The Real Story Why I'm Re-branding the Blog Again: My Blog Purpose and Mission
This time, there's no need for layout or theme changes, hosting site transfers, or catchy Instagram blog announcements. The sole reason I'm rebranding Yours Truly, Myrra is that I'm now committed to blog with a purpose.
How my blog started
Three years ago, I started this blog just because I needed a platform to share my voice and my thoughts. It was only through this blog and my diary that I had been able to let my feelings out without worrying too much about what other people would think. I wrote about what happened through my days, what I wore, what I felt, where I went, and so on. I wasn't trying to please anybody because I knew that no one, except perhaps my Dad and some of my closest friends, really bothered to read my posts. There was no pressure, no expectations.Yours Truly, Myrra blog was already a blog with a purpose from the very first day I clicked the "publish" button and that purpose was mainly to share my genuine stories and basically write a letter to my future self (hence the name - Yours Truly, Myrra) that "hey, future Myrra, this is what you did in this day" or "hello, future Myrra, this is what you felt back in that moment". I was sharing my authentic self because I knew that my future self will thank me for it.
How I got lost in the system
But blogging wasn't meant to be just a hobby for me. As time went by, people started to read, appreciate, and/or judge my posts depending on what I say, what I'm wearing, or how good my photos were. People commented that my words were beautiful and inspiring but a few said the opposite. My blog - my personal online diary - was suddenly being read by lots of people and it was both an honor and a curse to me.Soon after, brands were reaching out to me to ask if I can promote their products in exchange for a free product or a free pass, or maybe a little amount of money. I never thought that people would read my blog, let alone the fact that I could earn from it (!!!) so I said yes to every offer coming my way. I saw them as opportunities to widen my reach as a blogger.Then, perhaps a few months after I started, I realized that the blogging world was now becoming more and more saturated. People were making their own blogs and starting their own Facebook pages and Instagram accounts. Some had the intention of really starting their blog with a purpose but some, unfortunately (disclaimer: don't quote me on this as this is just an opinion), just made theirs only to earn money and get free passes on events as "bloggers". I didn't find any fault in the latter as it is not entirely wrong to have a goal of making money through blogging (heck, it even was one of my goals) but what's wrong is when you're doing it just for the sake of it and not to give value to people.
However, it became clear to me that the world of blogging and social media were gradually turning to be a numbers game. The more traffic you have, the more popular you are. The more followers you have, the more brands will reach out to you. It was that simple. So even if your posts aren't really useful or inspiring for readers (i.e. copy-pasted press releases that aren't connected to your blog's target audience in any way or worse, an entire blog showing support for politicians through spreading fake news), you will be known as a "blogger" simply because you own a blog.In all honesty, I became a chameleon to this system. I portrayed myself as having THE perfect life in all my social media accounts. I was working with brands even if I didn't entirely support them or they're not quite useful for my target readers just because they gave me something in return (most were just X deals, btw). I was scrolling and scrolling and scrolling through social media to check out the trends and see what people were doing and posting and do my version of them. I would get into engagement pods just so my posts would automatically have a boost because people were commenting on them when, in truth, these people were just required to do so. (Disclaimer: I have nothing against engagement pods as I even met my best blogger friends through them. it's just entirely wrong to use it for the sake of likes and comments instead of engaging and collaborating with other bloggers.) Then, I will constantly compare myself to other people and judge myself whenever I seem to not follow society's standards - why am I not as thin as her? why is she so fab and I'm not? why does she have so many followers and I have less?I fell to a level that low because I got sucked into pleasing everybody else around me, not knowing that it was poisoning my authentic, confident self. I became a chameleon to that system and as a consequence, I lost myself in it.
Getting myself back
I fell so low that when I hit rock bottom, it felt almost impossible to get back up. I almost, almost gave up on my blog because I wasn't seeing the growth I expected - follower count just stayed the same, blog traffic analytics is stagnant, etc. Add up the post-travel depression I was experiencing at that time, a few weeks after arriving from my student exchange program in Italy.I saw no light at all. But the only -- and the most important -- thing I did was kneel down and pray to God. I remembered the promise I did and the contract I signed in the Purpose-Driven Book by Rick Warren when I promised God that I'll surrender everything to Him. That's when the magic began.I came across the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, which was originally a book I gave my Mom as a present on her birthday, and there was a quote there that said:
Don't let go of your courage the moment things stop being easy or rewarding.Because that moment?That's the moment when interesting begins.
And that's when it hit me that my courage in whatever circumstance in life - in this case, my career as a blogger and entrepreneur - is still somewhere out there. I just lost it in the process of losing myself but it's still out there somewhere and it's willing to be found.So, I tried to find it. In the most silent and peaceful way possible.
