Like most people, I struggle to stay motivated to keep up my goals. Particularly writing or vlogging. I find the most challenging thing is not the actual doing it – it’s the getting to it and getting it published. With blogs and vlogs, I find that even when I have a product finished I’m hesitant to just hit publish. Why you may ask? Well, for one, what if no one reads this?
What if I’m writing, filming, and editing all of this just for no one to read, watch consume?
This is the thing that I think is most creatives hang up – what if no one reads or cares about what I do? Truthfully, yes, this is the worst part. Even continually publishing blogs and videos and getting maybe 10 views? It sucks. Yes. But if you don’t do it – it’s zero. And it’s zero experience. Press on. Something I try to remind myself is at the end of the day I have to write for me before anyone else.
So, here are my tips on how to stay motivated.
1. Ignore the stats
This is by far the hardest thing to do because when you see that on a good day your blog got 15 readers you don’t wanna continue. You think, this is pointless, no one even cares. But the funny thing is, if you don’t write you’ll never grow. So, ignore the stats, you’re not there for them. You’re there to grow. You’re there to learn. The numbers may or may not come – but they sure never will unless you are putting work out there.
2. Hone Your Skills
Learn ways to enhance what you do. When you do this you’ll need to practice skills to master them, then you’ll be encouraged to learn even more thus becoming better at what you do. And when you’re better at what you do? You’ll gain confidence at everything you do in life – not just writing. I’m assuming if you’re here, you’re like almost everyone reading this, we all wanna be creatives – it’s hard. But it’s impossible unless you do something about it.
3. Make a 3 month Schedule
How often are you going to publish or meet deadlines? Make sure you’re setting realistic goals and meeting them on the regular. For me this is important to be publishing a blog once weekly (you can check them out at www.LiveSAS.Blogspot.com ).) and creating YouTube Videos bi-weekly (also can be found at www.LiveSAS.Blogspot.com ). It’s important to me to meet these little goals because if I’m being lazy at most this takes me 5-10 hours, which out of a week isn’t much time. Think about it, if it’s something you want you can do it.
4. Try to Find Fellow Small Creatives to Work With
Now, this I find really hard. Almost everyone wants you to support them but when it comes to mutual support it’s really hard. But Bumble Bizz is an option, groups in your area or on your campus are always an option. So, really go out and try to find others to keep you motivated.
Every big blog was once a small one that was struggling to get one reader. It doesn’t happen overnight. Even the overnight successes were doing stuff a long time before you knew of their success. Keep GOING! Love you gals, tweet @livesas3 to tell me more about what you’re doing to stay motivated.
Sincerely,
Sarah