is why consistency is vital. 

Also, I get it now, with only one blog post, you can only tell some of the stories you want the world to know. But never the whole story. 

If you have a mission and a passion, you won’t be satisfied to put only one tiny piece of content out there. You will want to make it as straightforward as possible for anyone to see your story because you will know that this is how you can impact the world. This is why you will be consistent. And being consistent is the reason why other people will take you seriously about your project. 

Therefore, a blogger mindset means developing a business mindset. And a business mindset means consistency in everything you do. Show up every day, not just for one week, but for years, and you will become successful. 

4. Be willing to learn new things.

With blogging or any other business, you must learn how to handle things and tackle tasks. Of course, nowadays, there is so much content out there, tutorials that teach you specific things.

But you need to be the one who is actively searching for the content. You need to know what you are looking for. People on the internet can teach you specific things, but only some things. 

Therefore, you need to know your questions. This means that you must first confront yourself with your topics and dig deep, come across obstacles, find solutions for them by yourself, and if nothing helps, you will ask for help. 

But you won’t do it for any tiny problem because researching and asking for help is time-consuming and expensive. This also means that you need to develop a mindset where you can find solutions independently. 

This is why you need to be willing to learn new things. There will always be something new to learn in the blogging world. Therefore, you need to develop a lifelong learner and business mindset.

5. Be ready to wear many hats.

When I researched before starting GH (Gloriously Her), I came across all of the things these grown bloggers were discussing. Things like social media marketing, technical and legal stuff, time management, and building a business from a simple blog. 

But I would have needed more preparation for the reality. Maybe I was naive and didn’t know it better. But I did not think about how much my life would change with my decision. I was not prepared for what came after these simple words: “I can do that too.”

So, let me tell you now, if you’re thinking about starting a blog, be prepared that you are not simply writing blog posts, and that’s it. Even if you are into writing and reading a lot, blog posts differ significantly from the books we usually read. 

People on the internet tend to consume content much differently than an actual book. And that’s okay. On the internet, we want information fast and fluff-free. And this was another thing I had to learn. 

And with the learning of all these things also came many decisions. What hats do I want to wear, and how? Because just because something is done by many in a specific way doesn’t mean that you and I must do it the same way. 

When starting a blog, you usually are all by yourself. This means, on the one hand, you can do what you want, but on the other hand, you must do everything you want to do alone. Therefore, you must wear all the existing hats simply because no one can wear them for you.

6. Be willing to invest. 

Chances are high that you already came across one or a hundred blogging gurus who want to make you believe you can start a blog with zero investment. That’s true indeed – you can create a blog for free. The emphasis is on the word “start”.

The starting point does not include the maintenance of a blog and also not creating a business out of your blog. To make it easier to visualise what I mean, imagine you want to drive your car for one kilometer. Starting a blog with zero investment equals turning the ignition switch on. That’s it. You won’t move any meter with your car, standing still in your vehicle with the ignition on. 

If you want to treat your blog seriously, you will have to invest in it.

But this does not mean it’s bad news. Think about anything that ever brought value to you in your life. I’m straightforward here and assume that no matter what you value in your life, it took an investment from you to be of great value to you. This does not only belong to objects, where you need to invest money to get things of great importance into your possession. 

But also think about relationships. For any loving relationship in your life, I guess you “have to” invest a lot of your time and energy into this relationship. And I also assume that you love to make this investment to maintain relationships of great value in your life. 

Investments bring value to your life. 

The same goes for your blog. If you want your blog to be of great value to you, you must invest in it. 

The investment starts with the skills you must develop when running a successful blog, to spending time and energy on it to make it work and inspire many people. You will also likely spend money on your blog. And that’s okay. If you want your blog to be of great value to you, you will pay the money and see it as an investment.

7. Welcome change.

By starting and running a blog successfully, your life will change. Because if this is your first approach to creating an online business, you will encounter various obstacles. Some will be pleasing; some will not. 

And that’s normal, and this is how it should work for any new business. Nothing else can form you so fundamentally than starting your own business. Because you will have to learn so many new things, also things you didn’t intend to learn in the first place but what you will conclude later on your journey to be highly beneficial for your business. 

If you decide to start your blogging business, you must welcome change because many changes will happen. Not only will your circumstances change, but you will also evolve on the inside, and your inner world is where the most change will happen. 

The reason for this is a spiritual one. Because everything outside of you, your whole material experience, mirrors what’s happening inside you. And your blog will reflect this precisely. There is no one else but you who can make it happen. 

And this will be the most beneficial experience that will determine the rest of your life fundamentally. So, be prepared to welcome change if you plan to start a blog.

My very first year of blogging has been an exciting journey so far. I’ve learned many more things than I initially thought I could be capable of. I changed internally to a whole other level. Now I’m much more grounded and courageous than I was one year ago. 

And my personal growth journey will go further with this pace or even faster. Starting my blog was, in many ways, the best decision of my life. 

But even if I love what I do, nothing could ever prepare me for what I needed to go through the past year. On the one hand, that’s a blessing because maybe if I had known what would happen, I would have never decided solely because I wouldn’t put myself out to such massive change.

Hopefully, my words inspire you to think about this idea. Your life can also change drastically; you must be courageous. And I know that you can do it. If I can do it, you can too. 

If you decide to go down that road, change will happen. But change is good because it means you grow into your best self. And if this blog post resonates with you, it also means that you were meant to be more and do more than you do right now.

And you will see, in the end, it will all be worth it. Ultimately, when I can inspire you, my reader, to live a life you adore and evolve into your most glorious self, it will all be worth it for me.

Until next time,

Keep evolving into your most glorious self!