If you read my recent blog post about joining Medium, well I did another thing and decided to try my hand at publications. It had been a while since I wrote anything worth sharing, so I thought I might try this as a way to garner more traffic. You can read my previous blog post here:
I often find myself complaining that my blog is not getting many visitors these days, and I was looking for a place where I could improve my content and build a more engaged audience. Even though I’ve been really nervous about branching out and trying something new, I decided to try publishing on a popular platform that has been around for years. My experience so far has been a rewarding one, though it was also nerve-wracking when I had to go from making $0 on my hobby blog to joining the Medium Partner Program (MPP), not knowing what to expect. I am still on the journey of earning enough money for a cup of coffee. ☕💕
Anyways, I submitted an article to a publication on Medium last night and was nervous about the whole process. I chose a publication where the owner personally reached out to all of her contributors. She seemed nice and I wanted to help out. This publication seemed to be the least intimidating out of all the ones I have seen on Medium. Long story short, my article got added to the publication!
I just submitted my first article to a publication on #Medium and I am starting to feel more confident about my work. I really hope it gets approved! 🙏
Normally, I would re-share my articles on my blog but I decided to put my most recent article behind a paywall. With the great amount of changing trends, publishers have been forced to consider paywalls as a response to the growing subscription economy. In this case, I wanted to implement this feature especially since I published this article exclusively for Medium. You can read my latest article here:
Depending on how this goes, I will probably be posting most of my articles on the Medium platform. However, I will still share the links on this blog so you can read them.
Medium is a free platform and anyone can join, but if you decide to get a membership, you’ll have access to all the paywall content I’ve published at your heart’s desire. Your membership fee directly supports me and other writers too. You’ll also get full access to every story on Medium.
Interested in getting a Medium membership? You can click here to get started. Thank you for supporting me on my writing journey!
(っ◔◡◔)っQuestion:Are you familiar with the saying, “Don’t feed the trolls?”
The saying is essentially telling you that the best way to deal with trolls or people who are deliberately trying to provoke or anger you is to ignore them rather than give them a mature response. This means that any time a troll pops up online making inflammatory remarks, you are supposed to ignore them because responding would derail the thread and give them the attention they want. Or so they say.
I use a similar saying, “Don’t feed the bears,” which is essentially the same thing as “Don’t feed [or provoke] the trolls.” Seemingly innocent people online can be trolls. Thus, if you let them live rent-free in your head, then you are letting them win. I recently wrote an article where I talked about the concept of letting someone live rent-free in your head you can read more about it here:
I recently encountered a blogger who took to her personal blog to wish me bad karma. She also left some inflammatory remarks that she later deleted. I, of course, saved screenshots to my phone which I can share if needed but I am not going to do that. I am not going to be the one who ruins the chance for peace in this person’s life. I have never met her personally, but I know that she has left a deep and lasting impression on my heart that is unlikely to heal any time soon. I am probably being overly dramatic, but my feelings are valid and her words cut deep.
Learning how to protect your energy, whether it is online or offline, is important for your mental health. Sometimes, the best way to help combat internet drama is to take a step back and find something that will distract you from it. Sometimes, this is as simple as taking a bath or going for a walk, but other times it may be necessary to find new activities that are calming. The last thing you want to do (as tempting as it is) is to interact with those who aren’t respecting your energy.
“You can’t protect your energy, but you can protect your peace.”— Unknown
Should You Have the Last Say?
I advise you to do your best to avoid interactions with negative or argumentative people either online or in the real world as much as possible. Doing so will help you maintain your sanity and keep your energy levels up without becoming too drained and frustrated. Trust me, I know that it is very tempting to try and seek revenge on the person who has wronged you and wants to make your life difficult, but believe me when I say that it isn’t worth your time or energy. Though we cannot go back and change the past, we can always protect our energy now by walking away from people who no longer serve us.
👉 So you might be wondering what to do if you cannot let them go. Well, you could try blocking them.
