I thought to take a break from my usual posts, to talk about something else. Something that I knew, but often forgotten. Something that came up again and again in all the books I have read lately about following your passion, either as a hobby, or as a side hustle or as a proper business.

In all books, no exception, one of the greatest lessons you will learn is: ask for help from those who know more than you. And, surround yourself with people that support you, uplift you and want to see you succeed.

Often, asking for help is taken as a sign of weakness. We are scared to seem fragile or stupid, or we are worried about rejection. We are worried that the other person will not see our project as important, hence not willing to give away some of their precious time…to talk to us.

Truth is, this is rarely true. I have never asked for help and not received it. As human beings, we like to help.

Aysha is no different. She is embarking on her own journey developing her own business ( give her a follow! she is launching soon https://www.instagram.com/nahabhi.consulting/ ) and she knows about marketing more than me. So I asked her to gift me some of her time to help me out to understand how this world works, how to give life to my website and blog in a more productive way, how to reach more people…and how to help more people!

She made a very good point during our chat: what is my purpose with this site? what am I trying to achieve? what is my end goal? Which got me thinking…do I really know what I really want to do with this long term? I have some ideas but for sure, I have some homework to do. And trust me, I will share it with you once I have a clear plan…but just exchanging thoughts with her, gave me so much energy! And so many ideas are already spinning in my head!

I didn’t really have a plan when I posted for the first time, because I just went ahead with this. I just created the website, started typing, started loading my book reviews, started writing out Myrah’s stories and when I was half satisfied, I didn’t procrastinate and clicked “publish”. And if you have paid close attention to my posts, you will agree with me that there is nothing wrong with this…it’s better to start, no matter at what stage you are, and develop, change, explore, grow as you go. If you don’t “get out there” until you think you are 100% ready, most times you will spend your life waiting for that moment…that will never actually arrive. No one is ever 100% ready.

I learned so much from her. She gave me tips and suggestions. She gave me advice on how to change my instagram name to create a better connection to my website, we changed my profile bio, we discussed strategies on how to post and make it more visually attractive, I learned how to create facebook ads and much more! And all this in 2 hours time. If I would have tried to do this on my own, it would have taken me much longer and it wouldn’t have been as fun and inspiring. Just sitting with someone who is willing to listen, who is excited for you and supporting your adventure, is a special gift.

She helped me, and I hope to be able to return the favor once she is up and running with her project. And also, it made me realize that the reason I decided to publish this site in the first place, was to help: help myself to have a passion to nurture; help others that are struggling with their careers and their professional lives with advice based on my readings; help others discover or rediscover the beauty of reading; help others chose books that they would love, when they don’t know where to start. This is my initial purpose.

But as promised, I will keep digging and exploring, as there is no limits to this: creating is a wonderful experience. As mentioned, I already have some ideas and will keep you posted.

In the meantime, please don’t forget to subscribe and follow, to receive my posts. Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/booksandmon/ and instagram https://www.instagram.com/booksandmon/ as well to know more about me! ( See! I am learning ).

Thanks Aysha!