This Blog Will Change Your Life – A Story of Hope and Determination
It all starts here.
It was October 2014 and I was writing yet another blog. I had lost count of how many exactly I had written at this point. I had a binder full of sites I had sent blogs to that had replied with a big fat NO. I read somewhere with every 100 No’s there is bound to be at least 1 Yes (or something like that). I was determined. Read on for this beautiful message of hope.
Someone was going to say yes to me. This I knew for sure.
I had a list, a big list, of all the sites I thought would like my stories. I thought they were good stories and I always considered myself a good writer. I kept at it. I’m a determined little bugger.
My goal? To become a freelance writer and completely reinvent my life.
But do you even know how to blog?
So why was I doing this anyway? What was the point? I mean, I had a decent job that paid ok. Not fantastic, but the bills got paid, mostly, and I wasn’t starving. So why was I working full time at a regular job 5 days a week and writing during ALL my free time (and that’s exactly what I did). I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t really do much outside of work besides volunteer at a homeless shelter a few hours a week. So why was I busting my butt writing like a fiend and submitting articles that continually received no’s?
Who in their right mind would even bother? Sounds tedious and frustrating and hopeless and almost even pointless. Right?
Wrong.
I was on a mission to become a full-time freelancer and come to Hell or High Water, I was going to make this happen, dammit. The bigger question was “do you even know how to blog and who wants to read your stuff anyway?”
If they can do it so can I.
Why can’t I? Why not me? Who says I can’t? You know, you read all these blogs about people who packed in their day jobs, told their boss “I’m outta here!!” and began a journey on the road to freedom. I read these stories in awe. I was amazed, jealous, envious, and hopeful, well sorta. I can do that. Can’t I? How hard can it be?
Well, I was soon to discover just how hard it was. Not hard in the sense that it takes a lot of time to write a blog, submit it, keep your fingers crossed, and then rinse and repeat. No, not that kind of hard. What was hard was working full time, coming home at 9:30 pm every nite, unwinding, and then sitting down at the computer and writing until 2 am and then getting up in the morning and doing it all over until it was time to leave for work again.
What was even harder was keeping my faith strong and my hopes up high. That was hard. So many no’s. This is ridiculous. Seriously, are these people looking for the next Stephen King or Ernest Hemingway? All I wanna blog about is inspirational things. I mean, these are guest post submissions. It’s not like they are paying me. No! There’s no money involved here. This is something you must do just to get recognized!
The message of hope
Keep at it, Iva. Don’t give up. You are a good writer, dammit! Don’t let anyone take that away from you. You do know how to craft a decent blog!
And then it happened. In November. One month or so into my “I wanna be a freelancer” journey.
I got my first Yes! And I was over the moon with excitement. There are no words to even describe the euphoria I felt. But wait. It gets better. It wasn’t just a Yes from anybody. Nope, it was a Yes from Steven Aitchison. Pinch me, surely I MUST be dreaming!! I was dying!! Is this for real? HE liked my blog??
Oh Hell ya. This was real. You did it, Iva. Finally, someone else thinks you are a good writer. Yay!
But wait, it gets better yet.
So a few guest posts later, and a few months in as a contributing author to Steven’s site, I took the bull by the horns and asked for a job. Yup, I sure did. You gotta be ballsy sometimes. I’m the kinda girl that always asks. I believe that you will never know if you don’t ask. Assuming is just dumb.
So I asked. The answer? Another big fat Yes!! Boom!! I was finally on my way. It’s finally happening. My road to freedom was slowly opening up. The Do Not Enter sign was removed. Actually, in my mind, I had painted graffiti all over it and told it one day I was going to tear it down. And I did. I did.
Don’t you dare give up.
Since that day in November 2014 when my first guest post was accepted (which I may proudly boast, went viral, and had over 68,000 FB shares ) my life has taken a whirlwind journey. I pushed and pushed and was determined to leave my regular job and become a successful freelancer. And I did.
You don’t think you can do it? Think again. Anyone can do it. With enough passion, determination, persistence, and balls (ya I said it) you can do, have or be anything you want (except a Unicorn, you can’t be a Unicorn).
Don’t you dare give up? Know what you want. Know how badly you want it. And go get it. It may seem hard at first but trust me, the rewards are beautiful, satisfying, and mind-blowing.
I hope this message of hope gave you some inspiration.
No really, seriously, you can’t be a Unicorn. Sorry.
Do you love listening to motivational podcasts? You just might like mine!
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Peace and Love
Iva
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