As we were preparing this weekend’s posts—which all deal with topic of productivity and the blogger’s lifestyle—I was reminded of a blogging truism that many of us seem to forget.
Image courtesy stock.xchng user lusi
Conversely, what’s good for our blog is generally good for us.
This truth isn’t just helpful when it comes to feeling motivated, inspired, and creative—it can also help us stay on track. Keeping this in mind helps me align my blog with my life—and vice versa, making my blogging a sustainable part of my life as a whole.
What’s bad?
Some of us might be tempted to take that as an excuse to avoid the tasks we don’t like doing. Of course there are always blogging tasks we don’t enjoy—for me, it’s the accounting. But what’s good for my blog—staying on top of the accounting—is also good for me (since my blog pays my bills!).
This philosophy isn’t an excuse for forgetting about things we don’t like doing. Instead, it’s a call to action to tackle them and make sure they’re as successful as they need to be. I hired an accountant, which has been good for me, and helped sustain my blog!
And what’s good?
But what about the tasks we do want to do? If I’m considering a new business idea or strategy, and find that I’m feeling weighed down or burnt out by it, that can tend to impact my life beyond blogging as well as my blogging itself.
When that happens, I’ll go back to the new idea I’m working on and try to find the real problem—is there some aspect of the plan that needs to change? Should I consider another idea instead? For me, there’s no reason in pursuing an idea that I’m not enjoying, or that’s taking more out of my life than it’s putting in.
It’s not just me who feels this way, though—this weekend we’ll hear from three bloggers who have made blogging a part of their lives, and have let their lives enrich their blogging too.
- Karol K will reveal the 7 habits of highly inefficient bloggers … which is based on his own experience, as well as the lessons he’s learned from those around him. As he shows, these seven inefficiencies can make your life as a blogger a lot harder than it needs to be. Fortunately, they’re all pretty simply fixed.
- Jon Rhodes will show us how he’s making the most of his full-time blogging lifestyle—and what that has meant for his blog. If you need a breath of fresh air—and fresh inspiration for your blogging—don’t miss this piece.
- Jefferson and Michelle, a husband-and-wife blogging team, will let us in on some of the advantages of blogging in partnership—with your significant other! Again, their story proves that if you’re serious about your blog, what’s good for it will usually prove to be good for you, too.
Every day, we see the work we put into our blogs, but we may not be so quick to look at what our blogs contribute to our lives. The fact is that if we don’t see the relationship as symbiotic and mutually beneficial, we probably won’t continue with our blogs.
What aspects of your life are good for you and your blog? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
Well, I love my blog to be researched and look good. I believe that blogs (and every website on the web) oughts to look good to the user..and then, the second impression is to have epic-shit content. That’s what my personal thoughts are and that’s maybe is what’s good for a blog..
I’ve started my blogging venture since one and a half years ago and never look back since then. Being an optimist (in real life), I believed I have generated quite a fair bit of positive energy through my self-development blog. I am surprised to receive thank you notes, occasionally, from readers about my inspiring sharing which has inspired/motivated them to carry on…
I find that blogging is a powerful platform to share our mind/experience and inspire it forward.
Cheers!
This is a good way to learn positive tasks and get what is most important on your blog. The reader.
I believe that as long as you love blogging, your blog will love you back. Any job continues perfectly untill you get fed up with it. For me, I started blogging for fun and for my passion and hobby and it would continue to be so. And as long as I keep it my hobby, I am sure my blog would progress.
Superb way to improve blog for blogger. Very much impressed with your post. Thanks for sharing.
My sister and I are a few weeks shy of a year of blogging together. We’ve successfully posted a minimum of six days a week from the get go. I’m not sure this would have been possible without the strength of our partnership. We feed off each other’s energy and can balance out each other’s inclinations to avoid certain necessaries of blogging. Kudos to those who go it alone! ~Lauren
The fact that I work as an editor and freelance writer is great for my blog. It means that I can have sites (within various niches) to promote and display what I can do and my ability.
If I had no blog, regardless of whether they bring me money or not (directly) I’d have to be emailing articles to clients on a regular basis.
