Overcoming Obstacles

Overcoming Obstacles

I wanted to write about overcoming obstacles because it is on my mind right now. Starting my blog has been a very rocky road and a lot of money wasted by trying to do it alone and listening to the wrong people. It was just not a good start for me. Having such a bad start to my blog was honestly crushing to me, because this was a dream that I put a lot of work into. It was finally my time to follow a dream of mine and do something for myself.

What I ended up doing was trashing my original blog and basically re-branding it under the current name, The Prepping Wife and I created a gorgeous new logo with the help of a great friend. I had some amazing support and help from both my husband and one of my best friends. The feedback was incredible, and I knew it was going to be a much better start.

Concerns

Overcoming obstacles is not always easy. But at the end of the day, it is worth the time and effort! If it was easy, everyone would do it.

One of my concerns was the cost overall of my original failure and starting again. I was not able to recover all of the money I spent originally. But, I also knew I absolutely had to start over and give it one more try. I despised telling my husband I need to buy another thing for my blog, like my email subscription, post office box, stuff like that. But I wanted to start it right the second time. I learned a lot of valuable information from my initial failure, but that didn’t make it a cheap mistake.

I kept wondering when he’d just flat out ask me why he was shelling out so much money with nothing returned. He didn’t ever do this, it was all in my head. But I struggled with that self doubt still. Every time we would talk about my blog, I was waiting for the questions, for him to express the doubt I was already feeling and thinking. He has been nothing but supportive, and I feel very lucky about that. But in my own head, all I could see were failures.

Struggles

One of my biggest struggles with starting my blog was wondering if my voice was important. If anyone would want to read my ramblings, or if it had any significance. I enjoy my writing, but that doesn’t magically mean anyone else on the planet wants to read it. It’s a constant battle of self doubt in my head. As I started writing, I found it was very enjoyable to me, and I have something of a talent for it, or I am finding my style and voice, at the very least.

My story deserves to be told

Overcoming the obstacles of knowing my worth and that my voice was important was my biggest challenge. But it gave me confidence to write well and tell my story.

Once I scrapped the original blog and started a new one, I went back through all of my posts to figure out where to start in posting them again. I found I wanted to polish some of the very first ones, give them some body and a little help. This was a big clue that I really had found my voice and how I wanted to approach things.

I also found I had almost 70 blog posts! Honestly, I had no idea I had written that many in just a couple of months, plus a few that are still works in progress. I was a bit stunned, to say the least.

Starting Over

After a lot, and I do mean a lot of time spent just deciding on a theme and how I wanted my blog to look, I went live with it at the end of October. I was once again nervous. Probably more so than when I launched my original blog, simply because I knew this was my last shot at it. If I failed, there were no more time outs or re-dos. There’s no more chances for success or failures. This is the now or never point, and that terrified me because I knew this was it. No going back after this point.

Yesterday I logged in to my site and checked my email and my subscription list. I had 8 email subscribers already! I legitimately started crying when I saw that. Simply because my start to my blog was so terrible, I didn’t expect good results even the second time. I am beyond excited by this. 8 certainly isn’t a fabulous number, but for the first week, it’s a huge victory for me. It’s a fantastic start and for the first time, I feel like I can actually be successful and do this.

Small victories are still victories

This reminded me of a couple of things. For starters, one day all of the small victories like having my 8 subscribers in a week will turn into a very big victory. Just because it is a small victory doesn’t deter from the fact it is still a victory. A bunch of small ones do eventually turn into a big one. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I will likely always doubt myself and question my sanity as I go about life and the choices I make.

That is ok. The key is to follow our hearts, not always our head. If we followed our head every time we questioned our choices, each of us would be boring and hate life. There wouldn’t be the success or even the failures because nobody would ever leave their comfort zone.

It isn’t about the mistakes we make. It is about how we handle them that matters.

–L.C.

One of my greatest friends and my biggest fan in everything I do once told me that it isn’t about the mistakes we make. It is how we handle them that matters. That is something that has stuck with me for years now. That is where we have the opportunity to learn who we really are.

A fresh start

Even with being terrified of my second start, I did it. Because I had to try again. The result was a huge drive and determination to be successful. I knew I wasn’t getting a third chance and this was it. I had to do it right.

Even with being the scariest moment of my life, it was one of the smartest choices I’ve ever made. I am so glad that I didn’t give up and tried launching my blog a second time, because I was starting with more knowledge than I did originally due to my failures. That set me on a much better path toward success right there.

Follow your heart

I feel this is a great reminder, not just for bloggers but for everyone, not to overthink things and follow our hearts. Small victories will turn into a big one. Failure is OK because that is where we learn. It is how we handle that failure that counts. Picking ourselves up and trying it all over again, but with more knowledge than the first time. Don’t ever be afraid of failure. Failures are also an opportunity to help others as well, and to me, that is priceless all in itself.

Obstacles are simply speed bumps

Obstacles are simply speed bumps in the road of life. Yet we treat them like they are full blown roadblocks. I know I have a tendency to do this, and forget that a speed bump is just a small bump in my journey. It is in my own head that I allow it to feel like a full blown roadblock.

Thank you for the support!

For everyone who read the shortened version of this on Facebook and reached out with comments and support, thank you so very much. I wouldn’t be this inspired to continue without your encouragement. I was shocked at the number of comments I received there.

The overwhelming support from my friends, my husband, and the blogging community on Facebook has been overwhelmingly positive and wonderful. I consider myself very lucky to have that kind of support. Please feel free to reach out and tell me about your success and failures as well. I would love to hear about them and have the opportunity to support you the same way you did for me.

Overcoming these obstacles has been worth it because I can support others working to do the same.

Discussion

Read more about my life and blogging posts. Tell me about your experience with overcoming obstacles in the comments. How did you do it?