My 100th Blog Article — 5 Things I’ve Learned from Blogging
Apr 24, 2017This week marks my 100th blog article of all time. I started blogging when my website launched while I was in Laguna Beach, Southern California, on the 1st June, 2015. I committed to delivering one blog a week to my email subscribers and to my amazement, I haven’t missed one single week.
I have asked only two people over the journey to contribute to my blog. They are my virtual assistant, Sam Todd, who wrote: 4 Reasons to Listen to Music While you Work Out, 3 Ways to Diffuse Anxiety Caused by Negative Thoughts, 5 Tips to Being a Healthy Mum and 10 Tips for Every New Gym Goer. These topics are relevant to Sam and very interesting to read. The only other person to contribute to my blog was Kristel Gittens who wrote Recognising Love in Your Life. This is one of my favourites and I still refer back to it on a regular basis.
So, in case you’re maths savvy, this article is my 100th, not the 100th blog of all time. Thanks to Sam and Kristel, we reached that milestone five weeks back.
I’ve tried several different strategies for promoting my blog. From interacting with other online influencers on their blogs, to writing articles about those influencers. But one thing has remained the same. My template. I got my blog template (the way I structure each blog) from a former book publishing CEO and very successful blogger, Michael Hyatt.
Committing to writing a blog, as with committing to anything really, has developed some very valuable routines and habits. Even though I haven’t written every blog and I don’t write a blog each week (I’ve actually started batching them, by dedicating a fortnight to writing 10 blogs at once and then scheduling them to be delivered automatically each week), when it comes time to write my articles, it is very easy to slip into that routine and get them done.
Here’s the 5 Things I’ve Learned From Committing to my Blog
- Consistency. When it comes to achieving anything worthwhile, consistency is probably the most important trait. Consistency demonstrates commitment, motivation and discipline. Consistency builds trust. Consistency is so very important because you learn exactly when to expect an article from me, and when that expectation is met, trust is built.
- Resilience. Like anyone who puts themselves out there, I’ve been challenged on what I’ve written and even experienced criticism at times. Luckily, it’s been very few and far between but it doesn’t feel good when it happens. It would be easy to give up but I’m confident in what I believe in. The positive feedback far outweighs the negative in the amount and value of feedback I receive.
- Confidence. There is a certain power that comes with putting yourself out there. It still makes me feel good when people tell me they admire how I’m not afraid to put myself out there and have a go. The knowledge I’ve gained from preparing for each one of these articles, and feedback I’ve received from my readers has built my confidence.
- Discipline. Developing discipline is easy. You just need to find what motivates you, what you value highly, and tap into that. I’m motivated by being known as an authority in the health and fitness industry. I’m also motivated to create a successful online business. When I combine this with highly valuing trust, knowledge and empathy, it’s easy to develop the discipline required to be consistent with this blog.
- Knowledge. Writing this blog has been such a great opportunity to develop my knowledge. Because I’ve been consistent, resilient, confident and disciplined, I’ve had a great opportunity to learn new things about fitness, nutrition and psychology. By committing to writing this blog on a weekly schedule, I need to research the latest information on a regular basis. Reading studies, watching videos and talking to people about the topics I write about, has expanded my knowledge more than when I was at university.
Routines are what you do regularly but not necessarily automatically. That exactly reflects this blog. When you create strong routines, you develop all the necessary traits associated with being successful at achieving any goal or any outcome.
In terms of fitness, nutrition and psychology, what would you like to learn more about?
While writing these blog articles has had considerable benefit on developing the most important traits associated with success, it has been great to include some related articles from other contributors who I believe can be of value to my audience. If you, or someone you know, would like to contribute to my blog, please email me with your topic and a link to your bio.