Yesterday marked a full year of me posting 3x a week here on TheKristenDiary.com!! I wrote about this in a lot of posts last year, but at the start of 2021, I set out to blog every single week to build consistency and self discipline. I had discovered that I wasn’t doing or finishing a lot of the things that I was passionate or interested in doing. Things that I didn’t have or need to do, but wanted to do. After constantly going through a cycle of starting but never finishing, I came to terms with this. I had TERRIBLE follow-through. Not exactly one’s ideal personality trait, right? I felt disappointed and like I wasn't accomplishing anything I wanted to. It was an exhausting cycle and I was sick of it!
At any given time, I always find myself with a million different goals. How can I better myself or my life? That usually looks like things along the lines of eating healthier, exercising more, reading more books, etc. While ambitious, taking all of that on at once typically results in the exact opposite for me. It always goes: me wanting to do everything but ultimately doing nothing OR quitting shortly after I start. For whatever reason, I've always struggled with being consistent on personal goals. I figured out that for me, tackling too many goals at once caused this. It leads to me feeling overwhelmed and the overwhelm leads to having no clue on where to start or how. I wanted to change this and actually be consistent with something, so I decided to pick ONE goal to start with.
I always loved blogging and wanted to create a place to share my thoughts and be creative. I've had TheKristenDiary.com for years, but in the past I only ever posted sporadically here and there. As a result, I challenged myself to start blogging three times every single week. Since January 2021, I've posted every single Monday, Wednesday + Friday on here! It hasn't always been easy, but I've learned a lot and I've loved expressing myself and connecting with you all. Here are a few of the things I've learned on this journey:
+ Consistency is HARD. Some days it comes easy, others it's like pulling teeth. Blogging requires a lot of preparation— taking photos, creating graphics, writing, editing. Like anything else in life, some days it's exciting and others it's the last thing you feel like doing. No one is 100% on all of the time... realizing that makes it easier. No matter what it is you're wanting to start or do, realizing consistency is HARD and is SUPPOSE to be hard helps. The saying "If it's easy, everyone would do it" exists for a reason, right? I've also figured out that a lot of the times, I feel less motivated when I don't know what to share or write. That brings me to the next point...
+ You’re more creative than you think. Posting is fun when you have something to share. It becomes more of a challenge for me when I'm not sure what I want to write or post about. What I've discovered is if you give yourself enough time, you can usually come up with something new! I like to keep a list of things that interest me-- topics, thoughts, events, etc. I'll pull from this when I need a blog post idea or I'll look for inspiration online. I think a great place to look is at what YOU like. What kinds of things are you interested or drawn to? If you like them, someone else probably does! It's fun to take inspo and make it your own.
+ When there’s a will, there’s a way. For me, the fear of NOT posting was a big motivator for me to stick with my M/W/F schedule. I was afraid that if I missed a day, I would throw in the towel and give up. I've always been an "all or nothing" personality, so I always viewed messing up or missing as an automatic failure. Over the past year, I've started to give myself a little bit of grace with this. I don't think this is necessarily the healthiest outlook now, however it kept me accountable and determined to stay consistent. I didn't want to fall back into feeling disappointed with myself. Because of that, I've managed to still post every Monday, Wednesday + Friday. Despite dealing with writer's or "content" block, not always feeling motivated, etc., I've always figured it out. I think if you're determined enough, you'll figure it out.
+ Progress over perfection. I blame a large part of my lack of follow through in the past on being a perfectionist. I've always taken pride in doing things the "right" way. Having high standards, being meticulous and giving things your all is great-- except it can also hold you back. I was raised to always try and do my best, however I've learned now that being a perfectionist can stunt your productivity and execution. You end up spending too much time on tasks or you don't take action for fear of things not being exactly right. This has always been me! I've decided to take the approach of starting now and improving as I go. It also feels 100x better being consistent and taking action. It's given me more confidence and belief in myself! That doesn't mean to half-ass or do things you aren't proud of, it just means to give yourself grace and room to grow.
+ Consistency is HARD. Some days it comes easy, others it's like pulling teeth. Blogging requires a lot of preparation— taking photos, creating graphics, writing, editing. Like anything else in life, some days it's exciting and others it's the last thing you feel like doing. No one is 100% on all of the time... realizing that makes it easier. No matter what it is you're wanting to start or do, realizing consistency is HARD and is SUPPOSE to be hard helps. The saying "If it's easy, everyone would do it" exists for a reason, right? I've also figured out that a lot of the times, I feel less motivated when I don't know what to share or write. That brings me to the next point...
+ You’re more creative than you think. Posting is fun when you have something to share. It becomes more of a challenge for me when I'm not sure what I want to write or post about. What I've discovered is if you give yourself enough time, you can usually come up with something new! I like to keep a list of things that interest me-- topics, thoughts, events, etc. I'll pull from this when I need a blog post idea or I'll look for inspiration online. I think a great place to look is at what YOU like. What kinds of things are you interested or drawn to? If you like them, someone else probably does! It's fun to take inspo and make it your own.
+ When there’s a will, there’s a way. For me, the fear of NOT posting was a big motivator for me to stick with my M/W/F schedule. I was afraid that if I missed a day, I would throw in the towel and give up. I've always been an "all or nothing" personality, so I always viewed messing up or missing as an automatic failure. Over the past year, I've started to give myself a little bit of grace with this. I don't think this is necessarily the healthiest outlook now, however it kept me accountable and determined to stay consistent. I didn't want to fall back into feeling disappointed with myself. Because of that, I've managed to still post every Monday, Wednesday + Friday. Despite dealing with writer's or "content" block, not always feeling motivated, etc., I've always figured it out. I think if you're determined enough, you'll figure it out.
+ Progress over perfection. I blame a large part of my lack of follow through in the past on being a perfectionist. I've always taken pride in doing things the "right" way. Having high standards, being meticulous and giving things your all is great-- except it can also hold you back. I was raised to always try and do my best, however I've learned now that being a perfectionist can stunt your productivity and execution. You end up spending too much time on tasks or you don't take action for fear of things not being exactly right. This has always been me! I've decided to take the approach of starting now and improving as I go. It also feels 100x better being consistent and taking action. It's given me more confidence and belief in myself! That doesn't mean to half-ass or do things you aren't proud of, it just means to give yourself grace and room to grow.
Also check out more of What I've Learned From Building Habits + Consistency here.
GOALS GOING FORWARD:
If you've ever been in the same boat, I hope this post will help to encourage you to keep going. Whether it's also blogging or something else, starting and taking action can be the hardest part. It's easy to convince yourself why you shouldn't or can't do something-- ignore all of that. You're more than capable of accomplishing whatever it is you want, you just have to create and build the confidence to do so (and put in the work!). I'm excited to keep blogging and I have a lot of new goals going forward. Here are a few things I hope to see happen with TKD:
GOALS GOING FORWARD:
+ Continue posting 3X a week
+ Share more photos of me + style/outfit content
+ Incorporate videos to the blog one day
+ More recipes + cooking content
+ Share more photos of me + style/outfit content
+ Incorporate videos to the blog one day
+ More recipes + cooking content
+ Update the site + add more features
+ Weekly newsletters with additional content
What's something you've always wanted to accomplish?
