How to get back on track once you have been derailed..
As any new commitment goes, once the concept is there, visions of grandeur and success follow closely behind. I got the idea to start a blog as an outlet for my thoughts. So about a year ago, I created some content…made the necessary adjustments and launched my site (read announced to social media that I existed). I had (and still do) have an array of ideas and topics of what I would like to cover. But, there were some things I did not take into consideration when launching my blog…and I wish I had. So, to help you avoid the curves I had to navigate, I would like to share some things to think of when you get off track and how to regain your focus.
Don’t Live on Social Media Sites
When I started out (introduced the concept to my mentors) I was advised to reserve my blog name on basically all the popular social sites. This made sense, I mean, I didn’t wan’t to do all of this work just to have the name taken and represented in a different way somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, you do want to have a presence out in the “virtual space”…I’m just saying don’t spend all of your time there.
It is very easy to fall into the Social Media rabbit hole. You want to connect, create an audience, and subsequently a following. The tricky part is getting caught up in how many followers you have or how to get more followers or why don’t you have as many as you had last week. It is all very intimidating. Honestly, this was huge reason for my personal blog derailment. I got so wrapped up in what the groups, blog gurus, and stats that were being reporting to me I just started to feel like, “I will never be able to live up to these expectations! Will I!?”
The answer was a resounding, “No!” …but that’s okay….this is where perspective comes in… I realized that a lot of these people had been blogging a lot longer than I had. This meant that they had trial and error and systems in place that I just could not contend with as a newbie. An Important thing to remember is to get back on track at your specific entrance point and not someone else’s.
Social Media causes people to compare themselves to others. This is not beneficial when you’re just trying to get going again. You need to be motivated by your own success. Your path is your own and not someone else’s. You were made unique and it’s important to respect and embrace it.
Designate Time Everyday to Regaining focus
The most consistent piece of advice I have gotten as a mother has been to, “take time for yourself”. Now, between you and I, this advice would really annoy me a little. Think about it, OF COURSE you NEED to make time for yourself….its not like I didn’t want to… I just had no Idea HOW!
These little humans demand a lot of attention….if you care about them, anyway….and just for the record, I completely care about mine..maybe a little too much (read: Hover Mother). The older they get, the more pockets of free time I discover. Whether it’s early in the morning before they wake up or late at night after I put them to bed. I’m starting to learn that it’s okay to be selfish in those moments. Moments to yourself are not really selfish at all. Let’s view those moments as kindness pockets. Pockets of kindness to yourself by doing what you love helps you be the best version of yourself…and who doesn’t want to be the best?!
What I ultimately realized, from this saying, is that I am valuable also. Having “me time” doesn’t have to mean 24 hours alone. It can be 5 min, a half day, or maybe the 24 hours. The point is to make yourself a priority in your life. You were a person before children and you will continue to be a person for the rest of your life. So, get in a space to hear your own thoughts on a daily basis!
The Takeaway
Get back on track to your goals by:
- Taking your own Ideas seriously
- Not comparing your path with the paths of others
- Listening to your own voice more than you listen to others
- Designate/Schedule a moment everyday to be alone in your own thoughts
- Just starting again!!
How do you regain focus from a distraction?
