Life lessons from the Internet.

 Life lessons I learnt from being a small time content developer.

When I first moved to Norway, I missed my home country a lot and the only thing I ever wanted was to talk to people. So I thought about starting a channel to share norsk language classes that I was also taking so as to make it easier for others to learn the language. It also gave me an opportunity to 'talk to people'.  Little did I know that I would be learning valuable life lessons from this initiative.

1. Stress free

When I started I was totally stress free and I did it only for fun. 'Work from home' was not an option in those days and it was really exciting if you could earn anything at all. In 'Real' life, we all go through the stress of interviews, wait for results, deal with office politics, get stuck in traffic. The stress levels are so high and we are so busy that we actually forget about the things that really matter to us, we forget our core strengths and weaknesses. We stop growing as people, stop learning, forget what we really want and where our talent actually is. 

But with my blog, it was totally different, since I had no expectations from it, I enjoyed writing. I wrote when I wanted, stopped when the ideas were not there. Only when you are stress free, you can realise what  are the things that matter the most to you.

2. Focus on the positive

In life we meet many people who react differently to us. We generally form an opinion about ourselves based on what others are thinking about us. We take an average of all other opinions and apply it to ourselves. 

I realised this while dealing with  comments. I get many many comments saying 'Thanks for the help" which feels very nice. I get many likes as well. Occasionally I get a negative comment regarding my accent, grammar, vocabulary and knowledge of norwegian. Whenever it happens I spin into a cycle of self doubt and want to discontinue everything. It takes me a few days to get over it. I can easily block these people but I do realise and accept the fact that there is a hint of truth in these comments, but also I forget the hundreds of likes and thank you comments I get. One negative comment is enough to make you forget the other positives in your life. 

I learnt how to take the negative comments in a constructive way and continue to focus on the positives. This is easier said than done but in 'Real life', I follow this lesson now and it is doable.

3. Rely only on yourself

When I started my blog, I expected everyone from my family and friend circle to encourage me. It came as a shock to me that nobody was interested and nobody cared. Slowly I learnt to rely only on myself and the 'unknown strangers'  to find and view my blog. Sure enough there are people out there who require help and who are willing to help and even ignore your shortfalls. People did view my blog and did encourage me but it was always from unknown people.

4. Consistency

My blogs taught me to be persistent, consistent and regular even if no one is watching your channel. Keep at it and not be bogged down by delays and setbacks.

5. Step by step

Always break down a big goal into small doable steps. One step at a time. One view at a time, one subscriber at a time. It will add up slowly.

6. Chasing the infinite.

This is the biggest and best life lesson I have learnt from the internet. At first I used to wait to get a single view on my blog. I would open and get disappointed when the view count refused to increase and it was in single digits and probably my own views. Later I counted my subscribers from 50, 100, 300, 1000 etc,.  Soon I realised that I am chasing the infinite. Numbers will never end and it is not a race. The more important thing is to connect with viewers and help them in their search. Even if one person is helped, then you are successful. 

And last but not the least, always remember that at the present moment, the circumstances may not be in your favour, but work towards it. Slowly, try to spend more time in doing what you like and perfecting your art. Start small and keep going ahead. At first things will add up only in small numbers, but soon they will multiply.