This week marks my one-year blogiversary. Although I’ve been blogging since 2008, this post marked the first time I wrote and published something on my own site.

All and all, this was a really big year for me. I had a second child, became an owner at Plancorp, helped launch a robo advisor, started contributing to The Wall Street Journal, and finished the first draft of a book (sign up here for updates leading up to the release).

Somehow, I found a way to post on this blog almost every Monday morning. Though I mainly shared my perspective on investing and personal finance, dedicated readers also got a small window into my personal life on the occasions I shared personal stories (my favorites are here, here, here, and here.)

I wrote more about personal finance in the past 12 months than I did in the previous nine years combined. Even my investment writing has a greater financial planning tilt compared to my past.

That surprised me – but perhaps after nine years of writing, I’m just now finding my voice.

Here are a few other things I learned through publishing articles here over the past year.

It is really hard to consistently produce quality content. The people posting high-value content on a daily or weekly basis are extremely impressive.

It requires good time management and self-control. I have a full-time job, so most of my writing happens after 8:00pm when my kids go to sleep. That means ignoring the temptation of social media, Netflix, Cardinals baseball, etc. Fortunately, blogging hasn’t interfered with my evening bourbon yet ;).

I don’t love everything I publish. This has probably been the most difficult to cope with. I end up hitting “Publish” on a lot of stuff I don’t love. Consequently, I may not post on a weekly basis going forward. TBD.

Publishing every week is addictive. It’s sort of like going to the gym. When I miss a workout, I really miss the high it produces. Despite what I just said about not loving everything I publish, my week feels incomplete when I haven’t published something.

My favorite articles are the ones that tend to get the least traction with readers. Because I’ve been blogging for nearly nine years, this isn’t really news to me. My favorite stuff tends to be more involved. The simple stuff tends to resonate with more people. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I received a tremendous among of support from the financial blogging community and made several new friends along the way.

Here were the most popular posts in my first year:

4 Reasons to Buy Bonds in 2017

Simplify the Game

Don’t Predict, Plan

Reverse Budgeting: Creating a Budget That Actually Works

4 Bad Reasons to Buy a Home

Spending Too Much? Here’s What to Do

Active vs. Passive: The Wrong Debate

Invest or Pay Down Debt

Thank you all for reading, sharing, and providing feedback.