It might sound harsh, but you could try blocking them on all of your social media accounts. Try to think of it as ripping off a band-aid — it’s going to hurt for a little bit, but you’ll want to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Sometimes, blocking is simply not enough. If you have been as fortunate as I have (sarcasm), then you may have encountered a leader bear and her follower cubs. I bet you didn’t see that coming! The best way to make the mother bear and her cub followers back off is to block them, as they will eventually lose interest and stop trying to contact you.
Hopefully, you realized by now that Mama bear is the troll and her cubs are the loyal followers who will always stand up for her, no matter what.
“We’ll never turn on Mama bear, she’s our best friend!”
With the rise of social media, people now have the ability to comment on anything they want. This means that people are able to express their thoughts and feelings publicly and openly. Comments can be hurtful, offensive, or just plain rude. There will always be people who you like more than other people and some of those feelings may not be mutual.
Whether it’s because you are too good or maybe you just rub that person the wrong way, it doesn’t matter. I am giving you the permission to do everything in your power to stop whoever is making your life miserable online. At the end of the day, you are responsible for what kind of space you want to create on the internet. You also have the ability to block anyone who is not respecting your boundaries, even if they refuse to listen to your request for them to stop. Remember, YOU are in control!
On WordPress, I have encountered a few trolls and rude bloggers, but my overall experience on this platform has been mostly positive. Have you ever had to block someone on WordPress? I am curious to know what your experiences were on this platform. Feel free to let me know by joining the conversation and leaving a comment below. I know I haven’t been great at replying lately but I plan on catching up with comments later this week. Thank you for continuing to read my blog posts.
No, I am not talking about the literal definition of living rent-free. If you are allowing someone else to live rent-free in your head, that could be a problem.
Disclaimer: I believe this idea is more of an advanced concept in personal growth and development because the hardest part is being able to identify and address it as it is happening. This means that we need to already have developed a type of mindfulness that is often found in more advanced personal-development practices. It’s also a lot harder to teach people about the benefits of this concept for themselves, so I want you to keep an open mind while reading. Let’s begin, shall we?
My husband often tells me that I unintentionally give other people free rein to live rent-free in my head and it has been really affecting me in a negative way. I know he is right, and that’s why I want to address what living rent-free actually is and how we can catch ourselves doing it before it consumes us. It’s not just about mental health — living rent-free is also very taxing on the human body in all aspects. It takes up space in our brains, causing us to not have the energy or room to be the best version of ourselves, and drains our stamina to do more productive things. Yikes.
It’s important to always stay aware of the cause and identify what you can do about it so that you get relief. Figuring out how to break the cycle of negative thoughts is hard, but it does get easier the more you work at it. Furthermore, it’s important to know that there are a number of ways to help you break out of this cycle by learning the underlying causes behind your energy drain and where this “energy zap” is coming from.
(っ◔◡◔)っFYI: What does it mean to live rent-free?
Rent-freeis a term used by young people to mean, “allowing someone to occupy your thoughts.” It is also a slang expression and catchphrase used to describe how someone holds a grudge or allows an individual to occupy their thoughts, often meant to mock that person. This can be seen as an insult because it suggests that the person does not have any control over their own mind. Believe it or not, this is becoming a major problem in today’s society and people are too lenient with themselves and others. It’s interesting to think about how negative energy affects our mental state.
Living in someone else’s head can be difficult to deal with, especially if the relationship is one-sided. One of the many side effects is constantly thinking about them and letting their presence linger in your thoughts. This can be very difficult to live with, not only because it feels like you’re never getting a break from that person, but also because it tends to make your mental state worse. If you don’t do anything about it, it could manifest into feelings of guilt, self-doubt, and depression — all of which are detrimental to our mental health.
Struggling with these thoughts and feelings can be a painful experience, but the only way to truly move on is to process them. Other people may struggle with intrusive thoughts and feelings as well, but this doesn’t mean that they are alone because there are many ways to overcome these difficulties. Trust me — I have experienced it first hand. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing about this topic.
“Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head.” — Ann Landers
If you are experiencing intrusive thoughts and feelings, it is important to be aware that these can really leave you feeling overwhelmed and weighed down emotionally. However, the most effective way to deal with these emotions is to learn how to process them and understand them. If we try to ignore these negative emotions or push them down, then they will continue to live in our heads.
