The # 1 thing people ask me is, “How do you get all those people on your blog?”
What I think they mean is, “You’re not famous. You’re not that special. You work at home all day so how do you get all those inspiring people to take time from their busy schedule to spend time on 2inspired?”
I know. I get it. Because I’m pretty astounded too.
I started blogging because at the time I was quite fed up. I spent most of my life working at jobs that went from, “eh?” to “EEEEEHHHHH!!!.” In other words, the blah jobs and the “I’d rather do anything else than this” job.
After I was officially in my thirties, I decided that I’d rather risk being poor than taking a job I hated. With that, I opened the door to the possibility of writing again.
I think my first stint as a writer was poetry in elementary school. I started creating my own little newspaper where the top events was a leaky pipe or a sunny day. I got involved with our school’s newsletter and “worked” as an editor when computers were big, bulky things with no pictures. In high school, I joined the newspaper staff and surprised myself by winning a journalism scholarship award-one of only a handful in the state.
‘Til today, I still believe that I won solely based on my one strength. No, it’s not my writing skills, but something I share with Ryan Seacrest. It’s my A for effort.
I truly believe the reason why fiction and nonfiction authors, life coaches and past Olympians visit 2inspired is that I have a passion and that passion makes me high on E: E for energy and effort. It’s also on the graciousness of the people who I meet that makes 2inspired possible.
Well, plus, I ask.
Most people don’t believe that if they ask, they might just get what they want. I ask because my crazy desire to inspire others is greater than my fear of being rejected. I’ve experienced a million and a half rejections in my life and I’m still standing. Most of the time, I surprise myself by getting exactly what I ask for.
I think this goes back to Martha Beck’s Joy Diet and desire. Some people are so afraid of disappointment that they would rather hide their wishes in a closet, then lie them out so the world can see them. Maybe I’m just a little less scared of that. That’s all it is really.
If you want to make your dreams come true, don’t wait for someone to hand it over to you. Don’t wait until you feel good enough to deserve it or until you think you’re talented enough. Don’t wait or else time and the world will pass you by. Work today, one foot in front of the other, and your dreams will be that much closer while your fears will be that much farther behind.
If I waited for permission, for a sign or something that says, “Now you’re ready! You’re talented enough so people won’t laugh behind your back and talk about what a fake you are.” I’d be doing the same thing I did for most of my career. Sit back, watch life happen outside my window and let fear take over.
My point is this.
I’m not any more talented than the next person. What I have is a strong desire to make a difference to others, inspire them while I face my own fears and share the experience through my writing.
I just hope you realize that you can do it too. Follow on that path of whatever it is that makes your heart soar. Allow yourself the chance to shine and live out your dreams with wild abandon. Because really. If you don’t do it, who else will make your dreams come true?
