I wrote (and posted) 20 blog posts this month! Yes, let that sink in! TWENTY!

If you’re wondering how I did this, stay tuned. I have to say that I’ve surprised myself. Needless to say, I’m proud. Also needless to say, this was like having a part-time job!

After hearing how I wrote daily, Monday-Friday, you just might be reminded of a few things about yourself. During this process I was totally reminded of some dope things about myself! It may also have you thinking we’re all insane. I promise we’re not!

The Inspiration

Mattie James, an influencer who teaches other influencers how to successfully pitch brands, hosted a consistency challenge for the month of July. The goal: post a blog of at least 150 words, with a photo, Monday-Friday between July 6th and July 31st. The winner gets a $1000.  That’s it. Easy, right? About that…

The Reason

Is the $1000 prize cool? Absolutely! Who doesn’t love cash? Is that why I did this? Absolutely not. Cue the violins. Y’all, I started this blog in 2018. I had a good start, and that was it! I stopped writing. There wasn’t some major life event that happened. The only thing that stopped me was me. The rest of that story is a post for another day, but just know that I wasn’t confident in what I was creating. I recently decided that if I was confident about it didn’t matter, I needed to just create. Yep, you read that right. I just needed to create.

The How

You may be wondering how one goes from not writing or posting at all to posting daily. I made up my mind that I could do it. So I did. That’s not meant to be a motivational quote. It’s actually how it happened.

Here’s something you may not know about me. I actually sit and brainstorm with brands about content they could create, and then coach them on how to repurpose it. What’s crazy about this is that I have a hard time doing it for my brand. Go figure. To complete this challenge, I treated my brand like I would someone elses. I brainstormed, developed a cadence for the month and plotted out my topics. Did they shift? Sure, but I started with a solid framework. 

The Top 3 Lessons I Learned 

Of course there were MANY lessons learned during this process. Some of the things I learned include html code, that plugins can be equally awesome and pains in the butt. Others were lessons I relearned. I’ll just share three because I also need to get started on next months content.

1. I can be consistent. I’ve actually proven this to myself time and time again, but oddly I need to be reminded…repeatedly. The thing that helps me the most with being consistent with anything is having a plan. This challenge was no different. I planned out my content calendar (and sort of my editorial process) for the entire month. Prior to beginning, I brainstormed topics for about ten minutes. That list hit well over 75 posts across my categories. I whittled those down to the 20 posts needed for the month.
2. I have time to do things. So, I am the queen of making excuses! “I don’t have time” is a staple. Doing this challenge reminded me that I need to create time for things I want to accomplish. Whether it is fitness, writing, creating or building a business, I can do it if I reallocate the time and space to do it. 
3. I can crank out content. Yo! I learned that not only can I brainstorm and create topics, I can write content and get it out daily! My posts start with a template and a desire to keep the post as short as possible, but it doesn’t often work out that way. I often veer off template, and write well over the minimum. Sue me, but I have to get the full story out. I also didn’t pre-schedule any posts this month, and wrote my posts daily. I did this to create the habit of writing often, and under pressure if necessary. When I read Atomic Habits, I was reminded that goals are accomplished by creating habits to accomplish them. I talk about this more in my post about my personal Q3 goals. All of that to say, I also used this challenge as a way to create some great habits.

There are several other lessons I’ve learned (or relearned) during this process, but I won’t highlight them all. What I will say is this: you have all of the tools you need to do exactly what you want to do. This is something I’ve said to myself DAILY throughout this challenge. It works.

Will I win the MJ Consistency Challenge? I may not win the money, but I have already won just by being intentional about my participation. If Mattie wants to slide that stack my way, I will gladly accept!

Tell me. What do you want to do? We all have something. I’ll go first. I want to interview restaurant chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers in Chicagoland for Dash & Stir. Now that it is out, it is time to get after it!

Dash & Stir is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.I may earn a small commission on any purchases you make via these links.