Lessons in 2018 to Help You Become a Better Content Creator

Did your 2018 look like this?

You had so many goals you wanted to achieve, but it felt like nothing was materializing.

It was as if you were stuck, floating mid-air with conflicting feelings of frustration and the yearning to hit those goals.

2018 was the year I’d set out to making my dream life happen through blogging & writing, yet it was only half-way through that I started to make it happen.

Did you feel stuck for the most part and life felt exhausting?

Through the many difficult moments, did you keep going back to the same thoughts about wanting a life where you had complete freedom of your time?

It’s always nice to look back on the year that was to see what you’ve learned and how you’ve grown.

Here are some lessons from 2018 that will help you become a content creator.

Tough times make you realise what you want and don’t want

Difficult moments test you and push you into uncomfortable scenarios. And they say with growth comes pain.

But through that pain you can find a guiding light that may come in the form of a whisper or a deafening scream of where you want your life to be.

It could be a tough day that taught you which situations or people you don’t want in your life.

And as frustrating as that may be, it’s still a lesson learned.

Take time off during those hard times, and journal.

Write down your thoughts and you’ll find that deep down you know where you want to be. It could start with a word like “peaceful”, and explore that world or phrase that you’re drawn to and ask yourself what does peaceful look like to you?

On the second week of 2018, I’d lost my job.

I was sad for a while, but with my new found time, I realised that I wanted to work on growing my blog.

However, I needed money to survive and to pay the bills, so I had to look for a new job.

This new job had taken over most of my life, so blogging took a backseat (and it was this realization that I had once again pushed my dreams aside that made me feel stuck and frustrated for a while).

This time, I was more aware that time and time again I keep feeling the pull to blog and to create a digital nomad lifestyle.

This led me to create a new blog–this blog–which has made me fall in love with blogging all over again.

Push aside your hustle mentality and prioritise balance in your life

“Hustle hard!”  

You’ve heard that line or its different variations.

At first, I used to agree with it. That, yes, you had to work very hard to get what you want.

However, the art of hustle has been glorified one too many times on social media and even in real life.

I’ve fallen trap to this thinking and lifestyle too, but it’s going to test your sanity and your health.

Your health should be your top priority.

How can you show up every day and take action when you’re at a dark place mentally?

How are you expected to stay consistent or stay on track with your goals if you’re not at your best shape?

Of course, I knew this at the back of my head, but it took me majority of 2018 that included a lot of tears, low days and the feeling of listlessness to learn this lesson.

I’m still continuing to learn this lesson and setting boundaries and saying no to things that are not good for my mental health.

PIN THIS!

It’s okay to change your goals and priorities

As you grow, you realise that there are certain aspects of your life that you’ve outgrown or don’t seem to feel right any more.

Maybe it’s a goal that you used to think was your ultimate dream job and then you realise that it’s not anymore.

That is really okay.

With time and experience by trying different things out, you’ll find out if  that goal you’ve been wanting to accomplish since forever was something you truly wanted or a whimsical fantasy that you were influenced to do.

Or maybe it’s just not a goal you want to pursue any longer.

Take for instance my previous blog, which was a music blog.

I grew up with this dream of working in the music industry whether that was doing music photography (I pursued that for a bit & I still enjoy it as a hobby), music journalism or working in the actual event production.

There was even a time I’d wanted to be in a band, but even though I love music a lot, it might just not have aligned with who I truly wanted to be.

Music blogging defined a huge part of me for such a long time that I was afraid that by letting go of this, I’d failed.

Music has always been a huge part of my life and will always be.

And as much as it was a hard decision to make, I did it and it felt liberating.

I love going to concerts, listening and discovering new music, and exploring a city through the eyes of a music lover, but I don’t feel the same about blogging about music anymore.

I don’t see myself going to a show every night or every few nights.

Sure, it would still be cool to try out those things if given the chance to in the future, but now, I focus on my writing career.

I want to be a published author and I think that’s why I’ve always been attracted to blogging because it involved writing.

So if you are clinging to any goals or dreams that don’t serve you anymore, don’t be afraid to let go.

Don’t be afraid to go after that other goal that’s always been nagging at the back of your head or to try something new that you never thought you could do.

PIN THIS!

You have to invest in yourself if you want to see progress

Investing in yourself means prioritising what makes you a better person.

That could be in the form of blocking off time to work on that vlog you’ve been wanting to do or investing in an online course that teaches you how to make money with your blog.

I normally do not like to spend money on buying new things, but I would willingly spend on travel and education.

I continue to invest in online courses such as Arriane Serafico’s Braver Goals program, which helped me focus on my goals.

Last year, I’d enrolled in numerous courses and have seen how they’ve helped me.

The first course I invested in last year was about Digital Marketing and to this day I believe it helped me land my next job, and in turn, that last job paved the way for me to land my current one.

What I enjoy the most about courses, especially when you have fellow classmates, is that you find accountability partners and an encouraging support group.

What’s important is that you don’t hoard all the information from these courses.

You have to implement and you only see results when you show up to do the work and implement what you’ve learned.

Consistency is achieved through planning ahead and taking daily action

That dreaded “C” word that has gotten the blame for so many failed blogs and abandoned domains.

I’m sure you’ve had days where consistency was so hard to achieve.

You’d commit to posting weekly and yet you find yourself scrambling to write a post a day or maybe even a few hours before your scheduled posting time.

Maybe you wouldn’t even know what to post about, so you wouldn’t even try for a while leaving it for a time when you feel more inspired to create.

Last year, after implementing a content calendar, I found myself publishing week after week with less pressure to come up with content at the last minute.

It felt easier to stick to my weekly blog post schedule because I had a whole calendar worth of posts to write and choose from.

Sometimes, I would switch things up a bit, like write a travel guide instead of another “how-to” article when I felt more inspired to write about travel.

The important thing is that I actually followed through with posting something and not just leaving it to chance or Mr. Inspiration.

He’s a fickle thing, so your best bet is to lean on planning ahead.

The Secret Formula to Many Content Creators’ Success is Taking Action

Okay, it’s not exactly a formula or maybe even a secret one. But these content creators have systems in place that help them automate their tasks, and they take action daily no matter how small that action is.

I’m sure they also feel burnt out at times or overwhelmed with where to start, but instead of giving in to indecision, they do something.

Progress no matter how small is still progress. ✨

So what were the goals in 2018 that you still feel a burning desire to make happen this 2019?

It’s never too late even if it feels like it is.

If that goal is something that excites you and makes you feel like you’re on track to the person you want to be, then go for it.

Commit to at least one big, burning goal you have and make it into a reality this 2019.

What did you learn in 2018 that helped you become a better content creator?