I can’t believe it but…
November 9th marks my ONE year anniversary of blogging!
On a random Tuesday in November last year I decided to write a post on pregnancy style and I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into! I had tried a few times in the past to start a tumblr, or other sorts of blogs but never exactly could follow through. I had been seriously thinking about it again for a while and voiced to a few friends that because of so many life changes, I wanted to start a blog.
I spent the following few weeks teaching myself the WordPress platform, wrote just one post, and then hit publish! There are some that say you should be writing for months before marketing your blog and others say just start. I am definitely a believer of the latter – once I get something in my head I have to do it immediately. You can grow and find your voice with your readers. I do not have the patience to overthink or over analyze, so I just went for it (more on this below.)
What was originally kaylagreenstone.com titled Kayla Marie (so creative, huh?) evolved into runningwithstrollers.com as I began to find my niche in writing about motherhood and what comes along with balancing it all. I never had plans or aspirations to become a #momblogger but becoming pregnant and then a mother was my new reality, and I couldn’t help but share it with others.
I may not have the most followers, the most likes, post as often as I would like, or be making thousands of dollars a month – but I stuck to something I believe in (and created) for a whole year and am freaking excited about that.
This first year of blogging has confirmed a few universal life lessons for me and I want to share them here as every day reminders for both myself and others who have dreams & goals of their own.
Stay In Your Own Lane
What I mean by this is that you must stay on your own path, looking forward, and believe it what YOU are doing – or you will likely drift off. In the admittedly over-saturated hobby/profession of blogging, it is very easy to feel like you are getting lost in the crowd. Just when you think that you thought of something first or had the best idea, you come across another blogger who just wrote about the same thing and has 3 time the amount of followers. Thoughts of “why am I even doing this” or “what makes me special?” immediately start to creep in. Should you glance over at what others are doing? Always. Should you join in the community and provide value for others? Definitely. If you keep your eyes set on what YOU are trying to accomplish and believe in it, self doubt will stay in the backseat and you remain in the driver’s seat. The success of others should never make you question yourself. Because guess what? Success doesn’t discriminate against hard work and there is room for everyone to share a piece of the market.
Putting Yourself Out There is The Only way to Get Somewhere
Oh. my. god. I can’t stress this one enough. You have to put yourself out there to get anywhere – you have to take action to see results. The more you do both of these things, the more opportunities you are creating for yourself within the universe. I got accepted to be an Elite Daily Contributor a few months into blogging (which was very cool) but it was because I put myself in front of them and sought out the opportunity. I submitted articles and a few have been featured on the site (which only happened because I actually submitted) – I did not wait for Elite Daily to magically find me because it doesn’t always work that way…in fact I would have been waiting a very long time. One of my favorite podcast episodes EVER is “Adventures with Mike Dooley: The Mechanics of Manifesting” on the Adventures in Happiness Podcast with Jessica Ortner. Honestly, game changer. Mike believes that essentially if you get the ball rolling and keep it rolling, the universe will do the work to put opportunities in front of you. The reason more people don’t put themselves out there is because they are afraid of what others think – so they spend their lives with great ideas kept to themself because they are worried a group of individuals they went to HS with 10 years ago will judge them. If people have an opinion about what you are doing, good for you, because it means you are taking ACTION.
Anything Worth Doing Takes a Consistent Grind
Nothing worth doing happens over night, but ugh, wouldn’t that be awesome if it did? Successful businesses, ideas, blogs, etc, take work. A LOT of work. A lot of CONSISTENT work. If you want something to be successful you have to work at it every day. Would you be successful in your career if you only worked at it once a week? No, and you’d probably be fired. It’s easy to feel like you are doing a lot, when in reality, it’s probably not nearly enough. What are you willing to give up to make your project a reality? Lastly, don’t judge where you are one year into your journey against where someone else is 4 years in…because well, they have been at it 4 times as long as you. Chances are if you were to look back at your life last year at this time, you wouldn’t believe where you are today. Imagine where you could be a year from now with consistent effort toward your goals?
Be Intentional With Your Goals and What you Want
I didn’t necessarily believe in this one until I tried physically writing down what I wanted and then I saw it slowly come true. Back at the beginning of the year, one of my best friends sent me a journal in the mail with the quote “She believed she could so she did” on the front cover (thanks, Shan!) I was feeling inspired so I decided to write down some blog goals for the upcoming year. On the first page one of my goals was to work with 6-8 brands, or on 6-8 sponsored posts in 2016. I honestly don’t even know where those numbers came from, and at that time I had done 0 sponsored posts. 10 months later and I have partnered with 9 brands (Little Tikes, Gerber, FX, Pink Blush x2, The Initial Co x2, JORD Wood Watches, 4moms, Glassesshop.com & Kayello coffee) and have had to turn down a few others. Are these the biggest, most prestigious brands in the world? No, but I was intentional about what I wanted, I put myself out there, and the universe helped me out a bit from there.
So one year in and there is so much more I want to do – one of my biggest goals in 2017 is to do a RwS event or meet-up! Who would come? It’s amazing to look back and see what can be accomplished in just 12 months. I now have a blog that I’ve posted on 67 times, a 9 month old mobile, healthy baby and a fiancé 💙 Here’s to another year of changes, successes, failures and more mom bloggin’ 👶🏻
To the people who have followed and have read any of my posts – I love you ❤️ your support, comments, likes and shares mean more than you know!
Here are my favorite posts from the past year:
To the Working Mom: Your Child Goes to Daycare and Why it’s Okay
The Importance of Personal Days
My 10 Minute Easy Everyday Make-up Video
Flying with an Infant & Travel Necessities
The 5th Trimester: Learning to Balance Time and Give yourself a Break
Women & Guilt: How to Stop Comparing and Feel Like a Badass
6 weeks into Motherhood: My New Normal
Everyday Glam Guide 