No social media use for a month
My biggest enemy, I figured, is social media, not because it was entirely a bad thing to use but it sucked me to its totally addicting cycle of scrolling, seeing people's "perfect" lives, comparing it to mine, and hating myself for it. Social media has transformed how the world works but the thing is, without balance, it might just destroy it. It connects everyone with the world but it also threatens to disconnect us with ourselves.That's why, out of nowhere, I decided to not use social media for a month, even if it meant consequences to my blogging career. I uninstalled Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (those are the only social media sites I use) from my phone and told everyone to contact me through calls, text messaging or email. It was a strange feeling to do it (mind you, even my Mom got worried if I was sick or brokenhearted or something like that ?) and yet, it was also the most liberating.
During that month, I became more aware of myself and more mindful of my surroundings. I also became so productive and I used my free time to watch motivational and insightful videos on Youtube instead. I enrolled in some free blogging courses and bought Blogging With Purpose ebook by In Search of Sheila and that's when I realized that I had to realign my blog's purpose to who I really want to be and to how I want to make an impact in this world.
Why I blog with a purpose: My Purpose as a blogger and entrepreneur
Besides reading Sheila's ebook, I also started reading more personal development books since I did the no-social-media challenge. I realized that if I'm going to live my life, I might as well make every moment worth it. So whenever I had free time, I kept on reading books that I knew would help me get to my dreams. One of those is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. He emphasized how important it is to know your belief and why you're doing what you're doing - in my case, why I'm blogging and why I'm starting a business.After every exercise, workbook, and videos I watched that guided me to find my purpose, I finally found mine.
My main purpose as a blogger and entrepreneur is to inspire young women to travel the world and help them make their dreams happen one little action step a time.
As Sheila calls it in her ebook, that's my Mission Statement. That's WHY I blog. That's the thing that will keep me on doing this even if it gets tough at times. That's the thing I will hold on to in taking this journey. Realizing that was honestly such a relief and honor.Finally, blogging wasn't a curse for me anymore. My WHY was my cure. My blog with a purpose now finally fulfills me.
Here's what you can expect
After a hiatus of more than a month, I will be back in blogging again and this time, everything will clearly be aligned to my WHY as I blog with a purpose. Every month, I will set a theme (announced or unannounced) and that will be the focus of everything that I release as my content -- from blog posts, Youtube videos, Instagram photos and stories, Facebook posts, newsletters, etc. For specific topics that I will talk about, I listed them here.The two main things I aim to do in both my blog and business are:
- To inspire you to travel the world -- because there is so much beauty in the world to see and the world is waiting for you to get to know it better.
- To help you make your dreams happen - because as a development communication student, we were taught to help other people reach their potential. And I believe that you have so much potential in you that you could use in creating the life you wish to live. The thing is, to make your dreams happen, it isn't enough to just believe in them; you have to make them happen yourself.
Also, if you have been following me on Instagram, you know that I launched my Youtube channel a few weeks ago! It's a new platform I'm using to create better and more useful content for you.This month of July, I released the Travel Solo + Travel Bravely series where I talk about tips and hacks for you to overcome your fear of solo traveling. You can watch the videos here!Besides these, you can also expect that there will be less lifestyle, beauty, and fashion posts on this blog. This doesn't mean that I love fashion and beauty (i.e. makeup) any less, but through the process of being more self-aware, I realized that I could help people in other things while still incorporating my love for these subjects. That said, you can still follow my Instagram for style inspiration.My content now spans through text (blog posts), social media, and video (Youtube) but I still think the best way to reach you is through my email list. I love sending you guys exclusive tips and resources through email because it feels like I'm really sending a personal letter to you (hello, YOURS TRULY, MYRRA? ?). I also have so much in store for you in my resource library where you can download your own free travel planner, a workbook to overcome your fear of solo travel and many more! That's why I ask you to sign up for my email list and join our #WanderingDreamers Fam in our FB community now so you won't miss the fun.
Next month's theme: Solo Traveling
I have written about this several times but next month, I'll be sharing more tips on how to travel solo as a solo female traveler. You see, if I want to blog with a purpose, it means I need to both inspire you and help you. So, comment down below what questions you have about solo traveling! Are you planning to solo travel now or still need to overcome that fear? What topics do you want me to talk about?If you stick until the end of this post, I just want to tell you how grateful I am to be serving you and to have you reading my posts. It's cliche but really, it means THE WORLD to me. Know that I always believe in you - no matter who you are and where you're from.Make those dreams happen, my love!
