Trying Fifty Two New Things A Year - Created A Website
31st December 2023 - New Experience Number 52.
So here it is, I’ve created a website! New thing number 52 of 2023. It’s been a long time in the making!
This new thing has me full of nerves mixed with a good dose of excitement.
Over half a decade of antics. From the daft to the daring, the easy to the extreme, and anything in between. I’ve steadily been writing up the things I’ve been up to as I’ve tried fifty-two new things each year.
Why I Created A Website
Firstly, I wanted to create this space to spark ideas. If anyone is looking to take on a similar challenge, or wanting to mix up their routine, I hope it’s helpful. Or perhaps anyone just looking to try something new and rekindle a childlike curiosity will find it useful. I really hope it will inspire and encourage people. If I can do the antics I’ve been trying, anyone can.
I love trying new things, no matter the size, and I hope the site will help other people to realise you can keep learning, and keep adventuring, regardless of time, money or place.
Secondly, I often find inspiration for new things to try from other people who have tried new experiences. There are plenty of brilliant blogs about bucket lists or life lists, (Big shout out to Bucket List Journey who is a fantastic inspiration!) and articles out there about things to do – before you’re x; at home; for free; on a rainy day. Whilst these sometimes provide a nugget of an idea, some of them can be a bit vague. Others are very similar to each other, and some are just not inventive enough for me. So I thought I’d have a go at making my own.
Thirdly, I love to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. After trying a whole spectrum of new things over the years, it surprised me that creating a website feels like one of the most challenging. So in my world that means it’s definitely worth giving it a go and seeing what happens!
A Long Time In The Making
If you’ve been perusing the site, you may think it a bit strange that this was the final new thing of 2023. Well, you see, I’d been beavering away in the background, tinkering and tweaking and writing up new experiences, but I’d never really ‘launched’ it.
Whilst it had been live for almost a year, I decided that my final new experience of 2023 was to put it out there and announce it to the world. Well, maybe not the world, but people on social media.
I Did A Lot Of Overthinking Before I Created A Website
This new thing was simple on paper. It could have happened years ago, but I’ve been rolling it around in my mind for far too long. I’ve massively been overthinking it and had many internal arguments with myself. Putting my antics together on the web felt like a huge exposure of vulnerability.
Should I? Shouldn’t I? And so many ‘what if’s’. What if nobody is interested in my bizarre quest to try fifty-two new things each year? Will people think it’s amateur, or vain? What if it offends anyone? So many what if this, what if that…. So many questions that are unanswerable unless I actually crack on and give it a go.
Better Done Than Perfect
I put off shouting about the site because not everything was ready. I’d not written up all of the new things. I didn’t have pictures for everything, and some pictures were quick on the spot phone photos and not great quality. I hadn’t done enough research. In other cases I’d done too much research and needed to whittle it all down.
I’d been putting these self imposed barriers in place. If I was talking to someone else who was thinking of doing this, I wouldn’t hesitate in encouraging them and being their cheerleader. I knew I needed to let go of perfect, and just get it out there.
Maybe it will spark some ideas of new things for others to try. Hopefully it will encourage people to try more new things. Perhaps it will make people roll their eyes. Who knows, but I knew that if I didn’t put it out there, I’d never know.
How I Created A Website
The short answer is very slowly.
If you have a look on line for guidance for setting up a website, it is pretty overwhelming. So many ‘how to’s’, ‘9 things you must do when setting up…’, ‘x things not to do…’ from so many voices, many of them claiming to be ‘experts’.
Of course many people are experts by experience, but not everyone can pass on what they know in a way that is helpful. Not all of what I was finding was relevant to what I was trying to do either. There was a lot to wade through.
A combination of written articles and videos from various sources, and a lot of trial and error have got the site to where it is now. I’m not 100% certain on how I’ve done everything, so won’t be putting together a how to create your own website guide any time soon.
An Ongoing Learning Experience
This is absolutely a work in progress. I’ve still got so many activities to write up, and I’ve lots of ideas of things to do and share. I am well aware this will be a learning curve, but my background is in learning and development, and this is a great learning opportunity!
After all, life’s about the experiences not about the stuff, and this is a whole world of new experience for me!
Let Me Know What You Think
Creating a website feels like a highly personal new thing, which is massively scary, but has my mind fizzing with ideas and excitement of things I want to share.
I’m sure I’ll post things which don’t land as well as they could, and some things which I might want to re-edit time and time again, and some things which might not be of any interest to anyone.
If you want to see what I’ve been up to, the big list contains all of the new things that I’ve been trying as part of Challenge Fifty-Two.
Please let me know what you think, is there anything you want to hear about? Anything you want more of or less of?
Well, there you go, I’ve put it out there. Maybe you’re rolling your eyes as you read this, maybe you’re thinking ‘get a grip’, – I am very much aware that there are an infinite number of bigger things to worry about in the world, but here it is. Thank you for stopping by the site. Let’s see what happens!
Want To Try It Yourself?
- Go for it! Have a think about what you want to share and why, then do some research into how to set it all up.
Cost Of Experience
It can hugely vary. You can set up your web space for free, which may limit some of the ability for you to take control to be unique and creative. Domain names can cost from 99p. Hosting often has offers on so can vary too.
- I would say, you don’t need to spend a lot to get started, which is great as you can see how it goes before investing too much.
Recommendations
- It may be too early for me to share any yet!
- If you’ve got an idea, why not go for it!
- There are thousands if not millions of videos and blogs which can talk you through the process of setting up some web space. There are thousands more giving pointers on how to make it look good, ideas for topics, and so much more. It can be overwhelming. I’d recommend looking at lots of different articles or videos until you find one that you can get on with. Maybe they’ve got a whole series you can follow?
- Let me know how you get on if you do decide to give it a go, I’d love to be a virtual cheerleader for you!
I often overthink things and then talk myself out of trying something, and to avoid that happening when I decided to start my blog, I just didn’t give myself time to question it and just jumped right in. I’ve been doing that a lot since then
Thank you for sharing, it’s so good to know I’m not alone in overthinking! Definitely a good idea to not allow yourself the time to mull things over for too long so you don’t have chance to talk yourself out of it – I’m so glad you started your blog – it’s really insightful. I’m usually quite good at getting on with things, but launching this site just felt so scary! I’m glad it’s out there now though, and it’s a continuous learning curve that I’m enjoying. :o)