As I write these lines or to be more realistic as I copy – paste these lines in WordPress, I cannot believe that this is finally happening. I cannot believe I actually cut the shit and did it already. My own website, what a thrill!

I have been in Belgium for 8 years now and If I had a euro for every time I said that I am planning to launch my own website to friends and to future employers at job interviews, I would not be in a financial situation today that is so reflective of my Greek origins.

And believe me I have set my self plenty of deadlines, I had numerous of ideas for things to write about, thought about all sorts of different graphics, logos, typography and possible blog names. I even ‘wrote’ this first post in my head for about a thousand times.

So why did I not do this until today?  well, there are plenty of reasons:

First of all ‘THE FEAR’

As I love spending time on the internet and I am always looking out for sites that are beautifully made. Not only for inspiration but also to steal their ideas and pretend they have been mine all along. But this is how I come to realise the talent that is out there in the internet-sphere. People that know what they are talking about, those that have found their niche and a perfect way to showcase that on their website. I am always comparing myself to them and afraid that I can never reach that level of originality or design. Anything I have to say or want to share on a blog has already been said and shared before in a much more interesting and creative way.

So, I thought that I  better not bother at all if I am not going to stand out and fail to get people interested.

And let’ s be honest for a second…. most of us visit three to four websites per day including Facebook,  Instagram , Netflix and perhaps some sort of blog or website with a topic that interests us. Oh, and we watch funny videos of cats …. That’s it. Essentially, the rest of the web goes unnoticed. Unless if you are the genius behind the Lings cars  website, so bad that you cannot ignore.

And then what comes along with fear is the partner in crime:

Anxiety

If you ever considered  starting a blog of your own for you or for your business I am sure you have taken the moment and read trough all of these online guides, searched for tips and tricks and probably even paid for an expensive marketing course to do this the right way.  The result:

All this must-do’s are so overwhelmingly stressful!

Here are a few of those I remember:

• Be careful to choose a good name otherwise no one will visit your website.
• Be sure to impress your visitor within the first five seconds of their visit to your website.
• Market your website to the right audience (whaaaat?)
• Choose a unique topic and do not talk about a lot of things!
• Use good graphics ! Use nice photos! Hire a photographer! Pay me to show you the top secret to be successful and get clicks!

So I thought to myself  “Oh well forget it….. I prefer to watch all seasons of Gossip Girl in one evening instead”

Then comes PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination. I hate this word!!! I hate everything about it! I hate it’s etymology, I hate how it sounds, I hate the letters and the order of letters forming this word.

UGH I could just punch you in the face Procrastination! But on the other hand, it is a bit true especially if I consider the fact that since I started to write this post and in between my first and second paragraph I took a 45 minutes break to play ‘Farm Heroes Saga’

*Sigh* It is a love-hate relationship the one I have with procrastination. It is like a disease or an addiction you learn to live with and just try to get better day by day

then let’s not forget the work and skills you must have….

Pay for a server to host your website,  register and buying a domain name and put in the time to design interesting beautiful pages, design a logo….

For many people, the job of a Web designer,  UX designer UI designer or however it is popular to call it these days, is equivalent to kinder-garden hour, playing with colours and shapes so effortlessly because you know….talent. In reality it takes more than that.

The fact that I know what it entails to have your at-the-minimum-customised website and the fact that I understand the technology I  will be using means that I’d need to invest in money and time to apply my knowledge in order to make this happen.

I am also very good at finding excuses to get out of things

When my thesis supervisor said to me that I had to write that necessary chapter for my thesis even though she was sure that I could get out of doing so, I had a revelation moment. People know that I am good at finding excuses when it comes to justifying me not doing something that is stressful, makes me feel uncomfortable and less sure of myself.

It is a talent that I think many Greeks have, I seriously believe that it’s in our DNA. Negotiate to not do something tough

It must be genetics!

I then found a million more little and not so little reasons not to go for it. But the truth is, if you want to do something you love to do, you will commit into finding the time for it and you will do it in the end

So I overcame the fear and I thought, “Why the fuck not?”

Why shouldn’t I have a website? Everyone else does!

So what if what I am the only one who reads my posts?  After all, who am I doing this for? For me ! So, in the end it does not really matter.

I approached the idea of creating a website with less stress and thought: What is the worst thing that can happen???? No, Really. Plus my cool friends were so encouraging !!!!

This is how I decided to just cut the crap and do it.  First of all for me and my wanting to have a place to express myself away from the usual platforms.

And last but not least…… I have to prove to the world ( aka to Christophe ) that I am not procrastinating!!!!!! No, I am not

Conclusion

Well, I guess this is it for a first post. I love it and hate it already! More to come!

Currently listening to: Björk – Debut