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The year 2017 is slowly coming to an end and I can look back on another year full of incredible impressions, experiences and insights. One more reason to reflect the past 12 months again.
What stands out the most is, how much blogging influenced me and certainly also Sonja and Kira. It’s the first year in which we have been working for Shoppisticated full-time. Therefore, I would like to point out the biggest professional and personal changes that I have experienced as a blogger.
DAY AT WORK
Before our self-employment, we had to handle cooperations, photo shootings and the everyday business between the obligations of the university and our part-time jobs. That worked well up to a certain amount of work.
Now we can focus on the blog and that has the advantage of being much more structured. The email contact to customers and agencies is more personal, because we have more time to really focus on the conversation. Telephone calls are also part of the daily agenda and that’s also a huge step forward for me. I used to be incredibly nervous and felt very insecure about phone calls. Meanwhile, I like to pick up the phone to discuss some topics and really enjoy the personal contact!
But the biggest advantage of being self-employed is, that we can work more creative and have the opportunity to travel a lot.
FRIENDSHIP & COMPETITION
Through blogging we have met many nice people, with whom we share the same passion. Nevertheless, I have also a circle of friends, which are completely detached from social media. It’s incredibly good to have conversations with people, who have a different center of life and perhaps also represent other worldviews. This enriches my own perception immensely and always brings me back to the ground of facts. Because it’s a privilege to experience such great trips and to deal with the most beautiful trivia in the world. No one should ever forget that!
Nevertheless, I also learned to deal with competition and unsightly encounters. With Kira and Sonja by my side, I can stand those negative vibes. We rarely let ourselves be influenced by envy and negative thoughts and always follow the rule – THINK POSITIVE!
I AM JUST A HUMAN!
Because I’m a very perfectionist person, I wasn’t able to calm down and really relax myself in the past. Thoughts about my work have accompanied me in bed and partially impaired my sleep. When I made a mistake at work, I was so stressed that I felt physically ill sometimes.
Thanks to the great team spirit I have learned that it’s human to make mistakes. It is about admitting the mistakes, apologizing and then developing possible solutions. Then a mistake can even help you to learn from the past and develop a better sense of problem avoidance and coping.
BEAUTY IDEALS
Another aspect about humanity is the constant pressure to look good. In some way we’re in public and that affects the rising requirement for oneself. During puberty, I suffered a lot from the pressure of beauty ideals. I was never satisfied with myself and my body. If I reflect this time, I was very insecure and have lost much of my zest for life.
Through the love of my boyfriend, great friends and even because of your positive response, I was able to shed this uncertainty. At some point, I stopped striving for something and started to accept and love myself. I have accepted that I’m not perfect and that no one expects that from me. This insight has developed over the past few years, and I believe that no change has influenced me in any way so much.
FROM A TECHNIQUE GROUCH TO A MOBILE ADDICT
I’ve never really been gifted, or interested in technology. Writing my homework on the laptop and using Google were the greatest amount of technology I used in my everyday life for a long time. Of course blogging brought a lot of equipment, programs and applications. I still need much longer to develop an understanding of the easiest processes. For this reason I’m very proud that I’ve developed a certain interest for professional reasons.
Above all I really like the field of photography and image editing programs. Because of Instagram, I sometimes even catch myself thinking in pictures and perceive everyday situations with a completely different eye. Always looking for the perfect picture or inspiration, I really spend a lot of time on the phone.
For the year 2018 I have the sole intention, that I would like to put my cell phone down more often.
*Photocredit: Michael Goldenbaum
Make Up by Serena Goldenbaum
Sehr schöner Beitrag! Ich bin auch absolut kein Fan vom telefonieren aber es wird langsam besser haha. xx Lea
https://theordinarytwo.wordpress.com
Vielen Dank Lea:)
Ich kann dir nur sagen, dass es jedes Mal einfacher wird. Man muss in einigen Situationen über seinen Schatten springen und dann merkt man, dass es die ganze Aufregung garnicht wert war;)
Ganz liebe Grüße,
Maike
Sehr schöner, persönlicher und insprierender Text. Gut formuliert. Das hier zu lesen hat mir sehr gefallen.