dream | act | succeed

Well, generally speaking there is actually no need to even write about this. I mean, you can already assume what the ups and downs are. But either way I want to talk about it, because from my point of view it is quite important to get your expectations right.

When I was starting off this thing, this was a completely new world for me. For sure I had Facebook and stuff before, but I was never actually posting something online. Maybe a profile photo here and there but that was it. Therefore it was actually quite an experience to get used to do that on a regular basis. Today, this isn’t bothering me anymore, but at the beginning, it felt like a really strange and hard thing to do. My hearth beat would start to rise, my hands get sweaty. There is that feeling of uncertainty coming up, excitement, nervousness. Will they like what I do? Will they react to it? Will they even read it? Or will they hate it? Starting a shit storm or what ever situation you can possibly imagine in your mind. All those things where rushing through my head, making the moment of clicking on the publishing button quite an event. I felt the tension in my body, it was really a weird thing to do.
But to be honest, you realize pretty soon that not many people are reading this anyways and therefore get used to the process rather quickly. But still, it is something you may need to deal with as well, if you are starting from a similar position.

Speaking about the interaction with other people and readers online, that is definitely a part of the rollercoaster ride as well. On the one hand you think that the internet is that strange place where everyone is watching everything, controlling your life and reacting to things ultra fast, but on the other hand you figure out pretty soon, that no one cares about you and your little side project. For sure, that can change over time, but at the beginning, that is not going to happen anyways. Therefore, be prepared to go through that death valley. Just take one step after the other, the readers will come. Somehow. But you need to go on. Take the next step. Don’t look back or even stop this thing entirely. There will come better days! Believe me! There will come a day, when someone actually reads what you have to say. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow. But don’t give up! Stay on the path, step by step. There will be other days coming up, where someone interacts with you. Asks you a question or just wants to share some information. But if you do not push through, you will never come to that point. You will never reach your goal! Do you remember? This is your big dream? This is what you wanted so badly! You are getting closer! Day by day, minute by minute. But you can never stop! Never look back! Your future lays in front of you!

But of course, as good or bad as that little motivational inspiration part sounds, there may grow a fear during that process, that someone or actually all the people might do not like what you are actually doing. You start to doubt your system. Your topic. The way you are doing this project. You wonder if this is really the right thing to do. And what makes matters worse? Some people might react in a negative way towards your project. They may talk it small, showing you that they are not interested in this. Trying to make you feel bad. You have heard these stories about online trolls. They want to make you feel bad, make you stop. For sure, sometimes they do not even know how hard you are struggling. But in that moment, it is just enough for you. You want to step back, stop this project, or at least considering to end the project for a couple of days, weeks, month or years.
Well, even though that I am very open to feedback and actually want to be criticized, not many people have done that until today. Therefore I can tell you that this fear is not really something that should bother you. But of course it can happen. From my point of view it is very unlikely to occur and even if it happens, you are more intelligent than those individuals, therefore this is not a huge problem to deal with anyways.
But for sure, you need to make your mindset right. You are the CEO of your blog, you need to be convinced from your idea. You need to represent the product in an authentic way. There is no room for uncertainty or hesitation. There is just a 100% commitment for your idea. This is your little baby! And you want this thing to grow!

But speaking about Feedback, this is in fact something I want to talk about today as well. If you remember correctly from the other posts of this topic week, then you probably know that I stepped back from writing my book offline and started this project here in order to get some feedback. Well, little did I know about the real world. I thought that people would actually read my posts and interact with me from day one on, telling me the things I want to hear, or actually need to hear. “This part about motivation was good, but what about the other part? I don’t get your message! Can you rewrite that?” That was my expectation. Sounds funny if I look back at this. Because in reality, it all looks a little bit different. You are one out of a million other blogs. If you are lucky, someone will accidentally visit your website. Clicking on your home screen and maybe actually read one or two of your pieces. But that is it. For sure, this person has a process running in their head, analyzing the thing and actually coming to a conclusion. But this analysis will not get to you. That person might click on the “like – button” or write a comment with “great work!” or “Nice post!” but that is it. No real feedback.
Today, this is basically what I experience. I mean, for sure, no one is really commenting on my posts online, therefore that was just the “wish & dream” department of my brain, that wanted to plant this information right here in the post, trying to convince some of my dear readers to actually comment at least today and sending me some dopamine shots during the day. But actually there is one person that actually gives me a lot of feedback. I guess, that is the right moment to thank that person. I know, that you know, that I am talking about you, therefore there is no need to mention your name. Thank you very much! But besides that one person, a really good feedback exchange hasn’t happened yet. I mean, I am about to make some changes in the blog, trying to get these issues fixed. But for the moment, I do not really have a clue if people get the message in the way, I want them to understand the topics I am writing about or not.

But for sure, most of the time you do not really get the truth about something anyways. I have seen that at work, or at university on multiple occasions. People don’t like to criticize others, especially, if they can not hide behind an anonymous name somewhere out there in the World Wide Web. Therefore, they will try to be very polite and superficial, trying to do not hurt you in your feelings and emotions. Well, that might sound not too bad, but the thing is, you just do not get the right information out of them. If something should be changed, but nobody is telling you, well then this isn’t good for both sides. Therefore, I can only beg you for advice and feedback. I will try to implement some changes in the next couple of weeks to make that easier for you to do, because I guess, it is not that easy to reach out to me anyways.

But of course, no feedback is kind of a feedback as well. You had that dream, you want that thing to grow. But the question is, how do you deal with setbacks? How do you deal with days, where no-one is actually reading what you have to say. Days, or posts, which have not been read by a single person? I had those posts, actually some of my most favorite ones are in that category. Sure, I have written more than 150.000 words until know, that’s nothing you just read in an hour or two, but still, I thought that there would be more traffic. Sure, at least for my situation it was better in that way, because I definitely needed / still need the time to get used to all of this. Therefore I can not complain. And I mean, the situation is great as it is. Just a little bit more feedback and I have everything I ever wanted.

See you next time!