A week and a half ago I attended a huge (I’m talking 700 people huge) blogging conference – ProBlogger. I was in my element. I love to network and I love to learn.
The first two speakers, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smothies were awesome, not only did I take away key messages for my blog, but for my life in general.
Jadah shared the story of her and her husband’s journey in business together and the apparent determination they both had early the story was what captured my interest instantly and that fact that they never let failure stand in their way, in fact, they grew so much stronger through the eyes of failure. I’m a true believer that failure is important to grow in life but the messages Jadha continued to share resonated with me and really made me reassess where I am in my life and where I want to go.
Darren, well he made me realise that I needed to get back on track.
I’m sharing what I learned during both Darren and Jadah’s talks because I think the messages shared are beneficial to everyone and go way beyond blogging.
3 Ways to Shine
1. How are you?
The well-being of your blog/career/family comes down to the well-being of you. The truth in this statement hit me like a tonne of bricks which is why I can’t wait to start my Learn to Run course on the 1st of September. Move your 10,000 steps a day, eat well, look after your health and make meaningful connections. Let’s face it, if you’re unhealthy both mentally and physically then you’re not going to be in a very good position to help yourself or others.. Investment in your health will pay off in all aspects of your life.
And make sure you fill your cup. You’re probably wondering what on earth this means, to fill your cup? It means looking after YOU, keeping your interests ignited, doing what you’re interested in and keeping that fire burning in your belly. Whether it be reading books or blogs, listening to podcasts or audio books, attending conferences to learn, having a mentor or life coach, seeking inspiration from others, watching a TED talk…laughing even, this all is a part of filling your cup, consuming what makes you, you.
2. What is your why?
Have you ever asked yourself this question? If you haven’t, do it now because determining your purpose in life has a huge impact on your health and wellbeing. But don’t worry, you don’t need to have an answer straight away, sometimes it takes a little while to decide your purpose. You’ll also find that sometimes you may need to refocus on your why.
My why has changed somewhat over the years. For some time my why was all about career, I always felt as though my career made me who I was. Fast forward a number of years and now my why is my family. It may sound a bit cliché but really, when it comes down to it, all the decisions I make, the reasons I do what I do, what I say no and yes to, why I take on challenges and risks, all comes down to the fact that my why is my family.
Sometimes though, we tend to feel like we have to feed ‘the machine’. As a blogger, we feel the need to always schedule blog posts, to be on social media and have something in the feed. As a worker, it’s easy to get trapped in the mundane of waking up, going to work and coming home again simply to get paid and repeat it all over again the next day. As a parent, it’s easy to get caught up in the processes of parenting without enjoying the important parts. Knowing your why helps you move past the mundane and into something that is more meaningful, it also helps to determine your how and your what.
Since I’ve found my ‘why’ it’s provided motivation in tough times and it’s helped with decision making.
“You create meaning when your strengths and interests meet the needs of the world.” -Tom Roth [tweetthis]”You create meaning when your strengths and interests meet the needs of the world.” -Tom Roth[/tweetthis]
3. How are you using your time?
Your ‘why’ will get you started but how you spend your time will ultimately get you to your destination[tweetthis]Your ‘why’ will get you started but how you spend your time will ultimately get youto your destination[/tweetthis]
Analyse how you use your time
Make sure you are creating and not just responding, make sure you have something to show for your time at the end of the day. In a decade, what are the things you’ll be most proud of? Do these things. We all have the same number of hours in the day.
Filter it through your why
Do you find it hard to prioritise when it comes to time management? Filter it through your why and if it isn’t aligned, well don’t waste too much time on it.
Design your ideal schedule
When you know your why it’s so much easier to create your ideal schedule around what is important to you and reaching your goals. When creating your ideal schedule, don’t forget to schedule in time for YOU too.
Systematise
Putting systems in place decreases overwhelm, it allows you to master new skills, it increases effectiveness, it leads to good habits, it helps with outsourcing if needed, it eliminates the need for necessary decision making. Whether blogging, at work or at home, systems are the key to productivity.
Automate
There are so many tools and apps out there today for bloggers and non-bloggers that help manage life in general and you’d be crazy not to try at least one! When I automate, the first thing I think about is the time it saves me to put towards more meaningful things in my life. Let’s face it, in my role as blogger and digital editor for a magazine, I can’t be pressing the button live for every single blog post, article or social media post I put together. That’s why tools such as buffer where I can pre-schedule posts are a life saver. Another automation process I have in place is the paying of our family bills, it’s all set up to come out of our account weekly and by the time the bills come around in the mail, they’re pretty much all paid. What automations could you put in place to help you achieve your why?
Outsource
I’m not afraid to admit that I have a cleaner who comes in each week. The way I look at this is that it gives me extra time to spend with my family (my why), time I would otherwise spend cleaning. I also have a Virtual Assistant that helps to collate my expenses for my Accountant. And guess what? That time saved gets put towards my family. As a blogger, you might want to save some precious time to focus on your why by outsourcing your social media scheduling to a Virtual Assistant. What could you outsource that might help you work towards your why, even if it’s something small?
Find the tools to keep you on track
If you can keep on track without a list, diary or similar, good for you. But really, most of us need something to keep ourselves accountable. I’m a lover of the good old to-do list on a blank piece of paper as well as my diary. I also have a FitBit which tracks my steps. However you decide to track your progress, it’s a must in reaching personal goals.
Remember, anything that compromises your health and relationships needs to be let go.
Say your dreams out loud
Take imperfect action
And remember this one…
It’s okay to be a glow stick. Sometimes we need to break before we shine. #iamaglowstick [tweetthis]It’s okay to be a glow stick. Sometimes we need to break before we shine. #iamaglowstick[/tweetthis]
A great round up of those first key points which I think are the foundation to succeeding. I am a glow stick!
Brilliant post!! I took the same messages from Jadah’s talk. Being in business is tough and it’s so validating to here of failure as a positive. I also have a cleaner, there are only so many hours in a day, and being a working Mother of 5 who also blogs, means housework is best left to someone with more time than me. For me looking at how I’m using my time has been most important, the whole social media thing was taking up far too much time in my day. xxx
The ‘why’ is always a hard one for me. I was all about my career and assumed one day I’d have a partner / husband and family but it wasn’t to be. As soon as I realised (in my early 40s) that THIS was my life I decided I needed to change it. (And made a seachange.)
I’m still not sure about the why, but glad I made the changes I did cos I think I’m closer to finding out.
Deb
A great wrap up of the first day Eva! Wasn’t Jadah just fabulous! I thoroughly enjoyed Darren’s keynote too – especially the message that your blog’s health is a reflection of your own health. I’m working my way through my notes and starting to put together my own post to wrap up my key learnings and messages from Day 1. BTW – I am most definitely a glowstick!! 🙂 xo
Thanks for sharing for those of us playing along at home!
So many great tips.
I’m pretty settled in where I see my life going at the moment. It’s a nice place to be in. My blog is there because I want it to be, and I’m happy for it to only have that as its purpose.
Great wrap up, Eva. As someone who didn’t attend Problogger, I am loving all of these updates. I agree that finding the why is so important – it’s equally important to keep reminding yourself of your why as it’s easy to get caught up in the mundane and lose your focus. I could definitely use a cleaner, but I don’t know if I’ll be getting on anytime soon 🙂
Ps. Visiting via #teamIBOT
A great round up of motivational advice written in a way that doesn’t motivate you to wander off and eat cake! Saved so I can read this whenever I need a kick up the bottom. #mummy mondays