I joined a challenge with a group of ladies to write 7 blog posts in 7 days. The rules of the challenge are that I am to write for 1 hour only, including any edits or changes that need made. After that hour is up the blog post has to be posted, whether it is perfect or not.
At the beginning of the week I was very excited to do this. I had my first blog post written, posted, and feeling accomplished. Day 2 was a bomb. Here I am on day 3 and I am having a hard time finding or making the time to write these posts. Prime example, I only made time for 5 minutes of writing for day 3 and here I am on day 4 trying to get in 30 solid minutes and finish up later this evening. Which didn’t happen because here I am on day 5 finishing up my hour.
Now it did say 7 posts in 7 days not 1 post per day for 7 days. I may need to go back and double check that, but that is what I remember. So technically I am not behind.
I love this challenge though because I am a perfectionist & a rule follower. It stretches me past those two things. The blog post will not be perfect and I must follow the rules or find grace for myself.
Challenging yourself to rise above what your normal day is like is a good thing. Don’t shy away from scary big goals. I took this challenge thinking that it would be a breeze to schedule in 1 hour a day to write a blog post. Just sit down and write about whatever is going on in my life, how it can help others, & OH MY was I wrong. It is a big deal to carve out 1 hour to sit down and write when the laundry needs done, carpets need vacuuming, dishes need washed, work the blog program so I can launch it, do my bible studies that is only supposed to take 6 weeks but I have been on session 1 for 3 weeks.
I have even taken up task blocking. This is where you schedule out blocks of time to work on certain projects. It can be any amount of time and you focus on that task for an allotted amount of time. I wrote out my whole week’s schedule, looked it over and thought this is going to be great! Wait, what? I didn’t schedule any blogging time, oy vey. So I re-adjusted the schedule, put the blocks in on my work lunch hour or after fitness class, and worked it out.
Come to find out that even with my time blocked perfection layed out in front of me, I am struggling. I didn’t take into account that I have 3 dogs that need cared for, potty breaks that need taken care of, meals and snacks or anything else that calls my attention when I sit down to write.
I haven’t heard from any of the other ladies about how they are doing. I am not sure if it changed from notifying each person in a group text message to just posting on our Facebook post. I am believing that all my other comrades are out there in blog-land working frantically to write their 7 posts in 7 days.
Have you heard the saying “We make time for the things that are most important to us”?
What is important to you? What is a great big, huge goal that you would like to accomplish in your life, this year, month, week? Write it down, make a plan to accomplish it. Don’t hesitate. Life is going to carry on and you can ride the waves or just drift hoping to accomplish something.
Now of course I am not saying pack up all of your belongings and leave your responsibilities behind. I am saying look at your responsibilities and delegate them. Learn to let go of a “Leave it to Beaver” life. Ask for help picking up kids, vacuuming, cooking meals, someone to take care of your fur babies. Don’t shy away from a goal because life is in the way. Make it more than a goal, make it a priority. Remember we make time for the things that are important to us.
Write down your goal and then find ways that you can work toward it. Take a class, read a book, ask a friend to hold you accountable. It may take 1 year, 5 years or 20 years to accomplish it but do something everyday that will get you closer to the goal. If you’re a blogger, this is a good one. Set an amount of time and pick how many days you want to work toward the goal. I have heard of people sitting down and writing for 1 hour a day for 30 days. I admire these people and would like to make that a goal someday.
My goal to publish a blog that will help people be fit and healthy is a challenge. This writing challenge will help me accomplish that, by creating blog posts for you to read. Hopefully they will be encouraging, but certainly they will teach me to sit and write regardless of life going on around me.
This one post has taken 3 days to write, still within the one hour time frame. Now to some that may be deflating and truth be told sometimes that is me. I am not sure if you experience this or if it is just me, but when I start something I am much more forgiving of myself in the beginning because I am learning something new. Then as time goes along I become more demanding of myself and don’t offer much grace. Since this blogging journey is still new, I have a lot of grace and optimism for making it 7 posts in 7 days and only 1 hour per post.
I am not struggling for content either. If you have read my about me page, then you know that I have been on this healthy lifestyle journey for a long time, off and on and repeat! Something that is not know yet is that I am a journaler. I have many pages that I can pull from over the years. I will use that content because one day as I was praying the Lord showed me that I had all this usable information already. I just needed to type it out.
As this hour ends I want to encourage you to never give up, build your dream and if you need help reach out to me. I will share what has worked for me and what hasn’t. Know that just because it didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean that it won’t work for you. This is why I will share it with you. What works for one doesn’t always work for another. We are here to work together.
Keep building your journey one petal at a time.
Crystal