Sometimes though, this can work against me if I’m not careful. We all make mistakes (I’m only human) so if I make a small mistake on my blog it can be detrimental. After all, I’m saying I can edit my clients’ blogs to polish them and make them look professional, when I can’t manage to do the same for mine :-)
Today was the first day of my first blog. I am an closet writer. By that I mean, I have written in school and in college. I seemed to impress my professors and I’ve written poetry, lyrics, short stories and am editing a screenplay now. Do you have any suggestions on how I can optain paid, online writing opportunities. Thank you.
What’s good for me is reading A LOT. That’s of course good for my blog.
Also good for me- engaging with new and diverse people on a regular basis, which is great for my blog.
Finally, not teaching k-12 full-time anymore was great for me and my blog.
The line in this post that most clearly speaks to all of this and that I’ll probably write in my notebook of affirmations is, “there’s no reason in pursuing an idea … that’s taking more out of my life than it’s putting in.”
Love this post, and I can’t wait to read and respond to the others!
As a full-time mother and part-time blogger, I’ve also found that what’s good for my family is another factor to consider. When I’m using my approach for getting more blogging done in less time, I’m happier and so is my family. On the contrary, when I spend too much time on my blog, trying to figure out some technical thing that really just needs someone well rested to deal with it, I’m unhappy and so is my family. You’ve brought something to our attention that is too often ignored by bloggers, in my opinion.
According to me if I give hard work to my blog it will give me good reward in return. And that’s what I think is needed in blogging?
Hey,
Excellent post. I think bloggers wants always good for them and good is that their affiliates made sales ;)
Thank you
You mean bloggers always want to do something good for both them and their blogs and affiliate sales made is one of those goals ?
Hi,
I have seen that every blogger is looking for its benefit. If you could come to the Internet marketing world and then you can see that every blogger consider himself as Internet marketer and they are just greedy to earn money from blogging or how ever. Blogging have made them lust ful and this is really bad things.
It is good for their blogs but i think every one should behave well and make a blog for learning new things, Not for earning.
The one who runs before earning will loose his all learning !
Thank you
Zane
Writing is good for you since it helps to relax you; at least it does for me.
Good for all bloggers..passion towards blogging will definitely going to yield one day
Excellent post, and rife with introspective thought. Blogging once brought me sanity, because with Tourette’s Syndrome my communications once needed a controlled environment to span the 21st century gap. In person wasn’t really an option. As the mind sorts and organizes information during sleep cycles, I believe a blog can do the same, which is definitely good for the blogger (but maybe the blog in this case). Thanks for the compelling post!
We should be dedicated towards blogging to become successful blogger. We have to satisfy the readers with our contents. Only updating articles are not enough to get success.
Luckily I read all the posts of the three bloggers you mentioned before reading this curtain raiser about them and now repents had I read it earlier I would have made up an image about them before reading their stuff and might be asking myself was the pick of Darrend right or wrong. But now there is no such question and only applause are here for the posts of all of three and your choice. Thanks for making our week so informative.
Amazing stuff! You are right in this and a what is good for the blogger cannot be the opposite for his/her blogs, it must go possibly with their blogging! Very motivating tips, I found them helpful. I look forward for more!
Thanks for this inspiring write up! A good blogger will want his blogs to yield the best and that is why she/he must work in concert with good blogs to earn as many traffic as possible! Anything taken serious must be so crucial and that is how all bloggers must be. We must learn to make the bad good and the good the best in order for our blogging to be successful! I find this, very helpful. Keep up the great job!
The day I changed my mindset from “how can I make money with this blog” to “how can I make this into a really great blog” things started to change, I actually began to enjoy what was “work” before, and hopefully others will enjoy it too – I’m sure the benefits will follow eventually, but for now I’ll just carry on doing what I love to do!
Blogging has many benefits just two are:
Meet new people and make connections all over the world. Now when I travel, I meet up with blog readers and other bloggers.
My creativity has expanded – not just about blogging, but I come up with new ideas all the time in so many areas of my life.
I think it is very usefull to keep your blog up to date. Post up to date news etc. really helps to keep up with the search terms people search for in google. I am thinking to start a blog about search engine optimization, anyone has any tips?
I totally hear you about getting burnt out with business strategies or even blogging strategies. It truly can be a drag on productivity. But to be honest, I often look to your blog here Darren for more inspiration or advice that give me a jumpstart!