My story began in 2003. Well, technically my story began in 1985 but we are going to fast forward to 2003 when EVERYTHING changed.

The dorm room that took so much away from me became my safe harbour. A place for me to hide away where no one could see how much pain I was in. I was back from a Christmas break that I don’t even remember. I had decided that I needed to stay in this dorm room because it was the ONLY place where my secret was safe.

I remember leaving to go to the bathroom, an occasional shower and to eat some sort of food through that time but it didn’t take long to get the letter from the school that I knew was coming. The HARDEST call I ever had to make to my parents was to come and pick me up at school because I had been expelled for non-attendance. I was expelled because I was no longer attending any classes. I am pretty sure I kept that part out of the conversation because I really didn’t need to have them angry at me. So I think I just told them that I no longer wanted to go to this school.

The disappointment that I saw in their faces said it all. It summed up everything that I had felt about myself. BUT disappointment was BETTER than anger so I took it.

I have NEVER told that story to anyone before. There are pieces of my story that no one yet knows but as I heal on an even deeper level, I am feeling safe to share these pieces.

GIVING UP A PIECE OF ME

June 2020, I was so proud of how I had changed my blog despite feeling like I had to give something up. I had to become a blogging coach. Okay well, I already was a blogging coach but I needed to act the part. I needed to separate my two halves and focus ONLY on one of those halves if I wanted to be successful.

And who doesn’t want to be successful?!?!

So I listened to the advice of EVERYONE around me and did just that. I rebranded. I ONLY transferred my blog posts that had to do with blogging to my new site design. I gave up that piece of me that I knew so intimately, self-care and self-love.

BUT I wanted to be successful so, I too, became coachable.

It was going GREAT! I was hiding that piece of myself pretty good. I had AGAIN tucked a piece of myself away so that I could do what was “supposed to be done.” I WANTED more than anything to be seen as an expert in the blogging industry.

Until slowly my writing started to change. I could feel the walls crumbling that I had put up around those parts of me. They were fighting to get out but I had to learn to keep them silent. I didn’t even realize that those pieces were starting to come out until a friend messaged and told me that my writing was changing.

It was deeper than it had been in a while. I just shrugged my shoulders and tried to keep these pieces under control. If I had to hide them to be an expert then that is what had to be done.

I WAS THE QUEEN OF HIDING MYSELF!!

MY PURPOSE OF BLOGGING

I started blogging as a way to share my story. That is how I became the blogging expert that I am. It was all of those individual pieces that make me AMAZING at what I do.

I began to drift away from blogging. I started creating new content less and less because I was finding it so hard to write about it. I loved teaching about it but more than that, I loved showing women that when you step into your story, your blog becomes a piece of you. It begins to heal the world and by giving up that part of my story, I gave away who I was.

So here I am, back again. Creating a full circle and deciding that it doesn’t matter what others think I need to do. What truly matters is HOW I decide to show up for my readers, for my social media followers and for my clients. And how I choose to do that is to show the self-love and self-care side of blogging.

Reconnect the two halves together again to create this magical experience for ANYONE who reads what I write and for ANYONE that I work with.

CREATING A BLOG THAT IS FOCUSED ON YOUR STORY

I have had a conversation the other day with a couple of friends about how coaches are pushing their agenda on their clients. How it isn’t about support anymore but about TELLING someone that they are doing something wrong. This isn’t what coaching is to me.

I feel this deeply because I have been told what I NEED to do to succeed and MOST of the time, it left me feeling like my business wasn’t enough. That my passion and my vision just weren’t going to cut it anymore. That who I AM meant that I wasn’t going to be successful in any way.

I want you to create a blog that lights you up. That showcases your story and highlights pieces of you that you want to share with the world.

You don’t need to hide pieces of yourself to be successful. You don’t need to hide pieces of yourself to have a successful blog. Creating that success means being true to yourself.

So how do you create a blog that will be successful and also focus on your story?

LEARN WHO YOU ARE. This is a process and will take time but knowing this will help you to create a blog that YOU love and that YOU will continue to want to grow.

When I started blogging, I wanted to relearn who I was. I NEEDED to relearn who I was. It is okay to admit to yourself that you may not know who you are anymore. With life happening all around us, sometimes we can lose that.

KNOW YOUR VISION AND WHY. I have to go back to my vision and why so often. Knowing your vision and why will help you realign when you feel like you have gotten off track with what you are doing. Write it down. Put it where you can see it every day. Put it on your vision board. Set a timer on your phone with it as a reminder. The deeper you know your vision and your why, the more you will be able to continue on YOUR path.

KNOW YOUR NON-NEGOTIABLES. What pieces of you are non-negotiable? This has to include your life, your blog and your business. It is in these non-negotiables that make you stand out from the crowd. They make you who you are.

For me, they are the way that I combine blogging with self-love and self-care. They are the way that I can easily breakdown the process of blogging.

Write your list of non-negotiables and remember them. When someone tells you anything different, say thank you and remind them of WHO YOU ARE.

CREATE YOUR BLOG TOPICS AROUND YOUR STORY. Know what you can offer to those who are coming to your blog. These categories are going to show your readers what you can teach them. Be unique and dive into your story to help others do the same.

BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. You can ask for advice and get help with your blog because that is what I am here for BUT I want you to remember…

At the end of the day, all that matters is how you feel. If advice feels like it is taking something away, don’t use it. For you to be truly successful, you need to do it on your terms.

LIVING FULL CIRCLE

The more I work on creating the life, blog and business that I want; the more I realize that I already knew everything inside. There is no beginning and end to YOUR STORY.

My success is in LIVING IN MY PASSION and TELLING MY STORY.

That is also available to YOU if you ARE READY to step into your VERY OWN SUCCESS STORY.

Say YES to learning how to WRITE YOUR STORY by joining the Write Your Story Masterclass. There are 2 times for this masterclass. Sunday, March 14, 2021, at 10 am and Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 8 pm.