It was August 13, 2010 when I posted my very first blog. I was CEO of my company MediConnect Global at the time. My company had grown from 70ish employees to well over a thousand and I had been struggling to find a way to stay in touch with all of the employees in the company. The larger we grew the more difficult it became. Not only was it difficult for me personally to feel connected to all of the employees, but it was also difficult for the employees to feel connected to the company and to me or the vision that I had for where we would go. That\u2019s when the idea came to do a daily blog post to everyone in the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I started I committed to my employees that I would write a blog post to them every work day, five days a week, without fail from that point forward, writing every day except holidays. When I made that commitment I knew that the only way I would gain their trust is if I kept my word 100%. And even though there were days I was so tired that the list thing I wanted to do was write a blog I refused to let myself skip a day – I had to keep my promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did keep that promise and wrote every day til the company was sold. I thought I’d stop there but when I told employees I’d be leaving they surprised me by requesting that I keep blogging as they liked learning from the experiences I was sharing. Humbled by the request I agreed I’d continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I set the goal at that point that I’d keep blogging daily until I hit my ten year mark. TEN YEARS!\u00a0 Every day, five days a week, except holidays for TEN YEARS!\u00a0 Yesterday I hit that mark – TEN YEARS of daily blogging\u2026.TEN YEARS!!! Sorry for the all yelling but TEN YEARS!!!\u00a0 It\u2019s crazy to think I accomplished that goal. And its crazy to think I\u2019ve been crazy enough to keep writing every single day for TEN YEARS!!!!! I’m just so excited I did it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyday my blogs have shared something different \u2013 some days I\u2019ve written about things that happen at work, some days its about lessons I learn as a CEO and angel investor, some are about family, some are about struggles, and some are just inspirational things I’ve come across…without a doubt my favorite blog posts are the ones my son or my daughter step in and write for me when I\u2019ve had a crazy bad day because their posts are always my favorites…but at the end of each day my goal is the same….to help others learn from the things life’s teaching me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am so happy I’ve accomplished my goal of blogging daily for ten years time. Prior to starting my blog I\u2019d never even written in a journal consistently in my life.\u00a0 And certainly I didn’t think of myself as a “writer”. But after Forbes saw my blog posts and asked me to be a contributor for them, and then Huffington Post did the same, and Forbes Books asked me to write a book (www.whatawesomelookslike.com<\/a> ) I am finally realizing that maybe I am an actual writer\u2026not a good or grammatically appropriate one…but a writer nonetheless \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n You deserve to know that the days I didn\u2019t feel like writing it was the encouraging comments and emails and likes that kept me going. Had it not been for you I wouldn’t have gotten to this ten year goal so you all are the real MVP’s here. Thank you for taking time to read them and for letting me know when one of them makes a difference for you. Your encouragement got me to this point and has given me this daily journal that will let my grandchildren and great grandchildren know who Grandma was and the life lessons she learned that she thought were important enough to pass on to them.\u00a0 Thank you for that – you all are What Awesome Looks Like to me!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n So now that I accomplished my ten year goal – what now??!!! Do I stop blogging? Do I keep blogging but not every day? Or do I try and go for another ten years (or maybe just one…)?\u00a0 Since you helped me get this far I figured you should get the chance to weigh in before I decide. As for tonight I’m just going to celebrate and not think about the what now that comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TEN YEARS BABY!!!!!!\u00a0 I MADE IT TEN YEARS!!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n