I wanted to start a blogging challenge as a way to kick start the habit of writing. But as I’m sitting here, I notice that I’m struggling to come up with three topics that I’m passionate about.
I fear that I am rationalizing my way out of including topics that I like talking about. For example, I am not a licensed professional. As a result. I feel like I’m not qualified to talk about mental health. The thing is I don’t want to talk about mental health in a way that diagnoses others. I would mostly talk about my own lived experiences. I want to normalize talking about topics like ADHD, depression, and anxiety through my lens of an eldest Latina daughter.
This is the same overthinking that has led me to essentially talk myself out of projects in the past. I’ve projects like this many different times, but never make it far enough to consider it a habit. What am I doing different this time? I asked ChatGPT to create a blogging challenge for me. The first one it gave me was good, but it was geared to a blogger with an established niche. So I specified that I don’t have a specific topic or audience in mind.
Here’s the challenge that it gave me:
30-Day Discovery Blogging Challenge
Week 1: Explore Your Interests
- Day 1: Write about three topics you’re curious or passionate about and why.
- Day 2: Share a list of hobbies or skills you’ve picked up over the years.
- Day 3: Reflect on a moment that shaped who you are today.
- Day 4: Write about something you’d love to learn more about.
- Day 5: Share your biggest dream or goal and what’s stopping you from pursuing it.
- Day 6: Create a list of things you’d do if time and money weren’t a concern.
- Day 7: Reflect on what makes you happiest—how could that translate into a blog theme?
Week 2: Experiment with Content Styles
- Day 8: Write a “How-To” post about something you know how to do.
- Day 9: Share a list of your favorite books, podcasts, or resources and why they inspire you.
- Day 10: Create a “Day in My Life” post (real or aspirational).
- Day 11: Write about a failure or mistake and what you learned.
- Day 12: Share a personal story that others might relate to.
- Day 13: Try a “Top 10 Tips” post in an area of interest.
- Day 14: Reflect on what type of blog posts you’ve enjoyed writing the most so far.
Week 3: Test Your Voice
- Day 15: Write an opinion piece on a trending topic or issue you care about.
- Day 16: Write a humorous post about something silly or embarrassing that’s happened to you.
- Day 17: Create an inspirational post for people going through a tough time.
- Day 18: Share a “Before and After” story (personal growth, a skill, etc.).
- Day 19: Write a post as if you’re giving advice to your younger self.
- Day 20: Test a new format—e.g., a photo blog, listicle, or Q&A format.
- Day 21: Ask your readers (even if small) to suggest topics they’d like to see.
Week 4: Refining and Reflecting
- Day 22: Revisit your posts—what topics felt most authentic to you?
- Day 23: Write about the process of trying to find your niche.
- Day 24: Share what you’ve learned about yourself through this challenge.
- Day 25: Brainstorm a list of potential niches and post ideas for each.
- Day 26: Write about your fears or doubts about blogging and how you’ll overcome them.
- Day 27: Share a post reflecting on what excites you most moving forward.
- Day 28: Ask yourself: What do I want my blog to accomplish? Write about it.
- Day 29: Experiment with a collaborative post (interview or guest feature).
- Day 30: Reflect on your growth and decide on 1-3 topics to explore further.
To avoid overwhelming myself, I’m taking it one week at a time. Surprisingly ChatGPT’s gave me some good brainstorming tips, which included “What do you love to talk about with friends?” So here are three topics that I can talk about to my bestie for hours.
1. Technology and gadgets
Growing up, I was usually one of the first ones in my friends and family to embrace and understand technology. I remember having the bulky desktops in the designated computer room. I would help people fix simple issues with their laptops or help with setting printers and TVs.
Of course, that means that I am the tech support for the family, but that’s alright.
It’s been fascinating for me to see how far technology has come and where it will go. I love to keep up with new releases and see what new gadgets come out into the market. Have you seen that little remote that connects to your phone or e-reader via blue tooth so you can swipe without having to hold your device? Love it.
On the risk of sounding a little cheesy, I do love showing people new tech, especially if it’s something that potentially makes their life easier. I just wish that I had the funds to buy all sorts of different gadgets.
2. Creative projects
When I was younger, if I got asked to describe myself in a few words, I would always include the word ‘creative.’ My hobbies included writing and painting. Nowadays, I seldom use that word to describe myself. I still love creating but because I’m not good at it right off the bat, I tend to get discouraged.
I have a list a mile long of projects that I picked up but then gave up on. I have an on going list of hobbies that I hoped to pick up but never put in the work.
I don’t want to give up on creative projects entirely though. I just need to recognize that being bad at something at first doesn’t mean I won’t get better. I want to practice curbing my overthinking so that I get over that hurdle.
The latest topic that piques my interest combines creative projects and technology. There are so many programs and websites out there made specifically for digital art, it blows my mind sometimes.
Once upon a time, I wanted to create a digital store to make and sell cute stickers. You can guess what happened with that idea….
3. Reading
When I was a kid, I was the biggest bookworm. I lived in Mexico and my aunts in the US would send me all sorts of books.
I was the middle school student with the college reading level because I was always in the middle of a book. In retrospect, I think that might’ve been my way of disassociating but the love of reading stuck around.
Once I actually hit college, I stopped reading due to burn out. It was only until last year that I slowly picked it up again with different novels and even fanfiction. This year, I am challenging myself to read 12 fiction books and 6 non fiction books. Definitely more than I read last year but still do-able.
Part of the reason my excitement for reading is resurfacing is because I’m simultaneously keeping track of my progress and building a digital inventory of my library. I used websites like GoodReads in the past, but recently decided that it’s not really benefiting me. I’ve tried other apps like Storygraph or Fable that I’m still on the fence about. My Notion library has been a fun side-project to work on and continuously improve.
Stay tuned for Day 2- Share a list of hobbies or skills you’ve picked up over the years!
the bold dev 
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