Remember, you are not weak because you have let someone live rent-free in your head. You have been strong and you have prevailed. The last thing I want you to think is that you’re the victim because that’s just not true. You have more control over the situation than you might think! 💪
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ FINAL THOUGHTS ♥
Finally, I can’t tell you how to process this stuff. All that I ask is that you get the help you need if therapy is a good option for you. Everyone has their own way of dealing with people, but if your strong and negative emotions are making it hard for you to function, then therapy could be the right option for you. Thus, I encourage you to explore different options and find what’s best for you.
If you have any thoughts that you would like to share with me, please leave a comment by joining the conversation below ↓ I had previously posted this blog post on Medium, which now has a paywall. If you want to support me on my writing journey, I would greatly appreciate it if you read my articles over at Medium(a starving writer needs to eat), but if you don’t have a Medium Membership that’s totally understandable.
First, let’s start with some housekeeping. I have reached an impasse, and I believe that it is the best of both worlds to share my thoughts with my readers on this blog and my readers on Medium. I would be limiting myself if I did not post on both platforms.
People have been asking me to make my articles available for everyone on Medium, but when I did that on my hobby blog, I hardly got any traffic! I'm at an impasse right now lol Here is my latest free article if you are interested: https://t.co/NT6xJj8Bl8
In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would love to earn some $$$ by setting up paywalls via the Medium Partner Program, but there aren’t enough readers who are willing to invest their time in me on either platform……yet. Obviously, I need to keep practicing my craft, and if the topics I am writing about are appropriate for this blog (and 99.9% of the time they are), then I am more than happy to share my musings here with you all.
(っ◔◡◔)っThis is the main reason why I am re-posting the article that I recently shared on Medium. If you commented on Medium, you do not need to comment again unless you really want to! Thank you for your support!
I Tried Waking Up at 5 AM
As many of you already know, I have been struggling for the past few months to maintain a healthy sleep schedule. I even shared two related blog posts which you can read here if you haven’t done so already:
Let’s be honest, I have a hard time getting adequate sleep and it takes me a long time to get back on my feet in the morning. When I first heard about the 5 AM Club (0500 if we’re using a 24-clock), I was very intrigued because I’m typically not an early riser. The only time I wake up early is when I have morning shifts at the hospital, which requires me to wake up at 0430 in the morning. 4:30 AM work mornings can be a real struggle — no joke!
Even on my days off, I find myself struggling to wake up before noon on my day off, even when it was my own will and not because I have to be somewhere. When I do have to work a day shift, though (which thankfully does happen less often) I always manage to start racing out of bed and out the door!
I would like to share the details of a recent podcast that I listened to by Robin Sharma. He led a Mastery Session Podcast series (free on iTunes) where he shared insight on how you can be more productive and create more success in your life. As I listened to him, he kept my attention by using the term “5 AM Club” which was unknown to me. After listening to a few episodes, it became apparent that he was likely the one who coined the term. Who doesn’t want to experience increased levels of productivity? 🙋♀️
The 5 AM Club in a Nutshell
Robin Sharma states that the 5 AM Club includes 3 critical tasks that he does every morning when he wakes up at 5 AM, which are the following:
1. Exercising for 20 minutes 2. Journaling for 20 minutes 3. Learning something new for 20 minutes.
He is able to get his morning routine done in just 60 minutes, which allows him to have 1 hour of extra time in the day to pursue other activities that are very important to him.
I remained skeptical of the genuine benefits of the 20/20/20 rule and preferred to test out the theory that waking up earlier for all non-workdays and remaining productive during the day would be beneficial to my long-term productivity levels.
(っ◔◡◔)っBefore I continue, I just want to clarify one thing I did differently: I did not use the 20/20/20 rule at all — I only wanted to wake up at 5 AM.
How It All Went Down
I had to wake up at 0500 for seven consecutive days and felt both physically and mentally drained, but I was able to push through. The first few days were fine, but as the week went on I started to get tired. It was very hard to find the motivation to do anything in the evening as all I wanted was to sleep. As the rest of my family usually stays until midnight, it became very challenging trying to coordinate our schedules. I hated forcing myself to go to bed early when they were still awake and forcing myself to wake up early when they were still asleep. I continued waking up at 0500 every morning for a week before I went back to my usual dysfunctional sleep schedule.
