State of the Blog March 2019

We’ve got a little different post today. It is a behind-the-scenes post. A letter to those of you who have been following along, to let you in on my thoughts about this blog.

If you’re on the email list (if you’re not, go ahead and sign up!), you’ll know that this weekend I had a mini-retreat at home. My hubby was away for the weekend, so I spent several hours in my home office doing some planning!

The beginning of the blog

Almost exactly 1 year ago, I bought this domain. As the year went on, I figured out more of how this blogging thing works. Since September, I have posted nearly every week, missing only 1 week, and that was earlier this month. I’m pretty proud of that.

Because I was writing regularly, I started to figure out what it was, exactly, that I was trying to say. And I have gotten more comfortable with my blogging “voice”.

I started out with the 7 Foundations for the Good Life, and then wrote a post on each one, in a series I called Foundations 101. First I wrote a little bit about the process of behaviour change. Then, I took one month to write more about each of the 7 foundations. I finished up this month with Connect.

Reflecting on the past year

So it is now perfect timing to reflect on how this process is working for me. What topics do I have a lot to talk about, and which do I have less to talk about? And does that initial framework I started with still hold up? And do I want to continue to write a new post every week?

There is no idea that pops out of our minds fully formed. We can’t pick up a new hobby, interest, or project and be an expert immediately. It takes practice and it takes a series of iterations. I knew even as I pushed publish that I would eventually change the framework. I knew that there was no way that it was in it’s finished form.

I knew the first blog posts I published would not be great work. Because I was new to this. I’ve tried enough new things in my life to know that. And I know that I will be more skilled at this in the future than I am today.

But I pressed publish.
I kept writing.
I pressed publish each week.
And I know I’ve gotten better.

Moving forward

So where does that leave us today? And how will we move forward?

Well, I’ve got a new framework. Instead of 7 Foundations for the Good Life, we have 5: Eat, Move, Rest, Grow, and Mindset.

I’ve reduced the number of categories of posts and cleaned up the tags on the posts. That means that there will be broken links in the old posts, and things moving forward won’t completely match what is already here.

I’m also going to change how often new posts come out. However, if you’re on the email list, you’ll still get an email with a “new” post every week. I am going to start writing a new post from scratch every other week. Between those, I’ll be going back to old posts to update or rewrite them.

Going forward, I’ll still have some themes each month for the 2-3 new articles. It’s easier for me to focus that way. And those themes may or may not match which articles I’m updating. This April, I’ll be updating & rewriting the static pages on the website – the home page, the about page, and that sort of stuff. And I’ll be sharing more details on the new framework.

In May, I’ll be having an at-home writing retreat. So expect an ebook to come out then.

In the coming year, I’ll also be promoting this blog more. I haven’t done a lot of promotion – other than sharing to Instagram and Facebook. I didn’t really want a huge readership while I was still figuring out what I was doing. Now, even though things will continue to change and evolve – that’s the way the world works after all – I am much more confident in the identity of Foundations for the Good Life. I also know that I’ve got some good stuff here that I can hardly wait to share with more people.

So let’s see what the rest of 2019 brings!

You are reading this because you are interested in improving your life. That means we have something in common. I’m still working on what the Foundations for the Good Life is all about, and I’d love for you to join me in this journey. I’d love to build a community with you. With people who are trying to figure out what “the good life” means, and how to set up their life to make it possible for them.

If this interests you, join the newsletter to be the first to know about updates, new articles, and to try out tools as they are developed and improved. I hope to connect with you soon.