I’m not a writer and honestly I hardly know anything about blogging. However, as I approach 40, I am realizing that my ideas of what I want to accomplish in life are changing. Horses have always been my first passion and I’ve worked hard at it for a long time. I always wanted to help the horse which I have learned starts with changing myself. It’s no easy journey to say the least. It has been full of hard lessons, highs and lows, and learning to be honest with myself about the type of person I am and the type of person I want to be. Over the past few years I’ve had to make a lot of changes but I’ve realized every time I strive to do better for the horse it means I have to strive to be a better human. I have learned that to be a better human for my horse means bringing more mindfulness, peacefulness, humbleness, and patience into my every day being. Putting the horse first involves the human having these qualities first. I am excited and hopeful to continue my journey with horses with a shifted focus. So if you are also on this journey or struggling to begin please reach out to me. I’m here to support my fellow horseman and would love to continue on this path together!

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.