Goals and objectives for 2015

Thus ended 2014.

Now that 2015 has started, there will always be the mandatory planning and goal-setting for the New Year. Don’t ask, it’s a blogging thing.

Actually, it’s not. I just want to sound clever.

Anyway, this is just a full-blown blog post of what I already posted in my Facebook page before 2014 ended.

Goals and objectives for 2015

1. Continue the positivity

I have always been a pessimist, a realist-pessimist to be more accurate.  But well-meaning friends often tell me to “loosen up” and “BE POSITIVE,” which I did especially in the last few days of 2014. I hope to continue and prolong that positivity this 2015 as much as I can.

2. Read more

I used to read a lot when I was younger. I read almost everything. I was buying books at a time when I cannot still afford to buy books. There was no particular subject or book genre for me. I would buy anything that would catch my interest then. Be it a sci-fi, self-improvement, crafts, computer, or even paranormal – anything! And I would definitely read them.

Just 10 minutes?

What can we accomplish in just 10 minutes?

Sometimes we think it’s too little an amount of time to really do anything. After all, it’s “just 10 minutes.” That is why when we do have an extra 10 minutes, we used it to do something trivial instead of doing something really worthwhile.

The mindset is that, “It’s just 10 minutes, I really cannot finish anything in that little time anyway” and this is often supported by, “I do not want to start anything I won’t be able to finish.”

Makes sense, right? NOT!

This morning it struck me.

I used to be a blogger.

I used to be a blogger.

Yes, I was. And I must say that I wasn’t just a blogger, but I was an active blogger. I blogged in the morning, I blogged in the afternoon, I blogged in the evening. Heck! I used to even dream about blogging!

It was fun, addicting and therapeutic. Being in my own little corner in the blogosphere, pouring my soul out through my blog, unmindful of the fact that no one was reading my posts.

Then I met other bloggers online. I began to have readers and I started reading other blogs. I began interacting online, made some friends and my own little corner on the web got wider. It made blogging more interesting.

I also learned that I am not confined to my own personal experiences in blogging. I can also share my thoughts and views on what’s happening around me – in sports, politics, entertainment, business, and anything I can share my two-cent’ worth of opinion. Blogging could be my voice!

So I did! Delved into politics when I used to be apolitical. Shared my thoughts on movies and personalities when I am really not much into the entertainment industry. Talked about boxing when I do not even follow the sport.

And this is what made me more excited about blogging – that I can earn money through my blogs! Goody! Doing something I really love and earning money on the side. What could be better than that?!

But it wasn’t easy. I began hearing about search engine optimization (SEO), online advertisement, online affiliate marketing, online writing opportunities, and other online money-making buzz!

Then I heard about blogging events and bloggers’ meet-ups and I said to myself, “Hey! I’m a blogger, I should be there!”

So I started attending blogging events and bloggers’ meet-ups. Met bloggers in the real world and heard some inspiring, motivational, as well as some horrific blogging experiences. It was kind of weird at first though… it felt like I was listening to the blogs talking.

Getting my voice heard on current issues… income opportunities… inspiring bloggers… what could go wrong?!

Fast forward… I now consider myself lucky if I could get at least a blog post every six months.

What happened? Honestly, I don’t know. I just lost my blogging zest.

Never got to see those floating moolahs online, never got to understand SEO, never got any decent writing opportunity and got too tired on sinking my teeth on issues I don’t even want to take a bite into.

And bloggers? Just like any real people – some are good, some are bad, some are real, some are nice, some are mean, and some are everything in between.

At the end of the day, blogging was no longer fun.

I had much fun… freedom, when blogging for me was just sitting there in my own little corner and writing just about anything that might only make sense to me… when blogging was as natural as breathing and there were no keywords to consider and no target audience to think about, but just letting your soul breathe.

Blogging was fun when a blogger was not defined – SE0, events, product launchings, influencers, marketers, public relations, money-makers, reviewers, fact (which were often just opinions) presenters, and the like. I am not saying that those are bad, but they just don’t fit me.

I miss my old blogging self… believe me, I used to be a blogger.

(And if you noticed that I seem to cut my post and omitted some points, it only shows how bad I am a blogger right now)

One blog post at a time

It’s been a while and I really don’t know if this time it would be for real. I’m talking about my blogging mojo.

I cannot count the times that I’ve been in and out of blogging lately. This time, I am no longer sure if I am really getting back to blogging or it’s just another itch that I needed to scratch. Maybe in the next few days, you might see me spewing blog posts left and right until such time I lose my steam again. Or maybe even after this post, I might just get lax in my blogging until I bump my head for the nth time. I really don't know.

What do we make of that inspiration?

“You are such an inspiration!”  

“You inspire us! We are proud of you!”

“You are really inspiring!”

We easily blurt those out every time we see an inspirational icon, we hear a great achievement, or when we hear an inspiring story. You know, like those typical rags-to-riches Cinderella story... winning against all odds... an impossible feat accomplished... or a David slaying his personal Goliath.

Easily, we are inspired and there’s nothing wrong with that... but what do we make of that inspiration?

How many of us can really raise our hands and claim, “I’ve succeeded because I am inspired by this person?” Or say, “I’ve changed after hearing that story.”