My 100th Post โ€“ Remembering The WHY of Starting Blogging on JENTHINKS

๐Ÿ’“ I am dedicating this post to my boyfriend Eric and my sister Cindy who have been supporting me since Day 1.

I started this blog in April 2019 after Eric encouraged me to start blogging numerous times over the years. He knew how much I love talking about the topics I am passionate about (and I have many topics I am passionate about) and was probably hoping I will share with more than just him (p.s. I talk a lot).

Fast-forward 15 months, I am about to publish my 100th post. This week, the siteโ€™s daily page view also surpassed the previous record that consisted of 100% traffic from myself (when I first started jenthinks and was building the website). In the past couple of months, I have received my first email from a reader, the first comment from someone other than Eric and my sister and heard from someone that my posts have been helpful to them.

I want to dedicate my 100th post to share why I started this blog. I also think it is useful for me to remember the WHY because when things get hard (which it inevitably will), that will be the reason why I donโ€™t quit.

When you feel like quitting, remember why you started.

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Why Did I Start Blogging on JENTHINKS?

As I have mentioned in the introduction, Eric was the one that encouraged me over and over to start blogging. He has seen my writing (mostly personal topics) and thought I was effective with my words. Emotional and personal topics come more easily to me so I tend to struggle with technical writing (e.g., research paper for college).

When I first started, I had a completely different vision for my blog. I was going to review products, movies, hotels etc. My first post was a movie review post for Memoirs of A Geisha (2005) which I had since reverted back to draft since it was so bad. I published the first ~30 posts in the first year (an average of 2.5 posts per month) and was struggling to get organic traffic.

Everything changed when I started working from home as it saved me 3 hours a day from not having to commute. I published 70 posts in the last 5 months (~14 per month) on a wide range of topics but the most successful series have been Monday Hour One and My CPA Journey so far. I still enjoy reviewing hotels and products when I have the chance but sharing my journeys has been both fulfilling and fun.

I think my biggest WHY for starting blogging on JENTHINKS was to satisfy my desire to share what I am passionate about. Personal finance (Money Diary), learning and growth (My CPA Journey), travel and reading are just a few of what I am passionate about. As I grow, my interests will change and so will JENTHINKS. I am glad I started this blog so I can look back one day and see how much I have grown as a person.

What Will My Next 100 Posts Be?

If I write my next 100 posts in the next year or so, I expect there will be many more CPA posts, money diaries, Monday Hour One, book reviews & hotel reviews. Since we are furnishing our home, I expect to share more about our progress as well. I am far from being an expert on any of these topics but I am a very conscious decision-maker. When I asked Eric to describe me with adjectives the other day, one of the words he used was conservative. When I asked him to elaborate, he said it was because I would over-analyze situations and tend not to just go with the flow. It is no wonder I have so much to talk about because I have run through many scenarios in my head ๐Ÿ˜‚

To many more 100th post ๐Ÿฅ‚