In any project that we start, there comes a point when we briefly lose focus. It can happen when we try to put together a piece of furniture, and too quickly realize we have leftover pieces. Oftentimes it happens at work when we get frustrated and ask ourselves why we stick around. And it can definitely happen in the blogging sphere in that moment when we forget why we keep doing it. That is called blogger burnout.
During our March meet-up, Nikki Novo (author, spiritual mentor, and medium) joined us for the South Florida Bloggers meet-up at the Coral Gables Museum. She led an amazing talk on handling negativity and creating boundaries to allow the vision for your blog to flourish. We spent the afternoon with Nikki in a guided conversation to take us back to our roots.
In the Beginning
Take a moment to stop and think about why you started. What inspired you to open your blog? Even if you have to stop right now to think about it; do it. Remind yourself why you love it so much—whatever your reason—and rekindle that flame this very moment.
As life happens, we get caught up in deadlines, stresses, and just figuring out if things are going in the right direction. But every now and then it benefits us to get back to the beginning. What was that initial desire that got us moving? Blogging takes a lot of energy and unless we are centered on what inspired us to jump into this in the first place, the doubt will creep up on us.
Just Be Present
Nikki also shared her thoughts on what happens when we compare our progress to others. The main issue here is that you begin to feel behind before you even start. A blog takes some loving care, so making comparisons to the girl next to you will not be beneficial. You might see that she is five steps forward. That will make you feel anxious or even overwhelmed.
As Nikki mentioned, if you are not honoring where you are now, you start living in the future. Maybe you even ask yourself where you should be. These thoughts will definitely feed that anxiety. Instead, Nikki recommends that you ask yourself what you can be doing with all that energy. Because comparing yourself to others also requires our energy, we are actually stealing that from our blog. Trying to be somewhere else will not allow you to enjoy the little milestones that are happening right now.
Build Around Your Strengths
When we are getting started, we try to do it all. We want to take the pictures, create all the content, and learn about building a website—almost as if it can happen overnight. The issue that Nikki points out here is that we start to veer off from our strengths. That adds to the burnout feeling because we feel like we want to do everything, but don’t necessarily have the skill.
As Nikki sees it, you can build around your strengths and outsource the rest. Then you can take your blog to the next level. Once you find someone that compliments your weaknesses, you can refocus your energy to improve what you are already great at. And isn’t that what got you into blogging in the first place? You loved something so much that you wanted to share it with others.
Great Tip for New Bloggers
A great tip for new bloggers is to consider a tradeoff between skills. You may know a friend that is an excellent photographer and you are a better writer. Nikki finds that this collaboration is an excellent solution. Not only is this a great solution for bloggers with a low budget, but it also helps you reduce the burden from taking on tasks that you rather not do.
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