I’ve struggled as a blogger to stick with one thing. Over the years, I’ve had blogs about:
- Writing
- Blogging
- Leadership
- Real Estate
- Music
- Creativity
- Minimalism
- Success
- Poetry
I’ve tried to use this blog to blend some of those topics into one idea, Simple Habits for a Creative Life, but even then, it often feels like too much. It’s a broad stroke to say the least.
Success Includes Refocusing Sessions
Every so often we need to take a good look at our lives and make some hard choices. I’ve been doing that in my personal life lately. I’ve put my house on the market. I’m paying off debt. I’m downsizing. But what about my professional life? Could it be time for a change?
Of course, my true profession is teaching. I’m not going to leave the security of working in higher education anytime soon. I actually love what I do as an educator. But what about my side projects? The writing, the blogging, the music? It feels like I’ve spread myself too thin. And so again, it’s time to rethink my place on the interwebs.
At the end of 2018, I decided to move away from blogging about minimalism. I stopped posting at Hip Diggs for a couple of months. I’ve since started posting there again, mostly about my journey of selling my home and downsizing life. For awhile, I’ve been contemplating putting my efforts back into Hip Diggs in the future. However, I’ve recently decided that that won’t be happening. Here’s why:
I’m a writer. I’m a poet. I’m a musician. I’m not really a minimalist. I try to live simply, but I can write about simple living from any platform at any time. Therefore, I’ll be phasing out Hip Diggs permanently in the future. I’ve written about 480 posts there. Maybe, I’ll make it an even 500 by the end of this year and call it quits. I’ll leave the blog live indefinitely and possibly put the content and the domain up for sale in the future.
Doing a Few Things Well
I’m a writer, a poet, and a musician. I know there are millions of guys like me trying to squeeze our little piece of pie on the Internet. I know the chances of ever gaining much notoriety or income from poetry and songwriting are slim. But writing and music are the the two things that I’m really good at. So I’m going to stick with those things.
I”ll be making some slow changes here at danerickson.net. Nothing immediate or drastic, but over time, the emphasis might slightly change. That’s all part of the journey.
Stop Trying to Be and Do Too Much!
I’ve had a hard time learning this lesson over the years. I might have learned how to get stuff done. I’ve been a prolific writer, blogger, and musician. However, the lack of focus on one or two specific goals in life has set me back more than once.
So as I move through some of the personal changes that I’m currently in the process of making, the next phase will be to make some professional changes.
I encourage you to think about your own lives, and your own journeys. If your goal is to be successful, make a point to understand your focus. Don’t try to do too much. Instead, pick one or two things and learn to do them very well. You might not have immediate success, but it will pay off in the long run.
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