Three Takeaways from my First Week of Blogging

When I set out to start writing a blog about my personal hobbies, I never anticipated I would have three posts within the first week of launching it. In the past, I have always gone full-bore into new hobbies but lost interest along the way. I’m finding that taking my time and keeping my expectations realistic has helped tremendously. Here are three takeaways that have contributed to my first week’s success.

Ease of Access

While researching my options for a website host/blogging platform, I came across several big-name websites (Squarespace, WordPress, and Wix). After some additional research, I ended up going with Wix. What I found helpful during this process was that I had a basic understanding of website development and hands-on experience using Squarespace at my workplace. Ultimately, Wix had a plethora of options in templates, back-end automation and helpful instruction to work through setup. Altogether, this contributed to the ease of access of setting up my website and within one day, I had a Wix-generated domain, landing page, and an outlet to create my first post.

Content Creation and the Writing Process

I recently had a discussion with a coworker about the rigorous amount of writing expected during college. It was a lot and usually consisted of multiple papers that were due each week. While I never had issues completing the tasks, I always found it funny that I was writing about a task instead of doing the actual work. I’m happy to say I appreciate the amount of writing I was tasked with; otherwise, it would make this a lot harder for me.

I have enjoyed the opportunity that blogging has presented during the first week. It is an outlet to be creative while also providing my brain with a workout outside of my role at work. I enjoy thinking of all the options I can write about but have also already experienced the challenges of staying on topic or making the content relative to an audience. As I progress deeper into my blog, I am looking forward to improving my writing ability and content organization!

Commitment and Follow Through

When I had this idea to start a blog, the first thing that popped into my head was fear of judgment. Judgment from loved ones, judgment from friends, and judgment from random readers on the internet. While I have always felt that I have not cared about opinions from others, it took some time to really understand how that has affected me. While it may sound negative, I think it is a mixture of both positive and negative feelings that arise from those past experiences. However, I believe commitment to the process has been a game-changer for my first week of blogging. I chose to write out that first post, publish the website, and start going through the process of change. Now, I am going to follow through on my commitment to blogging my hobbies and change in 2024. The question that continues to challenge my inner self-conscious voice is, "Why Not Try?" What do you have to lose by trying something new and putting yourself out there?

Next Step

As I build momentum at Why Not Try, I am going to focus on providing insight into my work and first major hobby from 2023 in my next post. If you enjoyed reading this, subscribe to my blog for updates about future posts!