Happy half new year!

Time flies! I can not believe we are already in July. Looking at Leo’s pictures from January it is like looking at a completely different person now. It made me kind of sad that my mother did not get to see Leo the baby, she will get the bundle of energy that he is now.

At the start of every month, I look back at what I have done that month and critique myself. Holding yourself accountable to yourself is hard, especially when you feel like you are not in control of the outcome. I can control the frequency and quality of my blog posts but I have no control of what happens to them once I hit publish. I am happy with what I have done this year but I still have room to do better. When I feel good about what I have done, it gives me confidence to do more. Even better is someone else encouraging you. I am especially thankful to each and every person who reads my blog and those people who email me telling they like to read it. I blog because I enjoy it. Being able to teach someone else or motivate someone else is a bonus that I am thankful for.

This year I have made it a point to read as much as I can about blogging and creating content. There is so much to learn that sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all this information. One of the most important things I learnt is that you should try to learn one new thing everyday. It does not have to be a big thing, but those small things will add up at the end of the year.There is a proverb that I heard years ago: Little by little, a small spoon will finish a 50kg bag of sugar.

At the beginning of the year I downloaded an editorial calendar to use for the blog. I used it for two months and then I stopped. I stopped because I was failing to use it. I meant to plan my blog posts ahead of time and once I even was able to blog like two weeks in advance and then I did not know what to plan for. I did not have a block but it was more of me questioning what I was doing and not finding enough time to do any of my projects planned. What still works is me writing down my to do lists. I do more when it is written down and I can actually see it. There is no better feeling like crossing something out.

The hardest thing is feeling motivated when you are by yourself. It is tempting to do a half-hearted job when you think and believe no one is going to care or know. Truth is someone is always watching, God. When no one is watching that is the time you should perfect your skill. It is easy to know the theory behind anything but a totally different thing to actually do it. Often you hear people criticizing a company or a movie, suggesting how it could have been done better. While critics are important, never assume you know how to do something until you have done it. Practice makes perfect and you also know how to do something faster.

As we start to count down to the end of the year, I look forward to learning new things and just enjoying life.