I remember my senior year in high school and the softball season. I was good at softball. It was my strongest sport and I loved it. I had always been an outfielder. I loved diving and running for the balls that were hit.

I came alive out on that field. My senior year is when things changed. I was switched from outfield to first base. You may laugh because I am a whopping 5’3” and never imagined playing the first base position. I remember it was always tall girls that played that spot. I had built up years of confidence in the position I was in but this was new and terrifying.

Why am I talking to you about my senior year softball season? Well, because not having confidence is something that I understand. I totally get how fear can take that confidence away and win. I didn’t want to give up my strength and go for a new position where there was the potential to make a fool of myself. I wanted to continue with where I was even if that meant not allowing myself to grow.

HOW TO GAIN CONFIDENCE AS A BLOGGER

Finding yourself in the blogging space can and will feel very intimidating. There are moments as I am reading bloggers in my niche where I begin to question what I am doing. I begin to feel less than and unworthy to do what I do.

Imposter syndrome. We have all heard it and I am pretty confident we have all felt it at some point o another in our blogging or other aspects of our life. Comparison is what brings out this monster.

I call it a monster because it stops us. It holds us back. It brings out the fear we have inside. It brings out judgement, lack, self-hatred and we begin to question whether we are good enough.

What would we say to a friend if they came to us worried that they couldn’t do what they are good at?

We would defend and fight their honour. We would make sure that after they were done talking to us, that no questions of worth would remain in their head.

There is ONLY one magical step to gain confidence as a blogger. That is….

JUST DO IT!

Blogging is scary and intimidating when you begin but if you allow that to stop you then you are letting fear control your life. Did you let fear win when you started your business or had children or got married? Everything in life has a bit of fear attached to it. Now it is time to decide to not let that beat you.

You are scared of one thing and it isn’t blogging. You are scared of what people are going to think of you and your blog. Throw that out the window now. There will always be those around you that disapprove of what you are doing. They will never go away. The only way to grow in this life is to look fear in the face and say, NOT TODAY!

I have previously talked about moving past the fear of sharing your words and your story. This may help you to take that first step to start writing your blog post and incorporating your important story.

You have to throw away the notion that as a beginner blogger you are going to be perfect. Everyone starts as a beginner. Give yourself the grace to be able to do that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a beginner. This allows your audience to see your growth and to see your journey. It will inspire and encourage others to step into whatever fear they are holding onto.

Perfection is the killer of creativity.

Blogging takes time and you aren’t going to reach thousands of people immediately. You don’t need to reach a huge circle to change the world. Begin with those that are already in your circle. Show up for them. Change your world and you will see the world around you begin to change.

The people who are meant to be in your tribe will resonate more with you when you have the confidence to simply be yourself. Melyssa Griffin

Appreciate the readers that you have. Continue to show up and be consistent in what you are doing. Numbers will consume you if you let them. Keep your focus on learning.

Start where you are. You are an expert in something. You are passionate about something. Share that with others. Blogging isn’t about being fake and trying to be perfect. It is allowing your imperfections to show to your ideal readers. Blogging is about connection. Connecting on a deeper level than what social media allows for. Let them in.

You will gain confidence along the way. Who do you look up to in the business world or blogging world? Do you think they got there because they let a lack of confidence take over? No. They started at the beginning and worked their way up. They dedicated time to ensure that what they had envisioned was going to come true. They took it day by day and built up that confidence in order to grow their blog.

They didn’t have confidence from day one and I can guarantee that there are days that their confidence wavers.

Just this morning as I was reading through another blogger in my niche, I began to question myself.

The number of comments on one blog post alone was probably more than all mine put together. All those mean words that hide inside until the most inopportune time jumped to the surface, reminding me (or trying to) that I was nowhere near qualified to do what I do. That I was the laughing stock of the blogging community.

We all have those words that make us freeze. This morning I had to stop what I was looking at and journal. I needed a reminder that I am good at what I do. It looks different than what she does and that is okay. That there is space for all of us to be here.

So do you want to know how my senior year of softball ended? I had my best year ever and made first-team all-conference. I went on to play for a travelling team that summer.

You got this. The step that you take today will help you gain the confidence you desire tomorrow. Let me help you gain confidence in your story. Let me walk you through every step along the blogging process.

As I have always said…

To get to where you want to be, you need to love where you currently are.