“Oh my God. Nobody sent me an email today.”
This thought kicked around in my mind daily for longer than I care to admit. I felt ashamed. I felt embarrassed.
How in the heck could I teach people how to prosper online? Nobody emailed me. No one followed my blog consistently. My blog did not appear to be on the radar screen; at least not at a level of scale.
I experienced a wicked stretch. I destroyed my self confidence during these lean times. I judged my strategy on 24 hour increments. I based my success or failure on what happened during 24 hour time frames. Basically, I judged everything from the day prior the moment I opened my Gmail. Did someone buy one of my eBooks? Did someone buy my course? Did someone hire me? Did someone spam me? At least I existed if someone spammed me.
I went into a viral downward spiral. I even beat myself up if not enough people spammed me daily. I hated it when only one spammer sent me an email daily. Top pros had dozens spam their inbox daily. What the hell was wrong with me?
I took a challenge. I turned everything around. No, not overnight. My challenge occurred internally. My challenge appeared to be a slow burn. But it worked out. Overcoming my challenge changed the course of my blog.
Will You Take This Blogging Challenge?
I looked closely at how the:
- thoughts
- feelings
- limiting ideas
in my mind determined my success or failure. Blogging is a marathon yet I treated it like a 24 hour sprint. I mentally owned this to be free of it. I changed my thinking only after owning my mental shackles.
I stopped blaming. I ceased condemning. I stopped victimizing myself. I ceased hurting myself. I took full responsibility for my blog. I took full responsibility for my thoughts. I turned things around because I realized that my thinking pushed me off course.
Take the 24 hour increment deal above. I looked at the thoughts and feelings arising in my mind every morning the split second I opened my Gmail. No joke; it sucked at first. I felt humiliated because my mind made the problem. I made the struggle within. I blamed other people, things or circumstances for my blogging ghost town. The split second you are the one pointing the proverbial gun at your head it may feel awful; as awful as you’ve felt, blogging-wise.
Someone eventually happens after you take mental responsibility for the thoughts and feelings coloring your blogging results. Relief surfaces. Phew. You and I can control our minds. You and I cannot control the circumstances of the world. But you and I can control how we think about the world. How else can we succeed? Think abundant to be abundant. Tune into abundance. Or think abundantly to blog abundantly. Generous, genuine bloggers consistently drive organic traffic.
Record the Words
Write out the fear-based words being spoken in your mind. Grab a pen and paper. Snag your phone. Dictate the words. Move the thoughts from your mind to the tangible world.
Record the Feelings
What feelings arise in the mind as you record the words? Anger? Shame? Embarrassment? Rage? Humiliation? Frustration? Panic? Record the feelings. Sit quietly. Let emotions arise in the mind. Be gentle; these are just energy waves in the mind, independent of the intensity.
The Next Step Is Up to You
Look carefully at the paper. Trash it. Look carefully at the file on your phone or laptop. Delete it. Get rid of the thoughts and feelings for good. Forgive the thoughts and feelings contributing to blogging struggles. Clear your mind of limiting beliefs. Start fresh. Clean the mental slate.
Consider a wound. First you diagnose the problem. You sliced your thumb by accident while chopping onions. The wound hurts like holy hell. Bleeding profusely, you clean the wound with soap and water before bandaging the separated skin. Healing follows over days if not weeks in some cases.
Fear-thoughts and fear-feelings are mental wounds. But the inner world is so complex that this process works differently than dressing a flesh wound. Genuine bloggers go through multiple wound-finding sessions to ID, feel then trash mental wounds. Healing follows slowly over days, weeks then months. But you feel better. Feeling better cultivates inspired blogging actions. Taking inspired blogging actions puts you on the right track.
In my case, activating a new theme recently healed a long gaping blogging mental wound. Healing commenced the moment I trashed thoughts and feelings related to my old theme. I moved past the theme mentally. Letting it go inspired me to activate a new theme. My new theme offers readers seamless navigation. The Blogging From Paradise user experience improved dramatically after I looked into my mind to discover the root of my blogging problem.
Taking Action Depends on How You Think and Feel
Take note of your thoughts and feelings before taking action.
Try your best not to blog mindlessly. You will never outwork your thoughts because actions and results depend exclusively on thinking. This is why taking my blogging challenge of looking within is the sane decision. Blogging struggles occur in the mind not in action because the mind determines how you think and feel. Nope; it is not the other way around.
Why Is This Confusing?
The world tells you to take action to conquer fear but the fear is inside of your mind not in the action. Nobody is mindless although the world wants you to be mindless.
If most bloggers could tape record their thoughts and feelings perfectly they’d be stunned. Most of us harbor self-defeating tendencies that we project onto the world versus identifying, feeling and looking past these limiting beliefs.
First you move past inner demons.
Blogging work becomes easier after you do the inner work consistently.
The process of looking within is difficult but doable.
Conclusion
Liberation awaits, my Young Blogging Padawans.
I cannot stress how much easier the blogging work becomes after looking within consistently.
Becoming aware of your thoughts is a skill. Like any skill it becomes easier if you practice often, especially, during uncomfortable moments.
Living your dreams through blogging is worth a little temporary discomfort
Ryan Biddulph is the owner and creator of Blogging From Paradise Dot Com.
