Live & Learn…

My blog is my pride and joy, and I love writing and creating content to educate, inspire and hopefully entertain! I’m proud of what I have created, and I have come to a point where I know what I stand for and what I am most passionate about sharing. This wasn’t always the case however, and for a long time in my blogging journey I transitioned through a time of self doubt, questioning, and a lot of trial and error. I evolved my blog and content to have a meaningful purpose, creating published work I feel is reflective of my creative potential. When I look back now, I realise that every mistake has a lesson, and every lesson is also an opportunity…

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”

— Jim Rohn, Author.

My Blogging Journey | Mistakes & Lessons

Lesson #1. | Know your strengths AND weaknesses…

When I first began blogging I made the mistake of thinking I could do it all… NOW!

Not only did I want to style, photograph and write all my content on my own, but I also wanted full control over the makeup, direction and concepts. Although this was a great long term goal, and is a a very valuable aspect of my USP (Unique Selling Point) for my blog now, it wasn’t always the case. One of my strengths is my ability to work quickly and efficiently, but a weakness of mine is my ability to accurately foresee how long or difficult it will be. I struggled with my photoshoots in the beginning, self portraiture was not easy to grasp, to capture what I envisioned in my mind seemed elusive and was very frustrating. As a result, I became disillusioned with my initial efforts, dismayed and losing passion for creating. I was falling short in both my efforts and the outcome. My mistake? Doing too much, too soon. I have learned that the number one lesson with blogging and content creation is quality over quantity. If you want to do a lot of posts, then make them short. Or if you write a LOT, keep your posts infrequent so no matter your process, you can be proud of the finished result and your audience will always be excited for your new content.

The missed opportunity: In every mistake there is a missed opportunity. I could have set my focus on one passion at a time. This is a strategy I began utilising later on with my popular weekly instagram stories feature ‘Makeup Monday’ as a way of exploring and practicing my makeup skills. I helped myself learn faster by focusing on just makeup and nothing else. By ignoring other aspects like photographing it, and incorporating creative makeup into my outfits once I was confident enough to put it all together. This is what I have done in this spring blossom photoset!

Lesson #2. | Plan to Play

Another essential lesson I learned is the importance of being flexible, and adapting to changes however they may come. Blogging is about consistency, and this requires planning and preparation. The plans can also change! This can happen for a huge variety of reasons when you are creating content by yourself. For example the weather, sickness, personal life, global trends or events, are just a few of the things that can affect your plans and preparations. The key is to always be ready for change, and to be able to work on your feet! Play it by ear, and as I like to describe it especially when you are photographing and creating on your own - plan to play! Plan ahead and give yourself enough time to experiment with different ideas, options, and concepts. Make sure to include time to research, develop and refine those ideas. My emotional state and my creative inspiration are closely linked, so to keep myself in the most productive state of mind to create, its important I don’t rush myself, or expect too much too quickly. Remember that good things take time, and the result with be worth the wait.

The missed opportunity: I made the mistake early on of giving myself strict expectations around how I wanted to approach various projects. I severely limited the time I gave myself for planning and drafting my ideas, which when you are developing any new skill set will be greatly increased. If you are new to makeup, photography, or styling a certain aesthetic take this into account. The more unfamiliar the topic, the more time you will need for conceptualising your project, ensuring you will be happy with the finished result. Perfecting your project takes time, and had I given myself more time initially to produce my work I would have produced a higher standard of overall work, and felt better about the results.

Lesson #3. | Keep your Focus

I discovered after blogging for some time, that keeping my focus on one goal for each photoset was the best way to achieve my creative goals. Its so tempting to want to capture everything in a beautiful location, all the angles, or all the outfits, expressions, lighting, you name it. The problem with this approach is a lack of focus will require you to spread your efforts to cover more ground, and unless you are a master already this extra time and energy will create a loss in quality.

The missed opportunity: In the beginning, I wanted to do everything at once. Jack of all trades and master of none. By sacrificing nothing I missed out on reaching the creative potential. Now, I choose one goal for each photoshoot whether it’s the lighting, an aspect of the location, or a specific atmosphere I want to capture. This way, I have spent my focus on the most important elements of each photoshoot, and as a result I am much more satisfied with the outcome!

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