Today marks 1 year for the blog and it’s crazy how fast the time has gone! This past year has taught be more than I could’ve imagined, not only about building an online business but also about myself! When I started this blog, I truly had no idea what I was doing and honestly, I hadn’t even read many other blogs. I had a lot to learn but I knew I had an important message about personal development to share with others!

At the beginning of 2018, I felt on top of the world since, as many of you know, 2017 had been such an amazing year for my family and I. By that time, I had been on my personal development journey for about 2 years and knew I wanted to start sharing the tools and information I was learning about with others so that they too could live happier and healthier lives.

Since the blog is turning 1 today, I wanted to share a few of the biggest lessons it has taught me about building an online business and about myself over this past year!

Here are 5 of the biggest lessons I learned in my first year of blogging:

1. Building a Blog Isn’t Easy

On January 3, 2018, I created my domain and bought my website. A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what a domain was or how that’s different from building your actual website. I learned that WordPress templates are amazing but there is a ton of work behind the pretty looking website in order to make it properly function.

Like personal development, there is a lot of important work that needs to be done behind the scenes that people don’t see but are what make the website look and function the way you want it to. After a lot of Google searches, YouTube videos, and trial and error, I’m very proud of where the blog is today!

2. Easy Does It

I’m the type of person who jumps in full force. This can be an amazing quality to have but can also bite me in the butt at times. When building this blog, I sure did jump in full force! I built the website, created the content, did the research, and made all of the social media… by the 90 day period, I just about burnt myself out. Someone once told me that most bloggers don’t last more than 90 days, and I believe it. Blogging is hard word, I underestimated the amount of work it truly takes!

I took all of the joy out of what I was trying to do by pushing myself to hard and too fast! I’ve always been aware of my rash decision making and excessive drive when I put my mind to something, but this year taught me the importance of taking a second to think before doing, to slowing down, and that it’s better to have quality over quantity!

3. It’s your Dream, not Theirs

Your dreams are your dreams, people can be excited for you but when it comes down to it, no one else is going to be as passionate and excited about your dream/business as you are, nor should they be. If you’re passionate about something or have a dream, you should be your own biggest cheerleader!

Over the years, I’ve often looked outside myself for reassurance to confirm that what I’m doing is right, instead of listening to my inner guidance. This year helped me realize that I need to start trusting myself and my decisions instead of always looking to others to reassure me and tell me if they think it’s a good idea. This was a huge lesson for me this year. No one else’s opinion should matter more to us than our own!

4. Building a Business on Social Media is Hard

I’m not going to lie, social media kicked my butt this year. I had NO IDEA how much behind the scenes work goes into creating those perfect little squares. There are so many unwritten rules for creating that perfectly presented feed: perfect lighting, content, captions, consistently sharing, and these are only a few of the many unwritten rules used for utilizing social media for your business. When I’ve said don’t compare your life to someone else’s highlight reel on social media, I’m telling you this because it truly is like comparing yourself to a model in a magazine!

Social media is a great way to build your business online but getting too consumed with anything is never a good for anyone! I learn this the hard way and have created boundaries to ensure I’m utilizing social media in a healthy way to build by business but also for my own sanity.

5. The LadiMerk Community is Amazing

When I started this blog a year ago, I started from scratch with no previous following of any sort. I’m so lucky to have the amazing community I do, full of such supportive people! Every single comment, like, share, follow, purchase, post read, group joined, and everything else means the world and is so very much appreciated!!!

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for each and every one of you! It’s so rewarding to be able to share the things I love with all of you and hear the positive impact they have had on your lives! When I hear that you are being introduced to personal development through me, finding a self-help book that you love, finding outfit inspiration, trying a new recipes that you enjoy, or simply reading a post that you can relate to and knowing that you’re not alone… hearing how I’ve helped improve other’s lives and introduced them to new positive things is such a rewarding experience and the entire reason I do what I do!

Thank you to each and everyone of you for joining me on this journey over this past year and for all of your continued support! I can’t wait to see where this journey leads in the future and continue to take you a long for the ride!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

xoxo – Katie