What happened to Jeremy and The Better Blog for the last 32 days? Why have there been no new posts?
To be honest, I wussed out.
I let myself do exactly what I preach about not doing. My posts were becoming more and more disingenuous and because of this, hardly anybody was reading them anymore. I felt like even the few people who did stick around to read this blog would judge every word I wrote. I started to be so self-conscious every time I posted. In short, I got into my head.
So I stopped.
Although this blog had only been running for five months, I quickly got sucked into obsessing over how many likes and views the posts would get--instead of writing this blog for what it truly is: a space for me to share my thoughts, ideas, and opinions in hopes of helping other people.
I started to realize this when I would check to see how many views the latest post had and when I would see that it barely hit double digits, I would question why I was even writing this blog if only a few people were reading it.
In the back of my mind, I always wanted to turn this blog into some form of income. But what did I expect? Start a blog and then a few months later make thousands of dollars from it? We all know that's not how these things work. They take time, work, and most importantly, consistency.
What kind of example was I setting? I’m writing a self-improvement blog about staying consistent, not caring about other's opinions, and sticking to what makes you happy--yet I'm doing the exact opposite. If I can’t even live up to what I’m preaching, why would I expect anyone else to?
Shortly after missing a couple of scheduled posts, I started reading The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Something about this book resonated with me. The author's childhood, how he viewed the world, and his ideas on self-improvement all aligned with my own.
For those of you who haven't read it yet, the gist of the book is that we are much better off when we don’t care about things so much—or rather, when we only care about the things that truly matter and ignore all the other bullshit.
With this blog, I started giving a f*ck about stuff that didn't matter. How many views did it get? How many likes did it get? I wonder what people thought of this post? How can I write something that everyone will like? All stuff that doesn't matter.
Over the last few months, I've been thinking a lot about one idea: we're all going to die eventually. The people we're trying to impress by buying fancy cars, houses, and clothes, are all going to be dead eventually, too. Even if we make a lasting impact on the world to the point where the next generation will know who we are, guess what? They'll all eventually be dead too.
Now, I'm not a nihilist by any means--I do think there is purpose in life. However, I think that we should always keep the idea of our mortality in the back of our minds. When we're deciding what to spend our money on, when we create something, when we post stuff on social media, or when we walk around the grocery store.
In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, the author talks about how we only have so many f*cks to give. Why waste your precious f*cks on meaningless stuff? We should use our f*cks wisely. Give a f*ck about your own happiness. Give a f*ck about making people around you better. Give a f*ck about exploring the world, doing things that get you excited, and spending time with people you care about.
Don't give a f*ck about what people think of you. Don't give a f*ck about the lady who just cut you off in traffic. Use your f*cks wisely.
With all that being said, right now, I’m making a promise to not only you but to myself. I am going to resume these twice-weekly blogs on Mondays and Fridays about how to live a better life. I will practice what I preach in these blogs. If not a single person reads any of these, I will continue writing and posting. If people are offended or don't like what I say, I will continue writing and posting. I will continue to run this blog for the rest of the calendar year, where I will then decide on its future.
For those of you who have read this far, I sincerely thank you. I hope these posts help you in some way--whether it's learning something new, finding entertainment, or gaining a new perspective. My hope is that at some point, something I write will resonate with you or spark something in you. Maybe a new idea or a source of inspiration. Maybe you think to yourself, "if this idiot can write a blog, why couldn't I?"
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