Did the experiment work?
So you might be wondering why I am such an insomniac at night and why I don’t go to bed when they go to bed. There is one thing I know for sure, and that is that I enjoy how peaceful the world looks when it’s late at night and the sky is dark. It’s because of this vantage point that I’m looking at it from that everything outside my window seems so tranquil and pretty. This allows me to have time to think about what I want to do with my free time, or if I should try and get some rest.
I like the idea of being still with my thoughts, which I can do in the late hours of the night. The quiet hours allow me to be with my thoughts while everyone else is asleep. There is something very magical about this that I have come to love. As such, being able to stay up late at night or occasionally wake up early in the morning has enabled me to reflect more upon my life and personal experiences.
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ FINAL THOUGHTS ♥
In conclusion, I realize that there are plenty of benefits to waking up early in the day, including a more productive day, increased focus, and increased cognitive function. I do believe that some of my efforts were in vain because I chose not to follow the 20/20/20 rule, but this was more of a side-effect than the reason for my lack of success.
I listen to my body, and my body tells me that late-night hours provide me with more benefits as opposed to early morning hours. Therefore, I think that I shall always choose to stay up late and that this is the way my body is wired. I am interested in knowing what your thoughts are on the benefits of waking up early and if you are a morning lark or night owl. Feel free to join the conversation by leaving a comment below ↓
I have been blogging since Spring 2016 and I have to admit that the novelty has worn off. Blogging has been my creative outlet, but recently, I found myself getting bored of sticking to one type of blog post, specifically listicles and practical guides. At the time, I didn’t even know that I was looking for a new platform that would allow me to express my thoughts and ideas in a diverse manner. Naturally, I am curious and I knew I wanted something that would enable me to make my voice heard by people who might not have listened otherwise. I would be lying if the potential to monetize wasn’t one of the primary drivers for my decision to join Medium.
Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back! —Proverb
Don’t get me wrong: I still love blogging on WordPress. It is a great way for me to share my thoughts and opinions with the world. I enjoy writing about my experiences, as well as sharing some of the things that I am learning along the way. But right now, blogging on WordPress is just not fun for me. I have tried to keep up with writing engaging content, but I just can’t seem to find anything worth sharing most of the time. I was always excited whenever I received a comment on my blog because it meant that someone had read what I wrote. Due to a lack of new visitors, I’ve been really feeling the burn lately and don’t want to do anything anymore. When this happens, it can be virtually impossible to put the same amount of energy into this blog like I once did. 🙇♀️
But It Gets Worse.
I also want to point out that there are only so many topics that I can write about before it becomes repetitive and boring. When you are writing on a weekly basis, it is hard to come up with original ideas that haven’t been covered before. It’s a shame that engagement on my blog is good but traffic and Domain Authority (DA) is pitiful. To be completely transparent, I don’t think I’ll be able to monetize anything on my site at this rate which is discouraging considering the money I’ve sunk into it. Oftentimes, this is a common problem for WordPress bloggers and I am feeling frustrated because of it. When it comes to blogging, I’m just not sure what I should do anymore.
Ideally, I want to find a writing space that allows me to grow and share my ideas with an engaged audience. Most of the time, I feel like I am not targeting the right audience on my blog which is incredibly frustrating. I do want to thank all you people who still come by and read my posts. You’re the reason why I haven’t given up yet and I really appreciate that. This blog wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for my loyal readers and followers! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! ❤
Now I find myself sitting here, wondering what exactly I’m supposed to do now. Do I just stop blogging altogether or find another way to make it fun? I feel like I’m in a bit of a slump and I don’t know how to get out of it. I’m sorry this wasn’t a happier blog post filled with unicorns, rainbows, and good vibes only. 🦄🌈
P.S. In case you didn’t know that I have a Twitter and Pinterest account, you can follow me on these platforms too by clicking here and here.
Sereneluna 
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