1 year later – so what now?

Has it really been a year since I wrote my first blog article?

1 Year ago…

It seems strange that as I completed that post, I looked at my new blog Perfection Manifesto (soon renamed The Manifesto of Perfection) and thought how empty the archive looked.  So I deliberately set the blog so that it looked like it had more content.

My drive to write the blog was simple – I wanted to write and I wanted to be a better person.  So I combined the two and created this self-improvement blog.

In reflection from the past year, in many ways I am a better person.

Last year I referred to myself as a perfectionist, but my life was far from perfect.

• I wanted a better body.
• I wanted a better job.
• I wanted a better life.
• I wanted to be a better person.

My obsession with perfection was a double edged sword – it helped make me better as what I had was never enough, but it also made me miserable.

I no longer view perfection as a target and perhaps it is a coincidence; but when I stopped worrying about it – I got into my first ever serious relationship, I got a new job, I had more going for my life and although my body isn’t quite as athletic as it was last year – I really don’t mind.

What next?

I was driving home from work thinking what I could write next.  Then a thought came over me – my story has changed, I’m no longer striving for perfection and I am quite structured in my goals – should I move on from the Manifesto of Perfection?

The thought scared me, but I had my reasons.

I felt that my writing had gone back into having no clear direction and despite thinking I had developed a writers voice this past year, if you asked me to write a paragraph on what that voice was I could not tell you.

I also felt for the amount of time I put into writing I wasn’t getting enough page hits (despite always saying that never mattered!)

After writing for a year it seemed a good time to draw it to an end.

I decide the best course was to think about it – so I decided to take some time off writing.  And two weeks later here I am back writing.

Is it the end?

I could do some big build up to build reader anticipation, but to save time no!

I realise that this blog is more than self-improvement, it is about me and my life.

If I had not started writing the Manifesto of Perfection I would not have sat down and wrote about my pre-date nerves with my girlfriend, or about my stress related breakdown, my experience with suicide or shared my thoughts on how to live a better life!

And for that it is important that the blog grows as I grow.  I will continue to write stories from my life – about how I go about working towards my goals, my thoughts and all the things that have an influence on my life.

I am going to stop worrying about the page hits issue and write about what I enjoy.

It’s taken a year to develop my writers voice and I realise that this will be an ever growing process.  I have goals to work towards which I will write about from time-to-time.  So here is to making it to Year 2!