The Pressure To Be Perfect

When starting this little blog, I was excited to start sharing my experiences, stories, and thoughts as a woman in my 20s. I was excited to have a creative outlet where I can make content that would resonate with others or felt fun in nature. I couldn’t wait to build a community for other twenty-somethings. 

I have loved doing all of these things. But what they don’t tell you when starting a blog is the pressure you feel to be perfect. What you see online from bloggers and influencers is only a small (often fabricated) moment of life. As a content creator, there is this pressure to make valuable content that’s not too similar but also not too different from other creators. It feels like you need to have the perfect setting or the perfect look to be deemed “viewable” in the content world. The voice in my head screams “you have to be perfect”. 

Trying to stay grounded in the world of social media in terms of being real is not as easy as it seems. My goal with this blog is to be honest and transparent with my readers and audience; fabricating that experience would be achieving the opposite of what I set out to do. 

With that in mind, here are things that are perfectly imperfect about myself and my little blog. 

I don’t have a blog post perfectly written and ready to go every week. 

• • Life gets super busy. As a 25 year-old, I’m still trying to figure out how to balance being a blogger, a teacher, actively serving the church, and keeping my social schedule in a healthy spot. Some weeks (like this one) I completely forget about the fact that I run a blog and ultimately scramble to figure out what to share that week. 

I don’t have an endless supply of content.

• • Figuring out what to post can be difficult sometimes. I don’t want to fabricate videos and stories just for the sake of content. Again, the drives me in the opposite direction of my overall goal for this blog.

I don’t do this alone. 

• • And I don’t want to take the credit for doing it alone. I have incredible friends and family that help spark ideas, take photos, or edit content. Sometimes you need a second set of eyes to ensure I’m creating valuable content. 

I get discouraged.

• • Rapid growth online isn’t as popular as people think. Having worked with other social media accounts in the past, I have experienced rapid growth. I’ve also experienced working with accounts that are slower to grow. It can be upsetting to see content not do as well as you think it will. It can be exciting to watch small posts really succeed. So when I feel discouraged by my small and slow growth, I try my best to remind myself that this isn’t for the likes and views; this blog will reach those who find value in it. It’s important to remind myself that small growth is okay. 

I’m still learning. 

• • As much as I may seem like I know what I’m doing, I’m still learning how to best approach being a blogger. I’m still learning what content is best to share. I’m still discovering who Jess Noel is. Learning is an important step to be successful! 

To those who ask on occasion: yes, the blog is wonderful. I absolutely love the community I’m reaching and building. I love hearing that what I share is resonating with my readers and viewers. It’s providing me the creative outlet I hoped for. It’s teaching me so much about myself. 

To those who are considering starting something new: do it! I was terrified to start this blog and share my life online. Even through the pressure and the struggle to be or feel perfect, I have experienced so many positives by being imperfect on my platform. Take the risk. Share your experience. Try something new. You’ll gain from it somehow.