Words of 2016 - January

Focus

It's time to go back to work. Keep it simple. Don't fill your calendar too full. Stay focused on what's truly important. Remember your goals and do your best to achieve them. Focus so you don't get overwhelmed. 

Christmas Blog Changes

Hey you!

I'm changing things here on my blog! I'm super excited!

First of all: New name! 

After all these years I finally came up with a name that, I actually like. So from now on, my blog is Mintspiration. I'm going to write about the story behind the name soon. I'm also buying my own domain name. But first, I'm going to celebrate Christmas with my loved ones.

I'm also changing the design. It's going to be really different. Really simple so the images will pop out. 

There's so much to do, so it might take some time before everything is ready (like social media, email...)

I wish you a wonderful Christmas! 

Yours,

M

My very first reading challenge!

I noticed that Claudia is hosting the 4th annual Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge. It sounds so fun that I'm going to join her. 

The idea "is to read one book each month whose title includes one or more of the keywords for that month". The keywords can be tweaked and it's ok to use variations. 

Keywords

January: Crowd, Girl, The, Bad, Soul, Soft

February: Veil, Kiss, Her, Break, Love, Stars

March: Game, Fire, Darkness, School, Like, Change

April: Far, Life, Stay, One, War, Thorns

May: Cure, Trial, Family, Key, Thief, Bend

June: Moon, In, Only, Whisper, Sleep, Trap

July: Rose, Sun, Clock, Day, Angel, Unto

August: Prince, Boy, Glass, Heart, Lost, Now

September: Wind, Color, Touch, At, How, Sweet

October: Rock, Ghost, Fall, Away, Sky, Storm

November: Dream, Holiday, And, Of, Dawn, Beautiful

December: End, Promise, Everlasting, Ice, Snow, My

Why I didn't quit blogging though I lost my inspiration and readers

Fall 2014 was exciting time for me from the blogging point of view. My blog was growing like crazy and I had lots of ideas and time to write. For example, I more than doubled my blog traffic. Susannah played a huge role in all this. She was my blog mentor.

But then something happened. 

I started to loose blog inspiration. And that led to fewer posts and fewer readers. I was also questioning my blogging motives. 

Is this really something I'm so suppose to be doing? Is my blog an addiction to me? Could I be using my time to do something more useful and meaningful?

The lack of inspiration, loosing my readers and questioning my motives nearly made my quit. I almost deleted the whole blog. 

But I couldn't do that. Here's why:


1. I've worked so hard for my blog. I don't want that hard work go to waste.

2. I still love the reason why I started to blog.

3. I love to have a space of my own that allows me to use my creativity.

4. I still have things to say - not as often but still!

When I remembered all the lovely blogging things, I made some serious changes so blogging would be a joy to me - not a chore. 



1. Forget statics

I used to check Google Analytics daily. Now it's been almost 2 months! It's so liberating not to blog to get page views. 


2. Don't force it

One of the biggest blog worries that led to my blog burnout was  the need to post often and regularly. Now, I refuse to worry about that. If my blog is quiet for a while, it's ok. I'm not going to post just to fill my editorial calendar. If people forget my blog, it's ok. 


3. Break the rules

To me blogging is about freedom. The blog rules took that away from me. So now I refuse to worry about them. For example I don't have and Instagram account for me blog, because I don't like Instagram. I don't advertise regularly on Twitter of Facebook. Freedom!


Read more:

Why you should stop caring about your blog

Gift Guide - Gifts that make a difference

Are you trying to find a gift to someone who has a huge heart and loves the idea of making a world a better place? Here are couple ideas:

Eden

Eden sells beautiful jewellery. Their goal is to help women of Asia's red light districts by offering them a chance to have a better future: freedom and dignity.

I just bought the necklace above and it's stunning!

VAI-KØ

They sell ecological and ethical products, from beanies to dog collars. And they give 5% of their sells to provide clean water to rural villages in Cambodia. Cool, huh?

A21

I love A21. They fight against modern day slavery - human trafficking. They also sell cool products in their online shop!