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I wasn’t going to write any new content until January 5th. I had decided that I needed to take a break from writing but writing had a different idea. I had heard a few people talk about how they were going to write a year in review blog post and I just wasn’t feeling it.
Then as I was getting ready to do my silent meditation for the night, this title popped into my head. I decided that I would run it through the headline analyzer tool to see if it was any good and it was REALLY good so here I am, writing when I said I wouldn’t.
I think we can all agree that 2020 was not a year that anyone of us imagined that it would be. It was tough. It was a year of what felt like setback after setback but it also felt like a year when we could focus on more than just being busy. If you were anything like me, I enjoy being busy. Not doing anything makes me feel like I am getting nothing done. Yes, I guess that is kind of the point but I didn’t like it. I struggled at first to just stop and so I continued to push myself.
As I was talking to a friend tonight via FB messenger, she had suggested that she was going to add some downtime into her daily schedule. I laughed because I know that even if I said I would take downtime, my kids would hunt me down and find me for something minuscule. Because, let’s face it, that is what they do.
I think writing this right now would be my downtime. The kids are sleeping after we watched 2 movies as a family together. Now let’s talk about that for a moment, shall we?! Every morning I have been doing a visualization mediation that I absolutely love to do. It has me visualizing my life how I want it to be.
VISUALIZING MY LIFE IN 2021
So during this time, the meditation has me leave my body and look at myself while I am living the life of my dreams. So I go from room to room in my home and look at what I want each room to contain in my perfect life.
My master bedroom. Well, I think we can all imagine what I visualize going on in there so we will move on past that.
My office. I visualize talking to women on Zoom for my Blogology course. I imagine having 3 blog coaching clients per month and walking them step by step through their own blogging process.
The girls’ room. I visualize all of us down on the floor, playing with a baby boy that I had. We are laughing and giggling as we all play together.
The kitchen. I visualize Richard helping me make dinner while the kids set the table and the baby is in the highchair. We are telling stories and laughing.
The downstairs living room. This is where I envision us watching movies in front of the fireplace as a family. Cuddled up on the couch and just enjoying each other’s company while a movie plays.
That is what happened tonight. Quinton is a teenager and he has been too cool for us for a while, so he rarely hangs out with us. We watch a movie and he just goes to his room and plays on his phone. Well, NOT TONIGHT. He came out and watched a full movie with us. It was exactly as I had envisioned it to be. I immediately began to smile as I looked around at the kids all between Richard and me. It was my perfect night and I was soaking it all in.
THE BEGINNING OF 2020
I really wasn’t sure what to expect of 2020. 2019 was a rough year for us. We moved to a new home, spent a month in a hotel due to mould and then moved back in. We then needed to find a new place to live because the mould returned. It was NOT a year that we wanted to remember. Our kids were uprooted again to a new school system and when 2020 hit, we were excited to see what our life was going to be like.
In January, I held my first blogging workshop and was incredibly happy that I had 2 women sign up for it. I was ready to throw in the towel on being an entrepreneur because I just felt done. And then I wasn’t. There was a spark that was lit inside of me and my business completely changed.
I was no longer focusing on freelance blogging, I was now going to teach women how to blog themselves.
From January through March there was rapid change.
I hosted my workshop.
I hosted my first blogging intensive weekend.
I hosted my first round of Blogology.
All in a matter of 3 months. I was trying to catch my breath but didn’t want to because life was amazing. I felt like what I was doing was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. So I continued to move forward. And just as I was making headway in my business, COVID hit.
That is when life changed and I didn’t have time to even think. Everything was so new at the time so we really weren’t sure what to expect. My kids were now home 24/7. That meant that I had to take a step back from my business so that they could get school work done. With having only 1 computer at the time, school became the priority.
And it continued like that for months.
In June, I decided that I was going to do a complete rebrand of my blog and of my brand itself. I always felt like what I wanted to be showing was somehow missing in my branding. So I went from Creative Purpose (I still love that name) to Samantha Laycock Blogging. I completely redid my website while my kids and husband were up north at his uncle’s cabin.
I went from having a blog that covered self-care, self-love, mental health and blogging to a blog that covered just blogging. It was terrifying. I was known for all of the other stuff but I knew that in order for me to take the next step towards growing, even more, I had to make the hard decision to keep moving forward. And so I did.
That felt like my turning point. I started writing blog posts 3 times a week. I was then named one of the top 30 blogging blogs and I knew that I was doing something right. I felt on top of the world.
In August, I had landed my first client that was a complete stranger. I remember the day she messaged me and the day she paid me. I couldn’t believe it. I had been coaching blogging for about 7 months but this was my first client that didn’t know who I was, besides from social media. I took the kids to IHOP to celebrate.
BLOGGING CHANGED THE COURSE OF MY 2020
I know that it is cheesy to say but when I began blogging in 2014, I never imagined the impact that it would have on me or those around me. 2020 has proven to me that despite the days being hard and the weeks dragging on, I have grown and become what I was meant to be.
There have been days that I didn’t want to get out of bed. There are days when life just feels like a neverending rerun. I am exhausted in every aspect that you can imagine. But I also feel fulfilled and content. I feel like 2020 has given me a purpose that can’t be taken away.
As I continue to work through what I need to, I will look back on 2020 as being the year that I became the real and authentic Samantha. The woman who struggles on a daily basis but never gives up. The woman who is here to lift other women up and remind them that their story matters. The woman who, despite thinking that I am not good enough, will always be good enough for what she needs to do. The woman who will always show up for herself even with tears in her eyes.
Here is to saying goodbye to 2020. A year that broke us, fixed us, slowed us down and reminded us what life truly has to offer. Welcome, 2021. I am excited and nervous to see what you have in store for me.
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