31 Days of Blog: a Burst of Inspiration, or a Bad Case of Heatstroke?

I was sitting on the train this afternoon, willing my body to re-regulate it’s internal temperature after a sweltering cycle (I don’t do heatwaves very well). As the stickiness on my skin slowly subsided and my gaze drifted towards the trees streaming past the window, a thought popped into my head:

“Why don’t I challenge myself to blog every day in July?”

Never mind that my partner and I are going on a city-break (well, town-break) in four days time. Or that the world is on fire. Or that I’m still working through a mini existential crisis. No! Come hell or high water, I will sit at my laptop/work computer/phone every day this month and write a blog post. What could possibly go wrong?!

Whilst I am being slightly self-deprecating, there is method in my madness.

You see, I actually do quite well with daily challenges like this, such as the #100DaysOfPractice challenge on Instagram or 28 Plays Later by The Literal Challenge. I think that, for me, having a daily commitment prevents me from getting in my head about what I’m doing. Plus there’s the obvious accountability factor of an organisation or your followers expecting that daily post. And as a chronic people pleaser, how can I let them down?

So, what are the parameters?

(I’m deciding these as I’m typing this post at my work computer in between customers - little peak behind the curtain for you!)

Rule 1: I have to post something on this blog every day in the month of July.

Rule 2: Once I’ve published the blog, I must share it on at least one social media platform (for that sweet accountability!). My non-exhaustive list of options include Bluesky, YouTube, Facebook (I know, don’t @ me) and Instagram.

Rule 3: I’m allowed to base a blog around other content, but I need to add something to the original source material. For example, I can make an embedded YouTube video of mine the basis of a blog, but I have to add something unique in the written portion of the post.

Rule 4: No set word-count. Does this mean I could technically post a one word blog? Yes. However, a) the sole aim of the challenge is to post every day in July; I’ll be more likely to succeed if I don’t put the pressure of a word-count on myself, and b) I’m too much of a perfectionist to post something with little to no value. This is also why Rule 3 exists, to give me a lower bar to jump over on difficult days.

Rule 5: No set topic/s or genre. Anything goes! Will I discover my inner restaurant critic or short story author? Only time will tell…

Me in my garden wondering what I’ve gotten myself into…

The last thing I want to share is what I hope to achieve with this challenge (again, spit-balling on the fly - I’m so not used to this!)

The main outcome I’d love is to prove to myself that I can show up consistently and put ideas out in the world. Since relaunching my website and blog, I’ve struggled to show up and post here. I constantly feel like the ideas I have aren’t good enough to grace my humble website. It’s an issue I’ve had across my internet presence, and whilst I think this is indicative of a deeper routed block, I think this small, relatively low stakes challenge may help me turn things around.

Another related outcome is to prove to myself that I can put out something that isn’t “perfect” and I won’t die! The beauty of the daily challenge is that there isn’t time to be perfect - you have to be content with good enough. And that’s a lesson that, try as I might, will not bed in. Maybe by the end of this month, it will.

And lastly, I hope that by reading this and following my progress, I can at least entertain you and maybe inspire you to make up you’re own challenge to help you make the positive change you want to see in yourself.

So yeah, I predict that this challenge will make me feel uncomfortable at times, maybe even vulnerable. But I also hope it’ll be fun as well. This post was really fun to write, anyway. So that’s a positive start!

See you tomorrow, friends!

M x