If I had only known…
If I knew then what I know now…
Change is possible
I used to subconsciously think I was who I was, and I could not change.
Over the past couple of years, I have realized just how wrong I was.
I learned I CAN change. I have changed so completely over the last two years, it is hard to recognize myself at times.
I continue to change as I learn more. As I seek knowledge. As I try to find ways to be a better version of the woman I was yesterday.
The more I learn, the more I realize how much better I can be.
The more I learn, the more I want to improve.
Above all…
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I really know.
And you know what?
It has been an incredibly humbling experience.
Each day I try to listen to a new podcast or read a part of a new book, or google something I do not know how to do, and you know what my first reaction is?
I feel like I do not know anything.
Then I take a deep breath and remind myself it is okay if I do not know x, y, or z.
I can learn.
Most likely, I can learn for free…thank you Google and YouTube!
On a Mission
You want to hear an embarrassing example of what I am talking about?
I started my blog a few months ago with zero website experience. Honestly, I had ZERO website experience. I only had a burning desire in my heart to share my story.
I had not even been on my personal Instagram account in almost a year and had no idea what hashtags were used for, what a “story” was, and no clue “IGTV” even existed! Then I found myself creating a blog, and an accompanying Instagram account.
I look back at myself and think, “Oh, you sweet, naïve woman with a dream in your heart.” I was simply a woman on a mission to share my story to try to help and inspire others and empower them. I knew if I could change and get through what I had been through, ANYBODY could! If little ol’ me could break years of bad habits and negative thought patterns and find wellness, ANYBODY could!
I hired a web designer to design my blog. I loved the design she came up with. She gave me basic instructions on how to do a blog post, and off I went. Again, zero Word Press experience (I did not even know what Word Press was).
For months now, I have been posting a new blog post every week. The writing process and the messages I want to share are the easy part. In fact, I have pages and pages and pages of content written I have not shared yet that I cannot wait to share! What is holding me up? The technical side of things.
The School of Hard Knocks
When it comes to the technical side of blogging, I am pretty darn clueless. Still. I am finally realizing I cannot just post a blog post, and that I need to pay attention to my website speed, update plugins, optimize pictures, and on and on and on. I did not know ANY of this until last week! No joke…and I’ve had my blog for around four months.
You want to hear something else funny? I learned last week that a website load speed should be around 1 to 2 seconds – maybe 3 seconds tops. I had no idea. I decided to figure out how to do a free test to see how long my website takes to load.
Confession: it took me awhile to even figure that out. If you are like me, let me save you the trouble. Simply go to tools.pingdom.com and enter your website. It gives you a whole wealth of information! Of which, I understand very little. Understanding it is on my to-do list.
I tested my website. Fingers crossed, I was hoping for a 3 second load time. Guess what it came in at? Over 20 seconds! Seriously. That is when I dug deeper and discovered I was supposed to be optimizing my images all along. I had never heard of that and had no idea how to do that, so I googled and youtubed away until I found answers. Which is when I learned about plugins, what they are, and how they work.
I have learned and worked and learned and worked to try to get my website load time down to 1-2 seconds for you guys so when I post a new blog post it does not take a year of your life to load. Who has that kind of time? After hours and days of making improvements on my website, I was able to get my website load time down to…drumroll please….6.84 seconds. Womp, womp, womp.
Bear with me, I am still trying to figure it all out. I am still learning and trying to get my load time faster. I wish I had endless resources and could pay someone to do it for me.
If you are a blogger or web/tech person, let me know if you have any advice for me. I greatly appreciate any tips you can offer, or resources you can recommend. In the meantime, Google and Youtube and I are in a new relationship. Status: it’s complicated.
I am also finding incredible resources and blogging advice here.
I will say this, the more I learn, the more I realize I do not know. It is quite humbling.
Thank you!
I so appreciate your support and readership while I get my ducks in a row. Please hang with me, I have TONS of content that I can’t wait to share with you!
To read more about my story, go here.
