Blog Envy

I confess, I have blog envy.  Whenever I visit other blog sites, I realize how far I have to go.  My margins are off.  I’m always catching my own typos.  I still can’t figure out how to post images that look cool or edit HTML.  And the last thing I have time for in my daily routine is to devote more time to blogging.  Most days, I’m lucky to find 15 extra minutes in my schedule to check my posts and visit other blog sites.

I was having coffee with a friend who likewise suffers from blog envy.  Like me, she’s relatively new at blogging.  She’s not a writer, but she decided to launch a blog for her business.  She was pretty excited about the whole thing – until she started visiting other sites.  Then the insecurity set it.  Gee, my blog looks really frumpy.  Maybe I shouldn’t have started blogging in the first place.

If you struggle with envy, you’re not alone.  Admitting it is one thing, tackling it is another. 

My friend and I decided we needed to confront our blog envy by asking ourselves a few questions, like why are we really blogging in the first place?  Sure, it’s great to connect with others, but once blogging becomes a chore – or a contest – it takes out all the fun.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that we aren’t blogging for legitimate business purposes – like building a fan base or promoting a message.  But it does mean that we set our own goals to define success.

So I’ve tried to set some personal blogging goals. 

• Write about my passions. 
• Keep a focus. 
• Don’t compare. 
• Don’t worry about what other people think.
• It’s not quantity but quality.
• It’s not about looking over your shoulder -- it’s about looking ahead. 

As important, I’m determined to keep having fun.  Have you ever noticed that envy has a nasty way of sucking the joy right out of us?