In a sense, blogging is a joke. No one’s OOTD really matters in the grand scheme of things, and it’s hard to take people that instagram for a living seriously. In another sense, trying to run a successful blog is a much harder task than most people think. Producing good, consistent content, marketing it, and engaging and growing an audience isn’t easy, and it isn’t for everybody. People with real jobs roll their eyes when they hear “social media specialists” and “content creators” complain about the challenges of their industry. And rightfully so; at least to an extent. It isn’t rocket science. But it is an art. And it does take work.
When you haven’t exactly hit your goals whatever they may be, the more time you put into trying to achieve it without seeing the results you want, the easier it is to get discouraged. Maybe you’re trying to hit a certain follower count, land a certain campaign, rebrand yourself, or start getting paid for what you do. Or maybe it has nothing to do with blogging and social media; maybe you’re trying to lose weight, clear up your skin, get a job or get into a relationship. No matter what your sights are set on, when it’s taking longer to reach your destination than expected, it’s easy to forget why you started in the first place and how far you’ve come.
It’s also all too easy to start comparing your journey to others and get frustrated. No one likes to talk about this, but there are few things more upsetting than seeing people that you perceive as less deserving getting what you want before you do. They aren’t as talented. They don’t work as hard. And yet there they are, basking in the glory that you feel is rightfully yours.
But then again, who are you to say what someone else does or doesn’t deserve? As basic and lazy as they may seem to you, only they know how many hours they’ve put in to achieving what they have. Only they know how many people they reached out to with pitches, and how many rejections they faced for every success. Only they know the investments they’ve made and how much research they’ve done. As hard as it is to accept, you might not be working as hard as you think you are, and your perceived inferiors might be anything but inferior.
Improvement in any sense is a long, hard process. If becoming better was easy, we’d all be fit millionaires, but we aren’t. As you push yourself to achieve whatever it is your heart is set on, you will doubt yourself, you will falter and you will consider giving up. The good news is that every successful person has.
We live in a culture obsessed with instant gratification. We order things online that we expect at our doorsteps within the next 48 hours- or so help us God- someone is getting a 1 star rating. We expect our takeout delivered in 30 minutes or less and get antsy if restaurants take more than 20 minutes to prepare our food. Everything we’ve ever wanted is a click away, and while technology has acted as one of the greatest equalizers of our time, it has also created a generation of people that don’t have the patience to be great. They choose ItWorks over working out, buying followers over building an audience and demand $15 for flipping burgers over developing a valuable skill set.
We can’t photoshop or pyramid scheme our ways to greatness. So be patient with yourself and be patient with the process.
bloggerscareerentrepreneurshipgoalsmillennialmotivationself improvement
12 COMMENTS
Jennifer
6 years ago
Yes. It is difficult to be patient. Building an audience takes time and the willingness to market ourselves. Great reminder.
Christine
6 years ago
Everything you said is SO true! I had no clue how time consuming and hard it would be to create a successful blog. I just recently started and have learned so much. Glad I read this to remind myself to just keep working hard and be patient.
Marvina
6 years ago
I loved what you said. I completely understand it too. We rely so much on doing things the easy way or wanting instant gratification or reward, that we forget what real hard work really is…therefore we don’t really appreciate the patience of it all. I had no clue how hard keeping on blogging would be with a full time job, a child and a husband, and a dog. It’s exhausting and I forget to take time for myself at times…I’m really glad I read this because it really says a lot about being patient and just being willing to wait.
Jenn Wang
6 years ago
Thank you for such a motivational post! As bloggers it feels like we’re all competing for more followers and brand collaborations and comparing ourselves to others who seem to have gained more success than ourselves. It’s important to look at the grand scheme of things and remember your true goals and values. Thanks for the reminder to keep being patient and to keep working our butts off to find success. You are a great writer and have brought such positivity to my day!
Jenn
http://www.honeydewblog.com
Shannon
6 years ago
This is SO true! We love instant gratification and oh man if we don’t get what we want right away. For me it’s been my career- I am constantly changing what it is I want to do and wish my brain would just settle down and pick one thing so I could actually focus! Lol
Erin
6 years ago
Great advice! It really does take a lot of patience and consistency. Overall, our blog has been very helpful (in getting jobs, scholarships, etc.), so we’re happy we started it. 🙂
Chelsea Elizabeth
6 years ago
Everything is spot on! I stupidly decided I no longer wanted to blog and I deleted everything! All content and my domain. Months later I decided I wanted to come back and I’m having to start from scratch again. It’s lots of time, effort and stress!
Kuleigh
6 years ago
It’s a journey! I think it’s so much more important to learn something along the way than to get lucky and make it big. That would be boring!
Samantha
6 years ago
I think we are used to having everything in one second and waiting patiently for an improvement or to achieve your goals. As you said, it’s a slow and hard process, sometimes I struggle with it too but there’s nothing you can do except for working hard and waiting.
Melissa
6 years ago
Great advice to be patient with the process! 🙂
Elizabeth O
6 years ago
Funny thing, I wrote on this subject today. We need to focus on our own game and persevere. It is indeed, a process.