Hey Lookers
Welcome to Part Two of ‘Reaching our Goals and Overcoming Our Hesitations & Fears’. This post came about as I have been finalising my goals for 2018 and I wanted to share a personal story with you about my own goals, hesitations and fears. In Part One I shared my goal of starting my Blog, Elaine’s Roves ‘n Troves’ and talked a bit about where my passion for it began, my inspiration and then give an insight into my hesitation, worries and fears in starting my blog. I also shared a bit on how I got over the ‘what will they think of me’ and finished that series with the ‘turning point’.
In Part 2, this post, I want to share more about my blog, how I developed the name, talk about how the blog evolved, and then look at my goal and plans for onwards and upwards and what’s next for my blog.
It’s All in the Name
So at this stage I had decided I was going to go for it, I was ready to take the leap and start my own blog and of course I needed a name. I spent a lot of time trying to come up with a name for my blog. This definitely was a hard part and I’m not even sure if I have it right, but this is what it is now ‘Elaines’s Roves ‘n Troves’. When picking a name I liked the idea of incorporating my own name as part of it so it has a more personal feel and you can associate a person behind it all, so I used my first name. I then selected the word ‘Roves’ as it refers to the journey that I take you on through my blog and how I share all what I do as I ‘wander’ through my life, experiences and day to day activities. The word is also closely connected to the travel aspect that my blog focuses on. Then I added the word ‘Troves’ as this refers to my blog as a store of delightful or valuable things that I discover, experience and find and uncover for you. So the final name unfolded as ‘Elaine’s Roves ‘n Troves’
You Are The One In Control
On the 21st November 2016 my blog went LIVE… what a nerve wrecking day that was and I probably wrote and rewrote that first post a hundred times. I had a real sense of fear and anxiety and on the other side I had a real sense of relief when I hit ‘publish’ it was like a weight of my shoulders and there was no going back. I was so proud at this stage because after thinking and wondering about having my own Blog for 3 years I had took action and finally made it happen. In the end I was the only person that could take control and make it happen. We can get lots of advice and encouragement, but unless we take it on board and act on it, that’s all it will ever be ‘advise’.
A Little Bit About Me & My Blog
For those of you who are new to my blog, let me tell you a bit more about it and how it has evolved over the year. My blog is a Lifestyle blog, specialising in Interiors, Fashion & Travel. When I started out it was mostly focused around fashion as I have a real passion for clothes, shoes and anything style. I love to show my own style through the blog and ideas of how to wear items as well as showing alternatives for different budgets. Then I also started to incorporate in some travel as I was doing a lot through my own job as well as in my own personal time, so I loved to share some of my favourite places, nicest hotels, best cafes and places to eat that I found. Then more recently I have started to focus as well on interiors as I have moved into my new home a over a year ago, which was a self build, so I had a new found love for interiors and feedback from followers drove me in the direction to share more of this. I want to use it to share my experiences, discoveries & finds, uncovering corners of my home interiors and others that catch my eye, revealing my global travels with paths taken along the way and sharing my passion for fashion & style, all aiming to inspire.
My full time job is a Global Marketing Manager for a Global engineering Company, which I love. In my marketing career I have received several awards for my efforts, with the latest one being Chartered Marketer status, which I received this year. It therefore feels natural and authentic to promote and share products that I love through my blog so others can enjoy and experience them too. Over the year my blog has evolved and no doubt will continue to as it very much reflects the happenings in my life at the given time and focuses on things that I have an interest in or love. I always make it true to what is happening and going on at any given time in my life and the content is seldom planned, mostly spontaneous each day. This post is exactly that.
What I show on my various social platforms is purely my own opinion and by no means am I saying it is the right thing, the best thing or the nicest thing, but it is simply sharing things that I like, enjoy or do. I want to engage with people who have a similar love and interest in the things I love and through my content I aim to inspire them so they too can experience the same.
Fashion & Style – sharing some of my fashion
Interiors – sharing some corners of my home
Travels – Work tip to Las Vegas back in March
Onwards and Upwards
I celebrated my first anniversary of blogging in November of this year and this was for sure a highlight of my year. What an exciting journey it has been so far and I must say I am very excited for what is to come. (You can see some highlights from my first year of blogging here).
Over one year on and I feel so happy that I went ahead with my goal and aspiration. That said from time to time I sometimes still get a bit paranoid what people will think, but I have to keep reminding myself of the ‘story’ of the father and son and refocus on why I started the blog in the first place. It’s definitely true to say that as the year has passed and as I developed my blog this feeling of worrying about ‘others’ and how I am judged has definitely passed somewhat and I feel more confident in what I do. I also get reassurance when I get positive feedback from people indicating that they like what they see and read and especially when they ask to see more on a certain topic. Equally I encourage my followers to send me constructive criticism as this will help me to evolve and develop. I am passionate about growing my blog with my followers at the forefront of what I do. I strive to provide inspiring, useful and engaging content for my followers and at the same time help promote local businesses.
In order to progress onwards and upwards I know I need to focus on what lies ahead and look the future. I have to forget about not starting when I should have done, and don;t beat myself up about this. We all encounter humps and bumps along the way, we can be taken off in different directions, but as long as it gets us to our end goal then that is the main thing. ‘Never regret anything that has happened in your life, it cannot be changed, undone or forgotten, so take it as a lesson learnt and move on’
Sincere Gratitude
Without the support from my followers I would not have achieved what I have to date, so I want to take this chance again to thank each and every person who has liked my blog, followed me, left a comment, shared my stories, sent me messages, recommended my blog to a friend and supported me on this journey. Every single interaction really means so so much to me and its people like you that make what I do all worthwhile. So I thank you dearly and I look forward to taking you further on my journey and who knows where it will take me and you, but I’m excited to keep going.
What’s Next? The Future is Bright
My blog will no doubt continue to focus on the topics that I love, Fashion, Interiors and Travel and I plan to uncover more of these topics as I experience and enjoy them myself. I am keen for my blog to evolve based on feedback from my followers as well as continuing to be spontaneous to what is happening in my life at the given time. I also look forward to new ventures to work with more local and regional companies and businesses to be an ambassador for them and help promote their products as part of my blog. Showcasing things I truly love myself or am passionate is key to keeping it authentic and true to myself and my followers.
A Few Final Words …for now ‘Spread Your Wings’
So I leave you with a few final thoughts, if you are like me and want to maybe start your own blog, or you want to take on something that for some reason you too are worrying what others will think, have fears in how you will be perceived, then I ask you to remember the story of the ‘father and son’ and do what is right for you. For if you were to stand still and do nothing you would still be judged. And remember ‘what other people say about you is none of your business.’ It’s time to spread your wings and see where it takes you.
Elaine xx
