Focus, working through the 12 Week Blog Shape Up Plan

So I have been working on improving my blog, not just for my readers but for myself.  I have consistency issues and often when times get hard I run away or just give up.  Over the past month and a half I have been working on the 12 Week Blog Shape Up Plan which has been beneficial to learning about myself, writing style, passions, and much more. 

When I started this blog a little over 2 years ago I was in a very bad place.  I was depressed, angry, tired, and harboring bitterness.  I felt so alone and motherhood was swallowing.  I had no balance, and I am in fact struggling to juggle my multiple roles as mother, wife, teacher, business owner, homemaker and all the other hats I wear. I have come a long way, but I definitely have a long way to go seeing as I am still only averaging about four of sleep every night.

One of the most daunting things that I have learned is that your passion is worthless and you can not reach your God given purpose without focus.  In order to get a clear vision you have to sit back and reassess what is going on in your life.  The Shape-up Plan has allowed me to look at my blog and life goals and prioritize what is most important so that I can successful achieve my goals and her is how-

Week one of the Shape Up plan forced me to make a lot of list and asked questions like-

What are my most popular post?
What bloggers do you read and admire?
What are you wildest dreams for you blog?

To be honest I hadn't really though about any of this, I was just blogging because it was the only outlet that I had to practice writing and not go crazy from the mountains dishes and diapers that pile up day to day.  Week one was definitely the most challenging because I had to look and my blog flaws and all.

I'm an okay writer, but I want to be a great writer one day.  Week two and three of the shape up plan lent itself to blogging at least three times a week, which I have been doing faithfully, pre-scheduling post,and  tweeting with commentary. Boy was this a challenge for me, while I enjoy social media I am signed up to so many sites that I often neglect one and lend myself to the other, that was until I found out about hootsuite.com . Hootsuite allows you to synchronize and post on several social media networks such as Twitter, Myspace, Tumblr, Wordpress, and Facebook simultaneously.  Definitely one of the best things that I ever signed up for and if you are a blogger or own a business I suggest that you sign up today.

Weeks four and five, which I am finishing up right now is focused on being consistent adding 1-2 more post a week, and using writing prompts. Now I have actually been doing a more than three post a week for a while now, so this hasn't been really a problem for me, but focused writing pieces seem to be a struggle.  There are so many things that I want to write about that it is hard to filter.  My husband  often after reading my post, ends up editing them, because there always seems to be some type of grammatically error.  (What can I say I'm a writer, but a horrible editor.)  I haven't used a writing prompt since my last English class in college, and to be frank, it scares, the heck out of me.  I know that some of my best writing comes when I am focused, but I sure don't like to, I am more of a go with the flow gal.

I still have seven  more weeks to go and I am determined to finish the shape up plan. I'm still learning and there are always things that you can improve on, and I am not just talking about my blog.  You have to have focus in order to finish and see what is at the end of the tunnel.

Peace and Love,

Najeema Iman, I AM Curly Locks