The 'Growing Up' Issue: Paying your dues before success comes [#68 #dailyMOJO 365]

Quote of the Day

Eighty percent of success is showing up. ~Woody Allen

#68 #dailyMOJO 

As motivationMY.com celebrates its 2nd birthday, I still have no clue what I'm doing here. I mean, I have a blog, I have some readers, I have a Twitter account... but am I doing the right thing? Am I REALLY  reaching out to someone?

I love the interaction on Twitter but this blog is a little bit quieter.

 As the founder and blogger of motivationMY.com,  I am still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. Having regular writer's block doesn't help that process either!

But I do know for sure is that this blog is still a work in progress. Just like any bloggers, I want this blog to achieve a certain level of success. I want to have more visitors and page views.

One key word that I've learned (and yes, this is part of 'growing up') is Consistency. I've learned that, as a blogger, I need more than stories, words and content. I need to be consistent too. I can't wait for the right mood to come because it will never come. I've learned this from Mastin Kipp, founder and CEO of The Daily Love. He updates his blog EVERY SINGLE DAY. As a subscriber to his blog, I will be getting his latest blog post everyday. He even said it countless times that he just HAS to blog and he does not wait for the right mood or time. Just like Nike's catchphrase... "Just do it!"

It's been two years since the running of this blog and it is far from successful. Despite being given the opportunity to speak at various events such as the Malaysia Social Media Week 2013 and the Malaysia International Tourism Bloggers Conference and Awards, I still believe I have not made any significant impact. I really haven't. Over the last two years, I've not been consistent with my content and for this blog to be worthy of having a large follower.

I remember pressuring myself to make this blog a success but I realize that I have to pay my dues first. Even some of the world's most successful bloggers took years to really find their voice and niche. That is the process that I'm going through right now.

What can I (ME!!!) offer the world through the platform that is known as motivationMY.com. Even early in the beginning, I made it clear that I don't consider myself as a self-guru or coach, but just a regular joe, going though life with a job but at the same time having a "motivational" blog. See, I even had to use quotation marks to describe "motivation".

 Success is a process. It's about the effort we put in every single day - whether it's our day job, business or creative project. It's how much we invest our time (and maybe money).

It's also about the amount of drive, determination and hunger we have to bring it to the next level.

Even if it's STILL not working out... continue giving your best. It takes time. With motivationMY.com, I know that it will take more time. It's only our 2nd birthday... and there's much more that I, as a blogger, can do.

I've learned that I need to pay my dues before success comes. I need to struggle. I need to work hard. Only then will I enjoy the sweet taste of success. 

The 'Growing Up' Issue: Of expectations, wants and needs [#67 #dailyMOJO 365]

Quote of the Day

"Being in control of your life and having realistic expectations about your day-to-day challenges are the keys to stress management, which is perhaps the most important ingredient to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life." - Marilu Henner

#67 #dailyMOJO 

It's appropriate to be talking about "growing up" as a special issue as motivationMY.com will be celebrating its 2nd birthday end of this month and May is also the month of my birthday. Yes I purposely created this blog on the same month as my birthday... just to make it a double celebration. Nice eh?

I recently asked my tweeps to write a blog post on "What has turning 1, 5 or 10 years older taught you?" and who better to start the ball rolling than ME before I get the "I'm too busy to blog" excuses.

Funny. This post is about managing my own expectation and I'm not expecting a lot of people to share their story (I already have one guest blogger who has submitted his post), but I'm not expecting a lot more coming in. That's fine! *Yoga pose*

I'll be sharing some lessons from this point onwards, but as a start, I want to share with you one important lesson I've learned and embraced over the last few months or so and that is: How managing my expectation and keeping it realistic made me happier.  

Just last year, I told myself "I've lost faith in humanity!"...

Kill me. I know... what a statement that is. I really did say that to myself. Of course, I didn't say that to anyone but it made me question the connection we have with each other. 

I have friends who told me they'll meet me but their "soon" became less than two years. 

I have friends who cancelled on me for a  recording.

I have people not replying my messages.

Are we living in a selfish world? And we have no time for other people? 

Or are we prioritising things that will bring value to us - such as money? Let's not kid ourselves - we all need to earn money to pay the bills and stuff so I understand if work and making money is a priority. 

My mind was all over the place. I was so spiritually sick until I deleted someone from my social media networks. 

Few months later, I started to look inward. I didn't want to play the blaming game anymore. I began looking at how I'm able to achieve happiness within my own mean and reach. 

What can I do to make MY self HAPPY? How can I STILL be happy without my loved ones around? 

How can I ACCEPT reality?

At the end of the day, no matter how people treat me, I do not want to start any cold war or unnecessary tension.

The answer came in the form of managing expectations. 

It's easier to say "Go manage your expectations and you'll be happier" but it's one thing to really practise it.

All this while, I was caught up with the EXPECTATION bid and when it does not match REALITY, that's when my emotions were all over the place and it was a scary state to be in. 

This year, I began to manage my expectations: Things that I expect from OTHERS and more importantly things that I expect from my OWN self. 

I began to accept reality... to manage my expectations. I began to accept the fact that I should expect less from people and start looking at my OWN contribution to the people around me. 

I may still not get everything that I want... but I already have more than enough of what I REALLY need. At the end of the day, that's the important thing.

In a nutshell, I can say that growing up has also taught me to focus on what I really NEED, instead of what I really WANT. 

Birthday Edition: Thank you for being part of my special day! [#66 #dailyMOJO 365]

Apart from receiving a lot of messages via Twitter and Facebook, in the offline world, I spent my birthday (May 16) with colleagues and family members. 

It's great to be surrounded by so many wonderful people and they fed me with great food and cakes. 

***

It was an early day at the office. 6am to be exact. 

So for breakfast, TK and I decided to have breakfast at McDonald's.

A quick photo op with TK after our breakfast at McDonald's!

All black with TK and Gee Gee

With Cherish

With the fabulous Zuan!

SMILE!!! That's Dzul and Zan Azlee (in the middle)

In the evening after work, I had dinner at Harrods KLCC and dessert at The Apartment.

That's my brother and Mum

]

That's me and my cousin Een.

Today (May 17), my colleague Dzul treated me for some Pavlova at Serai, Life Centre. We walked from our office and it took us around 20 minutes! So it was a good exercise before and after our meal!

That's Dzul busy with his two iPhone's! I was left talking all by myself (Kidding!)