I meant this to be a small part of another post, but it became it kind of took on a life of it’s own. Sorry it’s a bit wordy, but I hope you enjoy!
(My original Tumblr avatar)
As those of you that follow me on Instagram know, five years ago this past Tuesday, I started a blog on Tumblr called “Too Much Life to Live” and it covered 25 goals that I wanted to accomplish before I turned 25. My goals included a random assortment of things, including doing something that scared me (trying out for the Ben-gals on stage), learn to play tennis (I took beginner adult tennis lessons… let’s just say I’m not an expert), and re-learning French (I also took French lessons… see my comment on tennis.) It was a monumental year for me and definitely got me hooked on setting tangible reach goals. (If you’re interested, “Too Much Life to Live” and my goals can still be found here.) When that ended in 2011/2012, I had accomplished almost everything (Eddie the plant is still alive, but I have still never baked a cake), but I wasn’t done with the idea of blogging. I guest posted a ton and helped out several of my friends with their sites, but didn’t start my own brand, with a consistent writing schedule until, at Ray’s suggestion, I re-started my full site as Semi-Sweet Tooth in September, 2014.
(#1 goal to enjoy a bit of beauty every day… this was looking out my mother’s living room window at the sunrise over the mountains and downtown Denver. I definitely had no idea that I’d be living here one day)
In the past five years a TON has changed in the blogging world. We’ve gone from being purely a social network to being worth millions in the marketing world. When blogging in the past could only be perceived as a hobby, it’s now full-time careers for bloggers all over the globe. I’ve seen advertising on blogs start, plateau, and now decline, while sponsored posts have taken their place. The start of measureable content, and the connections that continue to grow between blogging, Twitter, Instagram, and now SnapChat.
(Fully experience a music festival, so off I went to Bonnaroo! I loved it so much that I went back the following year…)
But what’s even more exciting to me is to see how I’ve changed across those five years. One of the perks of blogging is that it’s a diary that just happens to be accessible to the entire world. When I started Too Much Life To Live, I was living in Cincinnati, dating a guy that appreciated me, but I wasn’t into it, and I wasn’t ready to dive deeper to explore who I am truly meant to be. My goals were primarily surface level, as were several of my relationships. But today, while I still have a lot to work on (progress, not perfection), I feel so much more comfortable in my skin and being my true, authentic self. You’ll see that some of my goals haven’t changed a bit (ex. workout 6 days/week), but most of my goals are a lot deeper than baking a cake.’
I hope that when I look back on the next five years, I’ll continue to be proud of my self-growth and achievements. We can accomplish a whole lot when we put our minds to it and support one another. Thanks for sticking by me the past five years. Champagne CHEERS to a million more!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
What are you most proud of that you’ve accomplished in the past five years?
Where do you hope to see yourself five years from today?
Create a great life!
