I have made my fair share of blogging mistakes, and I think it's time for me to admit and rectify them.

As much as it's important to highlight all the great things you've archived and the goals you've met, it's also as important to talk about things on the opposite scale of the spectrum. There is nothing wrong with admitting what you've done wrong, or haven't done so well, as long as you take the time to understand them and work to make them better. Whether you ask for feedback, or you can be brutally honest with yourself, it's always a good thing to think about how you can make improvements, big or small. It's all part of the growing and learning process.

I've already written about how I'm going to help myself this year, now it's the turn of my dear blog. As we reached the end of last year, I surprised myself a little and really thought about how I'm going to make myself, and my blog better. I'm not saying I turned into a Negative Nancy, but I could clearly see how much I grew as a person in one single year and didn't want to cloud myself with too much positivity to stop me progressing. I don't want to nitpick at the small aspects of change that wouldn't really create a big impact. I'm going straight to the parts that I know I've been putting off and trying to forget about, but it's time to make those changes.

NOT PROMOTING MY POSTS ENOUGH

I know 100% I don't promote my posts enough, but then I still wonder why my views are increasing ever so slowly. I do something that is so terrible, writing it down is making me want to have my own blog taken away from me. I promote my content until I have reached my daily goal. Even if it's at 10am, and I've had a sudden increase of views from a tweet I posted the night before. Part of me feels guilty and that I'm bombarding my followers' timelines with my posts. The other part of me really doesn't enjoy doing it, so I don't.

It's such a bad idea to have in my head as the way I find new content is seeing it on my timeline. Beautiful images, catchy titles that make me want to read. I know I definitely need to change this. I need to come up with a blogging promotional schedule that is effective, time efficient, and if possible, fun? If you have any tips, please let me know, but I'm sure I'll do a post about my findings once I finally get my schedule on track.

NOT SEEKING OPPOTUNITIES

Seeing as posting on 24 consecutive days for blogmas weren't challenging enough, I set myself a small goal of incorporating a collaboration too. I was making a lot of creative things, so my first call was contacting fabric companies, craft shops, etc. I did a little research on how to write the perfect pitch, then created a short list of companies I would love to work with to create my content. I was a little dishearted after I didn't get a reply from the first company I contacted, but I picked myself up and tried another from my list. A few hours later I had made a contact, discussed my project, and they were preparing to send me my materials. I managed to work with 3 brands throughout December, and I'm slightly sad that I waited until the last month to try. That is changing this year.

I always had the idea that to work with brands, you need a huge following. Thousands of adoring following to help you showcase their products, but that's clearly not right. You'll get turned down a lot, but you'll also make a few connections, even if you just manage to get a PR email address, it's something for you to use later on. Looking for collaborations is still a whole new world for me, but I'm really excited to challenge myself with it this year. My first job though is to create a media kit.

SELF-DOUBT

Self-doubt is the biggest pain when it comes to most things in my life. I can get beat down by so many people, but what I say to myself is always a billion times worse, and it sticks. It doesn't even just stick, it just gets embedded in my brain, and I'm having difficulty removing it. If you've read my recent post about how I'm making 2018 the year of me in every possible aspect, I guess being nicer to myself is one of those things I need to start doing too.

I always downplay that I have a blog. I'm always saying, "oh, anyone can do it," or "a lot of people have a blog." It's not that I have a blog. I own, run, and organise an online platform. I have managed to do something that a lot of people haven't done, and I can't shy away from that. I shouldn't be treating it like any old thing. Even if it is, I should be talking about my blog to others proudly because that is what I am, proud. This is going to be a difficult one for me, but the next time someone asks me about what I'm doing, I'm going to make sure I tell them exactly what I do, and feel accomplished as well.

NOT STAYING ORGANISED

Organisation is my biggest downfall. It's not that I don't get things done in time, it's just I'm not very good at delegating time to what needs to be done. I post twice a week, so the week before I know I need to write two posts and take two sets of photos. The biggest problem for me is all I know is that it needs to be done within that week. I don't set a specific day. I do love having that sort of freedom, especially when it comes to photography as I never know which day is going to be clear enough, but I really do need to work on a day to day, even an hour to hour basis. Talking of photography, if I was also a little more organised with monthly content, I can take photographs in bulk instead of waiting until I know what I'm doing the week before.

The crazy thing is, I managed to start blogmas 3 months beforehand, decide on all the posts I wanted to do, and didn't even change my mind. I'm definitely going to start being strict with myself for that. It's ok to change titles and themes, or move posts around, but I should have a clear idea of what my posts should be before the month has started. Last year I did set myself the same sort of goal, and clearly failed. I can organise a space well, but not so well with my time. I also wanted to start a bullet journal last year, and it's safe to say, my cute yellow Leuchtturm grid journal is still in my drawer, unused. I am going to start my journal, this week in fact. I'm going to start. I'm going to start. I'm going to start.

NOT INTERACTING WITH BLOGGERS

I have sadly entered the realm of being anti-social online, but let's hope it doesn't continue. I would just like to note that I'm not saying I don't support bloggers. If I see something I like, I'll share it, like it, comment on it, I will let the blogger know they're doing great. The problem is, I never give myself any significant amount of time to do so. I always prefer reading posts in the evening, which is my downtime, so the last thing I want to do is spend more time on social media. Again, this is something I have to do to stay organised, so I'm going to allocate time during the week to sit down and read posts, find new blogs to help inspire me and share the ones that do. Blogging is hard, and I know when I'm feeling really down, I'll get a single comment or even a retweet and I know someone is reading and liking what I do. It helps me power through.

The blogging community is going through a pretty down time at the moment, and even though I know I can't do it all by myself, I want to help. I don't have the biggest social media following, but that doesn't matter in this case. I'm planning a post where I'm going to talk about all the ideas in which you can help support bloggers and the community. After publishing this post, I'm giving myself an hour to search for fresh new bloggers, and share what I love. I'm really excited to publish this post, and I hope I'll get a lot of support back from bloggers too.

LETTING MY BLOG TAKE OVER MY LIFE

This isn't the most positive way to start, but I don't think I can stop blogging being a huge part of my life. And it's not just with blogging. My ambitions are the biggest thing to me, and if I am passionate about something, then I have to work hard and put everything I have into it. I never do anything halfhearted because I don't see the point. I do know that I can't allow blogging to become a full-time career. This may change in the future, but right now, I know that I don't want to just be a blogger, but with the amount of work and time I spend on my blog, it basically is a full-time job.

I slightly feel like my blog is my child, and I need to start taking her to school to learn new things, but I don't want to let go. Even though I know she will learn so much, it's hard to let go. Not spending time on my blog clearly won't let it grow, but I'll be the one learning new things and growing. I'll be able to express my new life on my blog, which I'm sure you would all love to read about. I've always said that the premise behind my blog is to share ideas to help motivate and inspire, and if I'm not the one doing it, then I can't reflect that into my content. I'm going to try and make more hours in my day for other things. Even if it's just an hour during writing a post to read a book, or to go for a walk. In the long run, it will help me.

Writing this post has made me feel so encouraged to do more. I honestly recommend giving this a go, whether it's about your blog or something in your personal life. Feel free to share your ideas below.