Reflections on four years of daily blogging

So much has changed. (Roswell, Georgia, February 2019)

Yes, friends, it’s once again my blogaversary! I’d love to share a few things about the experience of writing another 260 posts and 170,000 words.

Nothing I’ve written has gone viral. My SEO is nonexistent. I don’t include calls to action in my posts. I’m doing everything wrong, pretty much. And yet writing this blog is one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

At this point, I have had a fundamental identity shift. I have changed as a result of this work. I now think of myself as a writer, content creator, and person who can stick with things. That, in turn, changes the decisions I make.

I think differently, too. I can express ideas more clearly. I see connections that used to be invisible to me. I have a better understanding of what I stand for and how to articulate it.

Lately, I’ve been wondering whether I should post less often. But the truth is, I write exactly as much as I post. If I posted less, I would write less. And I don’t want that.

It’s funny. On the one hand, I tell people that streaks are overrated. But on the other hand, I don’t really want to stop. The commitment is helpful for me. The routine is grounding. Keeping it going doesn’t feel like a big deal — it’s more like putting one foot in front of the other, continuing to walk along.

There isn’t much of a logical reason I could give you to do your own blog, but it’s completely changed my life. The opportunities I’ve had and the relationships I’ve developed have made the experience magical.

That said, the lesson that has been most valuable has been that consistent actions pay off in unexpected ways. I now understand how a willingness to delay gratification and carry out a plan is the key ingredient in success.

In the past, I wasn’t able to deal with the uncertainty and stay the course. Now, I can handle it. The discomfort of not having a guaranteed outcome is the price that must be paid, and the intrinsic value of the work is what I choose to focus on.

I’m sharing these things not because my accomplishment is so remarkable, but because it’s not. It’s just doing the same thing a bunch of times, hoping that it will add up to something. Somehow, for me, it did.

That doesn’t mean that I’m some crazy success story. I think it’s important to tell this story now, with less than 200 subscribers. For many people, it wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t look like success to them. And that’s fine. But I want to convey how thrilled I am to be at this stage, while it’s still relatable and imaginable to someone who has not yet begun the journey. It’s all I need.

Likes and views? I get those over on TikTok. Here, I get to explore and figure stuff out in public. This is my behind-the-scenes. It’s even more important now than it was before I started showing up on these other platforms.

And you are, too. I just seriously do not take it for granted that you are spending your time and energy to read this. I am so grateful. Without you, it would all be nothing.

Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to write about. And if there’s anything I can do to help you get started (or grow) as a content creator, I’d love to do that, too. This is too fun not to share. And after four years, I think I’m starting to get the hang of it.