Hey y'all! Welcome back to the second installment of our #BeBold2016 link-up! I have loooooved reading through all of your posts that you shared in the link-up last week + I'm so happy that so many of you wanted to join in! I especially enjoyed reading the posts written by Chelsea @ Heartnatured, Cait @ Cait's Cozy Corner and by Becky @ Eliorah.
Just a reminder! This link-up is hosting by me (duh), Gina, Catherine, Christina and Kate. We would love if you'd head over and visit all the blogs--say hi! I know I've discovered a couple new blogs this week that I'll definitely be reading for awhile...maybe you will too! Let's review what the #BeBold2016 link-up is all about!
What are we writing about?
Last week, we all wrote our own posts about our word or focus for the year and shared them here on your hosts' blogs. This week, we're going to be applying our focus to setting blogging goals. Next week, January 22nd, we'll be applying the focus to our health goals. And then finally, on January 29th, we're chatting about personal goals. By that time, I guarantee you'll be super ready to put those goals into action for February and the rest of this year!
What do I do?
If you are a blogger, you can write your own post responding to the prompt for each week. Starting the Friday of each week, you can add your own post in the link up (the second one is below!). If you are not a blogger, we'd still love to hear from you! Leave your responses down in the comments.
No matter if you're a blogger or not, we'd love for you to take some time and check out some of the other awesome bloggers joining in this project (especially the hosts!). Leave a comment, send a tweet (use #BeBold2016!), or just take some time to check out some new blogs. You might find a new favorite!
My blogging goals for 2016:
In case you missed last week's installment of #BeBold2016, my word of the year that I've chosen is "mindful". I know that word has a lot of associations and connotations that come along with it, so I would love if you'd go read that post to see what I really mean by being "mindful."
One part of mindfulness + this practice of being aware relates to the process of learning to recognize how things affect the way I feel. Obviously, we can't avoid all pain and negativity in our lives, but if something trifling is causing significant negative emotions...why would you keep it in your life?
So tying that back into blogging, I'm connecting the idea of "blog goals" + my word "mindful" to make what I'm calling an "ungoal". And what I mean by that is...I don't want to make blogging goals.
Blogging is just a hobby for me. I don't make any money from my blog right now. I don't get anything tangible out of it. And I enjoy it, at least 80% of the time. But y'all fellow bloggers are gonna give me an amen on this: blogging can suck your energy + free time down to nothing because it's a hobby that keeps asking for more of you.
In blog circles, it isn't enough just to write a couple of posts a week. We're told (by each other!) that we'll never "succeed" as bloggers, whatever that means, if we don't focus on SEO and coding and responding to every comment and all. Some people really enjoy all those details. I really don't.
Maybe that means that I "shouldn't" be a blogger. Maybe that means I'll never be "successful" as a blogger. But that's not my goal. I blog because it makes me feel heard and it makes me feel useful and because I've met so many lovely people because of it. I think that's worth it to me.
If I had to make some concrete goals to go along with this, I would delete my Twitter + Instagram pages. Social media doesn't fill me up; it empties me out. I want to stopping reading the blogs I feel like I should enjoy or the blogs I read out of bitterness or jealousy that they somehow are "beating" me. I want to feel a little freer.
My blogging ungoal for this year is to allow blogging to be whatever feels best. To stay away from those posts that tell me all of the things I'm doing wrong. To comment on other blogs because I care about having a conversation, not because I think it'll bring in new traffic. As it relates to blogging, I will do whatever continues to bring me joy and satisfaction and cheer + skip out on the bits that bore me and make me feel less-than. That's my goal.
Now it's your turn!
Your blogging goals might be (and probably are) totally different than mine. That's totally cool, dude! I wanna read them anyways. Add your link to the widget below + I'll be reading!
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