Why I Decided to Blog (And How You Can Follow Through on Your Goals This Year Too!)
With the New Year approaching, I wanted to share how I began blogging, and why I decided to start my own website. Many of you are writing down your New Year’s resolutions and making your own plans for 2023. It’s an exciting time to think about the future!
However, I also understand just how difficult it can be to follow through on goals and make your dreams a reality. There are so many obstacles on our path to success! Responsibilities at home, work, and even self-doubt can lead to failure.
Still, this doesn’t mean that you can’t change your life and find your true purpose. I had some bumps along my own path and faced many setbacks. Over time, though, I learned how to get past my fear of failure and started MotherHues.
I want to help you pursue your own passions and overcome your fear of failure, this way you can flourish in 2023. So, I’ll be talking more about my own journey with my blog and end with some tips that will make your goals for the New Year more manageable!
Why I Started Blogging and How I Learned That Fear of Failure Wasn’t an Option
Since becoming a mother in 2013, I would often get questions from close friends and family about breastfeeding, child rearing, natural health remedies for children, and other topics surrounding motherhood. I enjoyed answering these questions and helping my loved ones, but something was still missing in my life. I was struggling to find my purpose.
Things changed for me in December 2021. While talking to a friend, she asked me what I usually get my children for Christmas because she was getting overwhelmed with the number of gifts she had purchased for her child.
I mentioned that we use the 4 gift challenge because it allows us to stick to buying a few gifts without taking away from the true meaning of Christmas. She said that I always come up with the best ideas and that I should start a blog to help other moms. I dismissed the idea at first, but then after thinking about it and talking to my husband, I decided to go for it.
The next day I started writing down topics and to my surprise, I ended up with 50 topics. Within the next few months, I bought an LLC, applied for two business licenses, purchased a branding kit, and got everything squared away legally.
MotherHues was born! I say all of this to let you know that you don’t have to be afraid to try something new in 2023. It’s never too late to pursue your passions or even create your own business! Really, a fear of failure is the only thing holding us back from success.
I was also afraid of making a mistake and failing in this new venture too. I’m here to tell you that failure is a part of growth and will help you find your purpose. If I wasn’t able to overcome my fear, I wouldn’t be writing for you today.
How to Overcome Failure
No one wants to fail, but the truth is that failure is a part of our journey to success.
Many of us are afraid to fail because we don’t want people to think negatively about us. You have to remember that the most successful people fail and learn from their failures.
In short, you can’t avoid failures, you have to embrace them and understand them in order to turn them into positive outcomes. There are going to be times when you get rejected from a job, you can’t get your business off the ground, and things don’t turn out the way you want them to. This doesn’t mean that you should give up on your goals!
Instead, you can overcome failure with the right mindset and plan. Take a look at some of my pointers to keep you resilient and motivated in the face of any failure:
1. Figure Out Why You Failed
To overcome any failure, you need to figure out what caused the failure. You’ll keep failing over and over unless you learn from your mistakes. My best advice is to be constructive with yourself and stay honest.
You need to know exactly what went wrong before you make your next move. Did you not plan well enough? Did you not have the right budget or work ethic? Ask yourself these types of questions to get to the root cause of your failure.
2. Don’t Give up and Try Again
It’s tempting to give up once you’ve failed. Failing at a business or some other goal is draining. This doesn’t mean that you can’t try again! Remember, as I talked about, the most successful people learn from their failures and keep trying. Figure out why you are failing and then try again. Eventually, with enough tries, you can break through your failure and find success.
3. Know When to Take a Break
Having ambition is important, but you don’t want to overdo it. Know when you need a break, especially after a failure. It takes a lot out of you when your hard work doesn’t pay off.
Still, you have to remember that life has its ups and downs. There will be moments when your plans succeed and other times when you’ll fail and have to start over again. Don’t get discouraged and don’t feel bad about taking care of yourself when things get tough! Your mental and physical health is important too.
4. If You Fail Again Stay Objective and Responsible
If you are trying to find success, it’s likely that you’ll fail multiple times. Failing over and over can be stressful and emotional, but you need to stay objective. Own up to your mistakes and take responsibility for what you did wrong in the process of pursuing your goals.
Don’t blame other people or say that you can’t make improvements to yourself and your goals. Instead, plan out how you’ll do better next time!
5. Stay Around Positive and Supportive People
Finally, the best way you can overcome failure is by surrounding yourself with the right people. Positive, motivated, and goal-oriented friends and family members can push you to new heights.
They’ll support you at your best and worst moments. They might even give you great advice that will help you grow your business or goal.
The people in your life can also bring you down, though. So, be careful about who you talk to about your goals. Stay around people that will lift you up and not tear you down.
Setting Goals For The New Year and Sticking to Them
Once you start overcoming failure, you’ll need to stick to your goals in 2023. This is easier said than done. A lot of people make plans about their resolutions, but it's harder to follow through on these goals than you’d think. I’ll talk about some final tips to keep you on track this New Year!
1. Make Sure Your Goals Are Manageable
The biggest problem that people have with their goals is finding a way to make them manageable. It’s fine to dream big and stay ambitious. In fact, you want to aim high to find the most success. However, you need to be realistic and have a plan. This way you can actually follow through.
Write down your resolutions or plans. Then realistically break them down into manageable goals that you can see yourself doing. It will take time, but each step you complete will lead you to achieve what you want!
2. Create a Timeline For Your Goals
You don’t just want to have smaller goals to build up your success. You also need to have a timeline. You can say you will do something, but without a deadline or end date, you might end up stalling or not doing anything for most of the year.
Create a timeline that works with your schedule. You can write this down on paper or create a digital document. Then make sure you are sticking to each milestone of your goal.
3. Reward Yourself When You Follow Through
Even if you’ve only accomplished one small part of your overall plan, don’t be afraid to celebrate. Any step you take towards your goals is important, and the best way to keep yourself motivated is with a reward.
Allow yourself to go to your favorite restaurant, buy that shirt you wanted, or have a day of relaxation when you’re able to follow through. Working hard is a key part of success, but you also want to keep yourself going with incentives that make the journey worth it.
4. Be Patient With Yourself
As a final tip, I recommend being patient with yourself and giving yourself room for some failure or setback. It’s awesome if you’re able to stick to your goals and keep to your timeline. Again, though, there are going to be times when you just can’t seem to do things right. This is just a part of being human.
Remember that you can always try again and that you still have time to complete your resolutions, as long as you don’t give up! Stay patient and keep working towards your end goals.
Final Thoughts
The way we talk to ourselves and perceive our own failure is important as we reach our goals in 2023. Everyone encounters failures in life, but how we move on from those failures is what sets us apart.
Starting up my blog and creating my own website left me with a lot of doubts and fears. I’m sure your own goals will lead you to similar worries. However, if we can start to see failure as a stepping stone to success as opposed to an obstacle, then this can give us the courage to fully pursue and complete our goals this New Year!