I Chose The Wrong Niche & Wasted Time: Here's What Happened.

I Had a GREAT Plan.

Really. I thought it out, wrote it out, diagrammed the heck out of it, outlined, mind-mapped, & organized it to death. Riding in the wave from a nursing career that took me to many places, I was 1000% sure that this was my niche.

I Was WRONG.

I just knew that I was going to have all kinds of content to write about. From my experiences in various types of nursing, to parenting, to being a pediatric & elderly caregiver, to my own experience with various unique health-related issues. I was confident that there was plenty of content to be had, & that I could use my nursing knowledge & resources to write relevant, reliable, research-backed, engaging content on any health & medical related topic. So I got started. I did a little work each week for a few weeks & found out...Surprise! I really, & I mean REALLY HATED it.

WHY Did I Do This?

It comes down to this: I left nursing because I was 1000% burned out. I found myself deeply affected after seeing some really terrible, tragic deaths & working in a dangerous & traumatizing setting. So I decided to bow out gracefully & cut my losses in 2018. My pride kept me trying to make my identity as a nurse relevant to whatever I was doing, although I knew I had no plans of going back to work in the field. The truth & I had to come to terms. I needed to let it go. Pride & student loans makes that task difficult sometimes.

Cutting Dead Weight:

So I began to procrastinate.
I piled other work in front of my project. I'd write an article, do some of the training, & then put off work for another week. Write another article, fancy up the website a bit, & then pile other tasks in front of it. I kept this up for over a month & even got some really great work done for my Husband (which I'm so glad I did), but the point is, there is always a legit reason behind procrastination. And when I finally faced it & asked myself why I wasn't making any more real progress, I found the truth. No matter how endless my resources seemed as a nursing professional with research avenues & a broad base of knowledge, experience, & skills, it didn't change the fact that I was beyond burned out & didn't want to write, see, think, or do anything that involved nursing or health-related content. That meant I really had to face the fact that my nursing career was....over. I did. And it was SUCH A RELIEF!

Sometimes, hitting 'delete' feels GREAT.

What's Next?

I'm making progress with a new niche, which is something I've been interested in for over 25 years. It was a no-brainer, & I felt so foolish when I realized I had completely bypassed the idea. As hard as it may be to believe, sometimes a thing we have knowledge about or feel passionate about can be the wrong thing. That's why it's important to explore various niches & keep your options open. Especially in the beginning. Once you realize you are wasting time & energy on something you aren't enjoying; when something starts sucking the energy out of you & making you dread going back to it - consider it DEAD WEIGHT & ditch it.

The Lesson:

Knowing where to start is important. However, knowing when to stop can be just as important. Carrying dead weight & trying to drag along a dead project that you dislike is a waste of time & energy. It's okay to hit delete & start again. It's not failure; it's experience. You learn. You grow. You gain wisdom. You reignite the fire & you take off in a new direction.