How To Find Your “Thing”
Have you ever wondered how do find your “thing”? You know – that thing that all those successful bloggers and online marketers talk about? It’s that one thing you can do really well and really enjoy that you can turn into a profitable business. Do you feel like maybe you just don’t have it? Perhaps you’re secretly jealous of all those people who were just born knowing what they were meant to do to earn a living.
Don’t worry, and don’t give up! That’s exactly how I was feeling just 4 years ago. I figured I was just one of those people who didn’t have a “thing,” and I was probably destined to just go to a boring j-o-b every day to pay the bills. In hindsight I can now clearly see how wrong I was! I was expecting it to be completely obvious and in my face rather than having to work and try different things just to figure out what it was.
Recently, I was reading a book called Money Making Mom, written by one of the most successful bloggers I know. Crystal has been blogging at Money Saving Mom for over ten years, and her blog gets millions of pageviews each month (not to mention it brings in tons of revenue). You really can’t get more successful than that, and I always thought she was practically born knowing what she was good at and what she should do with her life. I was surprised to read this in her book:
“Often, people will assume that my success as a blogger came from an immediate, instinctual clue that writing and online marketing were my things. In reality, that could not be further from the truth. I didn’t know what my thing was and had to stumble along a lot and make many mistakes before I uncovered my gifts.” – Crystal Paine, in Money Making Mom
I’ve felt the exact same way! So, if you’re not sure what your thing is yet, don’t give up. You have to try different things before you find it. It may surprise you to learn that I’m NOT the person everyone thinks always has a perfectly clean and tidy home! Even though I’ve always loved organizing and planners, I thought they couldn’t possibly be my thing, because my overall housekeeping skills have never blown anyone away. Obviously, I was wrong.
When I started my blog, I gave myself the freedom to pursue a lot of different topics, and it quickly became apparent that my thing was organizing. The other topics (like recipes and healthy living) just didn’t hold my interest like organizing and planners. When I created the Sweet Life Planner in 2012, I had never created anything like it before. I put it out there and doubted whether anyone would buy it. To my surprise, 10 people did buy it , and I loved it so much that I kept on creating.
Keep on looking if you haven’t found your thing. As far as practical advice:
- – Give yourself the freedom to try lots of new things
- – Don’t worry so much about whether you’re super good at something. Most beginners aren’t great, even if it is their thing. If you love it enough to wake up excited to do it every single day, then you’ll get way better with practice.
- – What do you do or read for fun? For a couple years before I started my blog I read all sorts of information about online marketing. I just found it fascinating. That was a good clue that it was my thing.
Here is a recent scope I did on this exact topic if you want to hear more.
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Johanna Says
Thank you for this! As someone who is revitalizing a long dormant blog, I experience some negativity and self-doubt as to whether I should even try. I loved blogging when I was active, but it seems that the niche I love most already has a lot of talented people blogging in it. It’s encouraging to hear that I can still have a “thing,” even if I’m a beginner. Thank you for highlighting that finding that thing can be a major effort, but that it’s often very worth it to keep going. Great post!
Vanessa Jencks Says
Scoot on over to Jeff Goins’ blog for a kick in the pants. He gave me one. I can totally relate to your fear and doubt! Except… I’ve just been avoiding writing since my undergrad even though I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wasted 7 years of my life for even just some quality practice time.
Johanna Says
Hey, thanks, Vanessa! Checking him out now.
Shaina Longstreet Says
My “thing” started out as scrapbooking. I worked at a scrapbook store as my first job in high school and stumbled onto the world of blogging through scrapbookers I liked. I started my own blog then, used scanned in scrapbooking supplies to design my blog to make it look pretty, and have grown my design and blog skills from there. Love where this journey has taken me, and I never thought it would be here. 🙂
Amy Says
I’ve been searching for quite sometime for my “thing”. I have yet to find it. 🙁
But this is a good read! 🙂 thank you!
Christene Holder Says
THANK YOU for this post and your periscope as well!! I constantly have these feelings – not knowing my “thing” and having self doubt. Seriously your blog is so refreshing and inspiring because I feel like I’m reading and listening to …. me! We are so similar. Thanks for the boost of encouragement and the reminder that I need to give myself some grace when starting something new. The perfectionist in me gets frustrated and discouraged, but I need to remember that it takes some time to become good at your “thing” when you are beginning.
Becky Mollenkamp Says
This is inspiring and good advice. Also, your planners look awesome! Thanks for sharing on the Savvy Business Owners FB group.
Summer Mauldin Says
Thank you a million times. It’s so helpful to see a “behind the scenes” of how you work through many “not your things” to get to “your thing”. Love this! Thank you for your encouragement.
LauraJane Says
Post authorSo glad to share an encouraging behind the scenes!
Vanessa Jencks Says
So, would you consider that you’re blog is at the goal that you’ve aimed for when you started? Or are you not quite there yet? I’m just curious. Do you mind sharing?
Vanessa Jencks Says
Ugh. typos… sorry. It’s late here.
Summer Says
As I am working on creating my blog, one suggestion I ran across was to have a Blog Planner. I looked through your planners and did not see one up. Is this something you might do in the future or something you’ve thought about? I didn’t know if they are mostly online or beautiful print outs like the ones you make. Thanks again for your encouragement and beautiful products!
Pingback: Is it okay to blog about multiple topics? - I Heart Planners
K Ann Guinn Says
Thank-you for a great post and video. It is very encouraging. I just read your post about blogging about more than one topic and found it equally informing and encouraging. I so appreciate successful bloggers who are willing (and even passionate!), about sharing their story and help to those of us who are new.
My husband does SEO and set up and assists me with the technical details of running my blog (thank goodness!), and he told me from the start that I need to start slow and be persistent. I have been blogging for just under six months, and am still trying to find my “thing”, although I know that part of it is blogging in itself. Looking forward to seeing where this will lead!