I guess I should start this post off by saying that I haven’t officially made it 30 days until I write tomorrow’s blog post, but I’m pretty sure at this point, after 29 days, I’ll be able to force myself to do it.
Anyway, so yes, today’s post will be about what the 30 day Daily Blogging Challenge taught me, while tomorrow will be more about how it impacted my blog specifically.
While this post will be about what the challenge specifically taught me, I think all these little lessons can be applied to anyone’s life! And no, you don’t necessarily have to write everyday for 30 days. You can get up your own challenge doing whatever you want, and I bet you’ll see similar results.
But yes, let’s dive into this, shall we?
Everything that blogging everyday taught me (and can teach you too!):
1. Discipline
No doubt about it, I learned some serious discipline while attempting to complete this 30 day blogging challenge.
There were at least a solid handful of days where I absolutely did NOT want to blog, but I did it anyway.
And, to be honest, it’s made me realize how little discipline I have in other aspects of my life. Perhaps it’s because writing comes relatively easy to me, but I was always able to force myself to write even when I didn’t want to. If we were talking about something like going to the gym, or sticking with a morning routine, I, for sure, don’t think we would be having the same conversation.
Having said that, though, I think there’s something about a 30 day challenge that helps when you’re trying to develop a new habit, because you know there is an endpoint. If I had told myself I was going to blog everyday for the rest of my life, well, I don’t think these past 30 days would have happened.
Which makes me think I should try setting up 30 day challenges for myself in other areas of my life. I mean, it’s just 30 days. I feel like I could challenge myself to do a lot with 30 days.
Is there anything you’ve been wanting to get better at? Why not try a 30 day challenge? Even with some of your new year resolutions, rather than trying to accomplish everything in a year, why not make mini challenges for yourself every 30 days?
2. Sense of accomplishment
If you read my post on goal setting for 2020, you’ll know that I typically set a lot of goals at the start of the new year, and I make progress on all of them, but I don’t necessarily hit an end point (a.k.a. I don’t fully “accomplish” the goal”).
Do you do this?
While I’ve realized there’s nothing wrong with this, I’ve also realized I really like that sense of accomplishment I get from sticking with something, with no exceptions. This Daily Blogging Challenge has given me that.
Once I’m done it tomorrow, I’ll officially be able to say that I blogged everyday for 30 days. There’s just something about hitting that mark that gives me a good feeling. Trust me, if you do anything fully for 30 days, you’ll know what I mean.
3. It has helped with my writing
While I know this point might not apply to everyone if you’re not a writer/blogger, I do know, without a doubt, this challenge helped with my writing.
Not even necessarily made it better per se, but just helped me realize my own writing tendencies, like the words I use too often. Even just understanding what time of day is better for my writing has been helpful.
If you’re not a writer, whatever you choose to do for 30 days, there’s a high probability you’re going to get better at it if start doing it everyday.
4. It’s helped me realize my own capabilities
There was a time where I though writing 2-3 posts/week was a lot (and for a lot of people, it is).
Granted, these past 30 days of posts haven’t been my best pieces of work, and I haven’t been adding all of the things I typically add to blog posts (i.e. Pinterest graphics, images, SEO, etc.), but I also now know I’m able to write A LOT more than I thought I was capable of. It was just about putting my mind to it.
Try a 30 day challenge. I’ll bet you’ll surprise yourself with how much you’re capable of.
5. It was unexpectedly therapeutic
I talked about this in my post about how I deal with anxiety, but I truly found this little project oddly therapeutic for anxiety.
I think it had something to do with the predictability of it.
Everyday I knew I had to write this post, and no matter what, I did it.
For me, as someone who largely gets anxiety because of my fear around the unpredictable, giving myself something that was predictable eased some of that.
Also, I think there’s something about the sense of self discipline and accomplishment that’s helpful for anxiety. Knowing I was actually able to stick with this challenge gives me this sense of accomplishment that I haven’t felt in a while. I know it’s just a writing challenge, but it honestly gave me this little confidence boost that, once again, I think eased some of my anxiety. It made me realize I’m capable of more than I thought I was, which is always a good thing if you’re not feeling mentally strong.
I’m sure I could think of other things that this writing challenge taught me, but, for sure, those five things are the biggest.
Like I said, even if you don’t want to blog, or you’re not a writer, I think setting up any sort of challenge can give you these same results.
It’s really just about self discipline and teaching yourself that you’re capable of more than you thought.
If you’re interested in reading some of the other posts from my Daily Blogging Challenge, you’ll find them here.
If not, you’ll find me back here tomorrow talking about how the Daily Blogging Challenge impacted my blog. What do you think? Will it be good or bad? You’ll soon find out.
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