“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein*
I am no expert at this game but I enjoy the challenge that it brings.
Last night I was playing Tower Defense and just couldn’t get past a certain level (towards the end of ‘hard’). At around midnight (I told you this game is addictive) I looked back at the last hour or so of playing and realized that I was insane (at least according to Albert Einstein) – I’d been playing the game over and over again in much the same way (setting up my towers in much the same pattern each time). Of course I got much the same results each time.
It wasn’t until I radically changed my approach that I finally progressed through the level that I’d been stuck on.
Einstein’s definition of insanity can apply to many activities in life – one of which is blogging.
Have you Hit a Brick Wall With Your Blogging?
One of the questions that I ask bloggers hitting brick walls with their blogs is how long ago they tried something completely out of the box on their blogs? What I find is that in most cases those that I ask reflect back on their last 6-12 months of blogging and realize that they’ve been stuck in a rut and doing the same sorts of posts over and over again, looking to promote their blog in the same places over and over again and really not straying far from a pattern of blogging which is proved to be unsuccessful.
I’m not arguing that bloggers need to make every post that they write completely random or out of the box – but if your blog is stuck in a rut perhaps it’s time to do something unexpected or different.
- One place to start is look at your style and voice of posting. Check out these 20 types of blog posts and pick one that you’ve not done before (or ever).
- Another thing to do is to spend some time reading, commenting and interacting on blogs, forums and social media sites outside of your normal surfing routine.
- Why not pitch a story that you’ve written to a blogger that you’ve had no contact with before?
- Another suggestion is to write a post that is slightly off topic – on topic related to your blog but something that surprises your regular readers a little.
- How about writing a post for someone else’s blog instead of your own – a guest post?
- What about writing a post pitched at a different level than normal? If you normally write advanced posts, write something simple for beginners or if you’re usually writing for beginners try a more advanced post.
* This quote has been attributed to numerous people. Albert Einstain, Benjamin Franklin and also Rita Mae Brown.
