Why Should You Have a Personal Project

3 things I've learned so far in these 2 short months by having a blog (or a personal project, hobby).

When I started this blog last year, I don't know what I want to do other than having an outlet, sharing my struggles, and sharing my self-discoveries in 2020. It's been two months now since I started the blog. Thank god my mental state is way more stable than last year (partial credit to this blog)! But I still don't know what I want to do with this! I've never been so good at social media; I've never been good at writing and promoting myself.

I asked myself lately why should I keep going with this? Should I keep them in my personal journal and not share them? Will people even be interested in hearing my struggles? How much in common I have with other people? How much time do I need to work on my blog that will be helpful for others?

This past weekend, I started learning about blogging and website hosting. To be honest, I didn't read or watch any of these tutorials before I decided to start the blog. I chose the website platform (Wix) that I'm familiar with because I've already built my interior design portfolio on it. And I just wrote about my struggles and self-discovery journey without thinking about any niches. After watching few youtube videos, I was definitely scared and thinking to myself that I will never be a successful blogger! Who am I kidding, it's so much work, and I have more than a full-time job (if you are in design and architecture, you know what I'm talking about)!

Then I thought to myself. Maybe it's a blessing that I just started without knowing much; if I had more blogging knowledge, I probably would've never started!

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action." - Benjamin Disraeli

The single action of starting brought me here. Writing, thinking, and using my brain in different ways than I usually do has helped my creativity. Begin to think about how my experience can help others is also a game-changer. I always love to help when friends and colleagues in need, sharing tips and discoveries. This blog will help me figure out how to help more people and how to be more helpful.

This single action of starting also pushed me out of my comfort zone! In one of my previous posts, I mentioned one of my intentions for 2021 is to get out of my comfort zone more. I didn't even realize that I'm already doing it by starting this blog.

3 things I've learned so far in these 2 short months by having a blog (or a personal project, hobby).

1. Write anyways when I know I'm not good at it. I used to be so scared when I hear writing, I tense up, thinking about all the bad things going to happen when I write! Now I feel much more comfortable with it, which is a vast improvement! (Just a fun fact my English class is always C or D in college compare to all the other A's in design.)

2. Thinking about myself as a brand, learning to trust, and promote my brand. As a designer, we help other companies convey their branding through strategy and design. I just never thought about it the same way personally. After all, we are all different and have different experiences and personalities. We are all interesting individuals in different ways; why not think about ourselves as a brand?! If you start to think about yourself this way, you won't allow yourself to be small! If you trust your brand and want other people to trust and love your brand, you have to be confident in your brand first!

3. I don't attach or identify myself solely to work anymore. When people ask me what I do before, I always say, "I'm an interior designer". Yes, I am, but I'm also more than that - I'm a daughter, partner, friend, dancer, yogi, foodie, dog mom, etc... I used to over-identify myself with just one aspect of my life, which is why it easily makes me unhappy. It's like the classic struggle with love relationships - you can't expect your partner to be everything and fill in all your needs. Same as work, and everything else. Our life is so much more than just one aspect, it's multifaceted, and let's keep it interesting like that.

In conclusion, I'm writing down all of these right now is simply me telling myself and telling you that action is very important. Sometimes, you don't have to have everything figured out before starting. You can start and figure out as you go, it might not work out as you planned, but it will teach you something along the way that I'm sure will benefit you in some form somewhere in life.