Eyin temi,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Welcome to 2018. I’m super excited today because it’s the first day of a new year, I’m alive and healthy. I’m also excited today because my blog is ONE YEAR OLD. YAAAAAY!!!! 🎉🎉🎉.

It has been one year of sharing with you my readers and also learning from you in the comments. I have learnt a lot from consistently blogging for one year but let me share 10 with you.

1. My voice is important 

Blogging has taught me that I can use my voice to help and encourage people, help them make decisions and let them know that they aren’t alone in this life journey. I enjoy writing my thoughts and sharing them with you here.

2. Not everyone will agree with me and that’s okay

This is one thing I decided on very early. I remember writing on the first page of my blog ideas book

Not every one will agree with you but be consistent (you may win them over that way)

Because I know how easy it is to get discouraged when people don’t agree with me or have different opinions from mine. Blogging has taught me that every one is entitled to their opinions and what they believe. We can share ideas and learn from each other and grow. If we still don’t agree, it’s okay. We can live in peace with our different opinions, the sky is big enough and there’s enough oxygen to go round.

3. The power of social media

Back in 2009 when I signed up on Twitter and Facebook and later in 2013 on Instagram, it was for bants, elevate boredom, post pictures and general ‘amebo’ and ‘aproko’, lol. Since I started blogging, I have made useful and meaningful connections on social media. I have made amazing friends and we have worked on great projects. I worked on a TEDx organising team in August 2017 and also the organising team for a business conference in Ibadan with people I met on Twitter.  I made some amazing blogger and YouTube friends who support my blog and are very helpful through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Social media should be connecting you to people who will better you and your life img-20170828-wa0073-5202658
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4. Support and help is important

Blogging taught me this. Having a support group of people is important. Someone who can help you especially when you’re just starting your blog and cannot afford to pay for services. I have friends who help me take pictures, help me hold the camera to film, go out with me when I want to vlog and be my confidence booster. They share links to my blog posts, like my posts on social media and generally root for me. They are the real MVP. It’s very easy to take people who help and support you for granted until you really need them and then you begin to appreciate their worth and value. 

5. Collaboration helps with growth 

Sharing ideas with someone or people, writing a blog post 0together or filming a video together helps with increase in engagement, blog/video views which also translates into followers and readers (i.e. growth) 

6. Consistency is key

I started a blog in 2012 (click here to view it) where I wrote short stories but I wasn’t consistent and so it didn’t grow and after a while people stopped checking the blog because there was no new content on it. Blogging here this one year has taught me how important consistency helps growth, improvement of skill and builds trust with you my readers who will come back when you know that you will find content that will enlighten and entertain you.

7. Patience

Blogging has taught me patience. Eyin temi (my people), it has taught me patience in dealing with people and situations. I’m patient with my blog growth and process.  I sometimes want ‘2 minutes noodles’ success stories but I keep reminding myself to be patient with the process and if I’m consistent, I’ll grow with my own success stories. I have also learned how to be patient with people from dealing with readers with nasty/rude comments. 

8. Success takes a lot of hard work and time and that’s okay. 

A pregnancy takes 9 months to come to term. 9 months of work, hormonal changes, discomfort and pain but the end result (a baby) is always beautiful and worth it. I bet in that 9 months, there are times a pregnant woman wants to give up, wondering why it’s so stressful and draining but she keeps going until she has delivered her baby. 

So I’ll continue to put in the work and my time to grow and be better every day. I’ll continue to write, film and edit videos, take pictures for the blog, believing that I’ll become successful at it. 

9. There are amazing people on the Internet 

So we read and hear horrible stories of cyber bullying and online hate and we think that’s how the whole Internet is. Well it is not. Not everyone on the Internet is filled with hate or mean words. I remember I was scared of posting my first video on YouTube because of trolls and cyber bullies but the support and kind words I got encouraged me to continue. Blogging has also taught me that there are good people online. I have made friends with ladies in other countries and here in Nigeria who read my blog post and leave words of encouragement as comments and we have never met. Thank you and I hope to meet you guys one day 😊

10. DO IT…AFRAID

Wow!!! I almost talked myself out of starting this blog. I had spent like 6 months doing my research about blogging and doing it right because I want this blog to be successful but after getting all the information I needed, I still didn’t start the blog because I was scared, scared of what people would think and say. I had paid for my domain name and decided on my niche but I still didn’t publish anything until I told myself it’s now or never and I took that leap and published my first post on this blog January 1, 2017. And it’s been amazing. The number of comments and private messages I get from ladies have touched my heart and keep encouraging me. So blogging has taught me to do it even if I’m afraid. 

If you have been with me from the beginning of this journey, I want to say thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. If you’re new here, welcome to my blog; read more blog posts and share your thoughts with me and other readers.

Remember to subscribe to my mailing list, you can do that by clicking this link: http://eepurl.com/cCaizX. IT’S FREE and I won’t spam you, I promise.

Happy New Year everyone. I wish you a happy and successful year. May all your dreams come through and God bless you in all you do. 

xoxo…Fehintola 

If you want to say hi, for collaborations, sponsorship and/or reviews, please send an email to [email protected] or DM me on Twitter @fehintolaogunye and Instagram @fehintolaogunye

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