Sunday 11 January 2015

A Blogger's Perspective: 2014 Taught Me...

(A late) Happy New Year to everyone! I can't believe we have reached 2015, where does the time go? I am thankful to all of you who have supported me and my journey, it is much appreciated and I always remember those who push me to achieve my goals. I hope you all have an amazing year and achieve great things, as you deserve!

I decided to spontaneously take a break from my coursework and write up this post with a few things that 2014 taught me, in relation to blogging and life in general. I definitely feel like my blog should be a platform for me to really express my thoughts with you guys. I don't want it to be all about makeup reviews and clothes, although I do love that element. I have a clear direction in my mind in regards to where I want to take my blog this year and rest assured, I will be writing up more personal experiences. Personally, this is very therapeutic for me and from the feedback I've received, it appears that most of you do prefer the more personal, down-to-Earth posts. As with all comments and criticism, I take all of it on board and I strive to grow as much as possible so thank you for your critique and please do continue to share your thoughts as they are what matters most. 

Now, on with the post!

The Path to Success is Paved with Failure

Everyone knows that following goals is by no means easy but I think 2014 taught me how dedicated you have to be to stay on the path at all.

It's really easy to get distracted, get caught up with the wrong people and focus on the wrong things. It's also very easy to somehow forget what your initial targets were. When I make progress, I often skip the thought process that acknowledges how far I've come and I go straight onto the next mission, 'Okay, I still have X, Y & Z to complete', I think. If you don't process your own achievements, you won't ever feel happy with what you have achieved and your output will reflect your unhappiness.



I'm very self-critical, always hard on my self, always thinking about what I could have done better. I think the past year has really allowed me to let this sink in and realise that I am on a journey with everything and it's not logical for me to achieve all my goals right this second.

Success is also in the eyes of the beholder. If I achieve x amount of views on a post, I may be over the moon but someone who relies on an Adsense cheque every month will probably throw something at a wall if they only got as many as I did. It just goes to show that one person's failure is another person's success. Everybody should focus on their own individual goals and journeys. Learn from others by all means but do not attempt to compare everything. It will drive you insane, trust me.

Breaking the Internship Cycle 

For those who don't know, I have been interning for a long, long time. I've had various placements and roles within the industry and out of it from a young age. I would highly recommend that people try and obtain some experience in the fields that they are interested in because I guarantee you without a doubt that you will find out some things you don't like about the industry/role. It's very easy to see jobs played out on TV screens or look at job descriptions but you really have to get a feel for the atmosphere too. You need to know the potential things that you won't like, in my opinion.

I believe that internships are valuable and for me personally, they have taught me SO many practical skills. Howwwwwwever, at some point you need to say 'okay, no more'. At the end of last year, I really reached a breaking point as I took on way too much. For a long time I tried to push myself to do it all but then I realised... why am I doing all of this? Is it not better to commit my time to one? So that's exactly what I did and I'm so glad to be a Fashion Assistant for Eldimaa Fashion now, where I feel like my time is being valued and I am learning a lot as I go. So I can officially say that I am done with the consecutive internships, this will be my last for sure!

Wait 'Til I Get My Money Right 

On the topic of internships and jobs, I just remembered something I really wanted to include in this post... 2014 taught me that people love to try and squeeze out your energy and work for free. Perhaps it is my age that makes people think they can rinse me out for this and that but it's just not going to happen. For certain things (without dropping specifics), companies should pay up. 

Even outside of blogging, in many fields, especially those where you are in charge of your finances, never sell yourself short. Value your time and ideas. Weigh unpaid opportunities up and figure out if they are really benefiting your or them. 

YouTube phenomenon, Zoella with her bestselling novel 'Girl Online'. 
This goes for internships too, I have heard of preposterous roles in the industry that basically make slaves out of young people for no payment in return. It isn't right at all and you have the right to quit or say 'no'. That's not to say that you shouldn't accept tough roles because I believe you need to work your ass off to understand what it's like. I know I have, but I have rejected internships and other requests in the past because they're not worth my time at all.

'Oh, I'm a Blogger Too!'

Okay, so this is pretty harsh because I believe that everyone has the right to follow their dreams but... f* it. 2014 taught me that there's too many damn people who want to be bloggers! I'll admit that I started my blog because I got inspired by the one and only BryanBoy and at first, I had no idea what I was even doing but I will tell you this, whatever I write, I write because I want to and I'm okay with the fact that I'm not getting millions of views but I do try and build consistency with my content, which is key.

Some of these girls just think they can start something up overnight or make a YouTube channel and regurgitate the style of top vloggers. It's just not going to happen, sweetheart. Stick to what you know and love. If you don't have a passion for something, don't do it. Oh, and when you realise it's not all about money, please don't cry about how hard it is. Delete your accounts and make it easier for the rest of us. Kthanksbye. 

If Your Circle's Close, Make it Closer

This is pretty personal but I thought I'd include it anyway. I thought I was being picky enough with my friends but in 2014, I realised that I simply wasn't picky enough! I started to pick up on a lot of negative energy around certain people and I also felt like I was being paraded around a lot. There wasn't any depth to these bonds with people. I just felt... empty, drained. 



Friends should be loyal to you and always have your back, but at the same time be able to tell you when you're in the wrong. I'm a firm believer that instincts will guide you in the right direction so I just decided that I would take action with a lot of people and reevaluate the necessity of our friendships. In doing this, I realised that I wasn't wrong in being different to others. I take a long time to warm up to people and I will continue to take my time with those who I am unsure about because I've seen too many fake people care about popularity instead of the value of a person they are around. 

One of my pet peeves is seeing people desperate to try and mend things with those who are toxic. I've done this repeatedly in the past and I have learnt from it, so do the same! Not everyone meshes well together, just accept it! It's like cheating in a relationship. What is making you stay with someone? You can leave a friendship and a relationship in the same way and you will live on, trust me. 

Negative = Positive 

2014 was definitely one of my tougher years. I went through a lot of hard times and I had to struggle a lot. There were times where I really, really, really wanted to just curl up into a ball of depression and hide away somewhere, away from the world and its turbulent nature.

Me at one of my happier times! 
I sympathise with anyone going through genuine struggles, I really do. In some cases, it's not possible to do this at all due to the nature of the person's emotions, however I think that our minds are seriously, seriously powerful. Sometimes when I feel like I'm about to hit a phase of negativity, I project my heightened state of emotions onto a task. It might be a blog post, but usually I don't write if I'm not in a decent mood because I'm afraid of dipping in quality. I might just go out for a walk somewhere, try on some new makeup, write my feelings down. It differs for everyone. 

Just try to find your peace because I have reached states where I have said things I really regret and can't take back, all because I let my thoughts get the better of me. When they run on and on, they get worse and worse. Escape them and realise that you can overcome a lot in life if you try to put yourself in control of your energy. 

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