5 Fears I Had Before I Started Blogging

I started Surviving Your Twenties in 2017. I started Surviving Your Twenties to give myself an outlet to share my experiences that I've experienced in my twenties but I also wanted to give an outlet to other people in their twenties who wanted to share their story. At first I thought I was over my head with starting a blog. I had no confidence in myself whatsoever. I would think that no one would want to read my blogs or I wouldn't be able to feature anyone.

I tried to talk myself out of it so many times but thank God I didn't because look where I am today.

My blog is flourishing. I am so grateful.

So! Let's get started. I will be sharing 5 fears I had before starting this blog.

1. I didn't know where to start!

In the beginning, I was so overwhelmed with picking a website host to use for my blog. I think one of the reasons people say they "don’t know how to get started" is because they’re so overwhelmed by the number of decisions they have to make to get started. I didn’t know if I wanted to pay someone to make it for me or if I was going to do it myself. At this point, I was stressed and doubtful. One of my friends advised me to use Wix. She explained to me that it was user-friendly. I took her up on that advice and I started my blog from there. I was able to get my blog up and running. Now it was time for me to figure out what could I write about. I know why I started the blog but what topic could I start with that could grab everyone’s attention.

December 9th,2016 I graduated from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. Once I graduated I planned to go into graduate school the following year. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do that. Not being accepted into my program of choice lead me down a road of post-university depression. Post university depression is a topic that isn't usually discussed. Talking about this in my first blog was PERFECT! My post-university depression blog has held the #1 spot on my website since I’ve started.

2. Let’s talk hot topics!

When starting a blog experts say it's important to keep your audience interested. You want to talk about topics that are dedicated to your audience but you also want them to interesting. For any topic I want to talk about, I feel like I can easily find at least 5 bloggers who are talking about exactly the same thing and have something way more interesting or helpful to say about it (this is definitely the self-doubt talking). Sometimes you feel like people are not going to read your blog. Don't let this stop you because people will read it. You just have to be patient and build your audience. Don't let self doubt syke you out.

If, at the moment, you have no idea what to say then just start by sharing things you love (the ‘links I love’ style of post is great for this). Write about the things you’d talk to your friends about. You will figure out that you have something important to say that no one else is saying.

3. Negative comments...ignore the HATERS!

Before I started my blog, there were some people who were doubting my abilities of running a blog and it being successful. People closest to me were doubting me. It was okay though! I was able to use their negative energy as my fuel. There will always be someone who will not like what you post and that's okay. They don't have to read it. Focus on the positivity. Swinge your sage yall!

4. Commitment and practice

I think the biggest fear that bloggers face is that all of this hard work they’re doing is never going to pay off. I know how it feels.

You don’t want to waste time on something that won’t work. You want to “crush it” and you want to make a difference. You don’t want to lose, or to look like a fool. The best advice that I can give you is this:No one knows if what you’re doing is going to pay off. However, I can say without reserve that as long as you want to succeed, with every fiber of your soul, and you are willing to do what it takes to do it, then the fear monster will not have anything close to a fighting chance against you.

5. Not having fun with my craft

I was worried that down the road I wouldn't have fun with blogging anymore. I feared that I would lose interest. But that wasn't the case. I am so in love with blogging. From sharing other peoples stories on how they survived something, to how they started their business or sharing some inspirational words. When I first started this journey I didn't think I would've made it this far but I'm so thankful that i did because this blog is going places. I can't wait to share with you guys what I have planned for 2020!

Here's a clue: have your coins ready!

I hope after reading this blog you are inspired to look on the other side of fear and start your blog. There WILL be times that you doubt yourself and your purpose. It would be wrong of me to not tell you this. It's important for you to pick yourself each time.

You have to look on the other side of fear.