Have you had a dream and you believe in it so hard but those around you don't? Tell me how frustrating that is.
It affects you to the extent of losing faith in your dream. When your relatives and friends all think you are crazy for pursuing the path that you are taking or when society thinks 'this is what a real job or career looks like' then it may begin to affect how you feel about your dream.
I've wanted to abandon blogging several times ever since I started. I sometimes feel discouraged or just fed up because the growth is not enough or not up to the amount of work or energy put into it.
At this point, all the fears that other people expressed concerning my blogging career start to become my reality.
I begin to think to myself that they are right after all. I can't make a living out of blogging. But then I wonder how Linda Ikeji made millions from blogging.
She is my role model in the blogging domain. In my most crazy moments, I imagine myself as the next Linda Ikeji of Africa. I'm not even shy to share this. Strange.
Anyway, that's just to let you know how far I want to go as a blogger. I know every blogger will love that too.
Even with success as evident as hers in the blogging world, I still sometimes feel like I'm doing wrong by blogging. It's like I am wasting my time on this path that I have chosen. That one day I will regret this because it won't work out. And it might just be too late.
The typical employee or entrepreneur wakes up every morning and goes to work. He/she returns home after putting long hours of work and everyone sees that he or she is working. Everyone understands what he/she does or at least can understand when explained to them.
But when it comes to blogging, it doesn't happen like that. You work from home most of the time and no one sees you leave your house to work or any place like that every day. Probably no even sees you working. No one even understands why you should be paid for sitting down to write articles all day. In fact, you are seen as a lazy youth or adult who wants to make easy money or use people's clicks to become rich.
It is tough to fight this mindset every day as a blogger and this makes me feel that I need a real job. One where everyone can see me working and applaud my efforts.
But I hate working for people. And I love blogging. I'll rather be working for my own dream than to work for someone else's.
What makes matters worse is that there is no income coming yet from blogging. And that's when everyone is right to ask you why you are still blogging. Some will bluntly tell you to go and get a real job. After all, blogging is not working out.
There are other career paths which suffer the same thing like art, comedy, YouTubing and the entertainment industry in general where your passion is never considered a job until you 'blow' or you have made it or received your first paycheck.
And honestly, they are right to think so because if it is a job then you have to be paid for it. So where is the money?
Will-I-Am of the former group Black Eyes Peas said during an interview that he used to tell people when he just started out in music that he was an artist who hasn't been paid yet and it was just a matter of time.
I am putting up the same attitude with my career but I must say it's hard. It's hard to not ask yourself if I am doing the right thing because there is no paycheck yet. It's not all about the paycheck. I just also want to make a living from my passion.
I even feel like it may never come. But I'm staying positive. Others have been successful with blogging and so will I. It's a matter of time.
The essential thing is to stay positive and work hard while dealing with the feeling that you are 'not doing anything for a living' meanwhile you are really working your a** off something you love.
It affects you to the extent of losing faith in your dream. When your relatives and friends all think you are crazy for pursuing the path that you are taking or when society thinks 'this is what a real job or career looks like' then it may begin to affect how you feel about your dream.
I've wanted to abandon blogging several times ever since I started. I sometimes feel discouraged or just fed up because the growth is not enough or not up to the amount of work or energy put into it.
At this point, all the fears that other people expressed concerning my blogging career start to become my reality.
I begin to think to myself that they are right after all. I can't make a living out of blogging. But then I wonder how Linda Ikeji made millions from blogging.
She is my role model in the blogging domain. In my most crazy moments, I imagine myself as the next Linda Ikeji of Africa. I'm not even shy to share this. Strange.
Anyway, that's just to let you know how far I want to go as a blogger. I know every blogger will love that too.
Even with success as evident as hers in the blogging world, I still sometimes feel like I'm doing wrong by blogging. It's like I am wasting my time on this path that I have chosen. That one day I will regret this because it won't work out. And it might just be too late.
I sometimes feel like blogging is not a real job.
The typical employee or entrepreneur wakes up every morning and goes to work. He/she returns home after putting long hours of work and everyone sees that he or she is working. Everyone understands what he/she does or at least can understand when explained to them.
But when it comes to blogging, it doesn't happen like that. You work from home most of the time and no one sees you leave your house to work or any place like that every day. Probably no even sees you working. No one even understands why you should be paid for sitting down to write articles all day. In fact, you are seen as a lazy youth or adult who wants to make easy money or use people's clicks to become rich.
It is tough to fight this mindset every day as a blogger and this makes me feel that I need a real job. One where everyone can see me working and applaud my efforts.
But I hate working for people. And I love blogging. I'll rather be working for my own dream than to work for someone else's.
What makes matters worse is that there is no income coming yet from blogging. And that's when everyone is right to ask you why you are still blogging. Some will bluntly tell you to go and get a real job. After all, blogging is not working out.
This post is not meant to show how difficult and time-consuming blogging is nor it is meant to justify how much blogging is a job. I just want to share my experience.
There are other career paths which suffer the same thing like art, comedy, YouTubing and the entertainment industry in general where your passion is never considered a job until you 'blow' or you have made it or received your first paycheck.
And honestly, they are right to think so because if it is a job then you have to be paid for it. So where is the money?
Will-I-Am of the former group Black Eyes Peas said during an interview that he used to tell people when he just started out in music that he was an artist who hasn't been paid yet and it was just a matter of time.
I am putting up the same attitude with my career but I must say it's hard. It's hard to not ask yourself if I am doing the right thing because there is no paycheck yet. It's not all about the paycheck. I just also want to make a living from my passion.
I even feel like it may never come. But I'm staying positive. Others have been successful with blogging and so will I. It's a matter of time.
The essential thing is to stay positive and work hard while dealing with the feeling that you are 'not doing anything for a living' meanwhile you are really working your a** off something you love.
