Feel Like Quitting? Remember Why You Started!

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Story time.

I had quite a few moments over the last year where, with the exception of hitting my IG Stories with #LilMicahB & cheering on my fellow content creators, I’d become super MIA. Creatively, I just wasn’t feeling “it”.

I think these little breaks were good for me, though. See, I’ve been back & forth, on more than one occasion, on whether or not I should just hang up my laptop and give up this whole blogging thing. But then, I remembered a blog post I wrote (in Aug ’16) about some things I learned in the four years I had been blogging up to that point. The main one for me was this:

“When you feel like quitting, REMEMBER WHY YOU STARTED.”

leather jacket- thrifted (try this) | denim shirt – Gap (old-similar here) | top – TopShop (similar) | pants – Uniqlo (try these or these) | sneakers – Adidas | laptop – Surface Pro

So let’s take a brief trip down memory lane, shall we?

Around the spring of 2012, I met with a newfound friend, Chèrmelle Edwards, known professionally as The Coffeetographer. We chatted over coffee, naturally, about our creative ventures — Chèrmelle, a webzine focused on coffee culture. Me, a natural hair blog that will inspire women on the same journey… with a little fashion sprinkled in. Soon, we met up to shoot some photos for my new baby, ToBNatural. It took a few months for the big reveal cuz ya girl was sooo scared, but on Aug 20, 2012, I published my first post!
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I’ve had my ups & downs navigating this blogger/influencer thing but, thankfully, I’m still here. When I think of why I started and how much I AND Chèrmelle have grown as creators, I’m motivated to keep going!

Telling myself, “Toia, remember why you started” has helped me refocus and give priority to what’s most important – my God, my family and helping people on this platform. I’ve made a resolve to STOP OVERTHINKING my next moves, STOP COMPARING myself to others who seem to be surpassing me or receive more opportunities- so hard to do in this age of social media – and just do things I love because I love them! So you’re stuck with me… at least for a little while longer!
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If you made it to the end of this post, you a real one! LOL! Thank you all for your support of my blog and Instagram page thus far. You have no idea how much it means to me to know that there are still people out there who care what I have to say. *single tear* And thank you to other fab creators like Ijeoma Kola, Dayna Bolden, Nkenge and Chizi Duru (go follow them!) and others who keep my IG Stories and timeline lit as well as inspiring!

Writing this post was my dose of personal therapy but I hope this has inspired you in some way to keep at whatever it is that you love. Remember why you started… and if that “why” is still a part of you, keep pushing. Block out the negativity and do the work.

When you find yourself in a slump, what motivates you to keep going?

Photos: Jason John

Location: Roger That Café (closed)