How To Start A Blog For Your Self-Development Journey

Today I’ll be sharing just a few benefits of writing in a blog through your self-development journey and keeping yourself accountable.

Blogging in the digital age has plenty of benefits but one of the most powerful is how you can communicate your thoughts and ideas with the rest of the world.

Back in the day when I started blogging, I wish there could’ve been some sort of guide or advice on how to go about starting my own self-improvement. It would’ve saved me a lot of time and given me more motivation to start that journey a lot sooner than when I actually did.

But…

It's never too late to want to work on yourself. Click To Tweet

As you’re working on yourself and discovering the power of your thoughts, it’s important to take action as well. So where can you put all this inspiration and motivation? Into a blog where you can keep yourself accountable and stay motivated to keep going.

Blogging Your Self-Development Journey

Blogging is just a long conversation you’re having with your readers. And at first, you may not even have very many.

But this isn’t necessarily about them… yet. It’s about you!

So let’s look at the positive outcomes of writing in a blog, especially when it comes to your self-development:

Get your feelings out, write them down (or type them up)

Sometimes we just need to write it down, just get it all out. Your self-development journey, how ever you’re approaching it, can sometimes feel overwhelming and your emotions and thoughts may be a bit too much at first, and that’s perfectly normal. Writing it down can help you sort your thoughts out and get some relief. A blog can be a diary of what you’re learning and going through, that’s just one of the many ways to blog.

Create goals and write about how you’re going to achieve them

Goal-setting is a strong skill to start working on at any point in life. Think about what kinds of goals you need to set for yourself in this journey, big or small. This is for you so go at your own pace but make sure to set achievable goals. And share them! Share them on your self-development blog, you’re sort of keeping yourself accountable by doing this too. And when you’ve reached them, write about how you did that, take us with you through it all.

Related Post: 6 Ways To Get Your Motivation Back To Finally Achieve Your Goals

Learn about what you want to learn about

I started out not knowing what I wanted to do (and I’m still learning as I go). When you start your self-development journey, you may be starting it simply because you’re looking for a way out of your limiting beliefs and you’re looking for an effective way to make a drastic change in your life. And while you’re reading self-help books, watching motivational videos online and/or hiring a life coach, think about what other things you want to learn about. You never know where it might lead. I wrote about becoming a more well-rounded person if you wanna check out that post as well.

Share your views and experiences and expertise with others

Or if there’s something you’re already an expert at, write about that too! People are online to learn and when you share your own experiences and thoughts on certain subjects, people can learn from you. What a great cycle to be in! Self-improvement and self-discovery is a process of ongoing learning so share it with the rest of us. I’m on my own journey right now as well and that’s why I’m even writing this post!

Meet and interact with strangers (be social)

Like I mentioned before, a blog is really just a long conversation you’re having with your reader. But you can also consider using your own social media profiles to follow other bloggers and inspiring public figures to assist you on your self-development journey. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments and don’t forget to engage with the people already following you! They’re there for a reason so why not interact with them? We can learn a lot about each other and the most effective way of doing that is by actually communicating (that’s what social media’s purpose is…)

But also read other blogs. There are plenty of self-development blogs out there that can have valuable information for you. Subscribe to ones you can get updates on and engage with the blogger by liking and commenting on their posts.

Even make some money while you’re at it!

A blog can be monetized and you can start making money off of it… that’s insane! Your writing and your self-development can eventually bring in some income if you wanted it to. It definitely doesn’t need to be monetized, it can just be between you and your readers but it’s something to think about if you choose to go that route. It’s there.

Quick note: Your blog may start out in sort of a diary format but it can evolve into a specific niche that can become profitable. Again, if you keep your options open and your hunger for knowledge, anything can happen.

Quick Guide On How To Start A Blog

Starting a blog takes just a few minutes and is available for free right now! Anyone with a computer and internet connection can start a blog so easily, especially if you have some free time.

WordPress is the only platform I’ve blogged on so that’s the only one I can really recommend. But it’s amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. (and they’re not even paying me to say that!) It’s easy to sign up, pick a free theme and get to writing. Just visit WordPress.com and select the FREE plan to get started. There are plenty of guides on Pinterest that take you step-by-step on setting up your WordPress site.

And then there’s the hosted way of blogging, this is the way to go if you’d like to monetize your blog down the road. For this, you’ll actually need WordPress.org, not .com. And it’s the way where you can use your own domain without the wordpress.com at the end of your domain. (am I confusing you yet?) As far as hosting goes, there are plenty of web hosting available, I’ve used both Bluehost and Siteground and I prefer Siteground, I’ve been using them for a year now. Here’s a look at their plans:

What I Recommend

I recommend going with the StartUp plan if you’re just starting out, obviously. Keep in mind that you’ll also need to purchase a domain name, which you can also do through SiteGround for pretty cheap. And I think I prefer SiteGround simply because their prices for someone who’s just starting out are so low for the first year, unlike other hosting sites. This may benefit you especially if you don’t know if you’ll be blogging long-term, gives you time to decide whether to stay or not and you don’t lose much for the one year. That’s what I did and I’m still here, I actually just renewed my plan for two more years! (So you’re stuck with me for a while!)

It’s all about trying things out that you may enjoy and learning what you like and what you don’t along the way. That’s exactly what self-development is all about!

Your Self- Development Journey Starts Now

So what are you waiting for exactly? It’s your turn! I’m so excited for you and make sure to pause and take all of this in. Self-improvement is a beautiful thing and documenting your process and your experience can be beautiful too. It can help you keep track of your progress, you’re holding yourself accountable by sharing your goals with the world and learning even more about yourself.

If you have any questions about setting up your own blog, please let me know! I’m more than happy to answer any of your questions.

Thanks so much for reading and I wish you well on your self-development journey! Remember to have fun with it!

-Karina