Hello everyone! Welcome back to another Blogging Tips Series article.

Instead of tips, in this article, I'd like to share some of my personal experiences and things that I've gained ever since I've started blogging consistently. I hope by sharing this, you can be more inspired and motivated to start your own blog too in 2021.

Without further ado, here are 5 ways how blogging has impacted my life.

1. Meeting New People

If I have to choose the biggest change that I've experienced from blogging, it would be meeting new people. As an introvert, I tend to stay in my bubble of close friends and rarely try to meet new people.

But meeting new people through blogging feels unforced and natural. I met really amazing people whom I can discuss plenty of interests and passion topics with.

Also, if it weren't for blogging, I would have missed out being part of an amazing community like Hashnode. I would not have met people who are constantly inspiring and motivating me to do better.

2. Re-Connect with Old Friends

Surprisingly, blogging has helped me reunite with old friends. After living in so many different countries, it is difficult for me to maintain friendships and over time, we end up drifting apart.

Some of my old friends thankfully discovered my blog and it's so heartwarming to be able to rekindle that friendship, all thanks to blogging. We are now always sharing ideas and fun passion projects to collaborate with.

3. Secure more job interviews

Before I started this blog, I was a small freelancer applying to numerous jobs every day. My resume was anything but interesting, there's nothing in particular that stand out. And so, out of 100 jobs I applied to, I'd say I only landed 15-20 interviews.

If I had known that blogging could increase that 15% interview rate to 90%, I would have started sooner. This month, I applied to 20 jobs and 18 of them gave me an interview opportunity.

The reason: they were impressed by my blog. It tells them that I have good productivity habits and an excellent learning attitude. Actions speak louder than words on a resume.

4. Self-Discovery

Before I started blogging, I had a lot of fears about writing. Fear that I was not good enough. Fear that I would be highly criticized. Fear that I could never publish an article because it had to be "perfect". Ultimately, I was afraid of letting myself down.

I read "Shoe Dog" by Phil Knight recently. He talked about his struggles, how he overcome them and become Nike's founder. He said,

Start before you're ready.

If you are always contemplating whether to take the first step, then that's already time wasted. Start before you're ready and make mistakes along the way. And now with blogging, I have discovered what I like about writing, the gains/lessons I've received from it and what it really means to me as a dev blogger.

5. Self-Improvement

As I embark on this blogging journey, I learned how to celebrate small progress and focus on personal growth.

I explored my creativity by learning new skills like Photoshop to design my cover arts and developing a writing style that suits my identity.

My time management and discipline also improves naturally as I tried to blog consistently. Becoming more open-minded and accepting to give and receive well-intended feedback is also another self-improvement aspect.

Last but not least, by searching within myself for my motivation to write, I learned how to overcome my perfectionist mindset and improve that imposter's syndrome we all often get now and then.

Finally...

It's about patience. Patience to grow and progress. Patience to overcome and better yourself. Patience to meet the people you can truly connect with.

"Patience is not passive, on the contrary, it is concentrated strength." - Bruce Lee

Above all, blogging has become a true joy, a small getaway where I can indulge in my own thoughts. Without a doubt, it has changed my life.

Thank you for reading this rather long article. The purpose of this article is to reflect and be grateful of all the things blogging has given me. If you'd like to reflect too, and share anything that changed for you since you've started blogging, please feel free to share in the comments below! Cheers!