Blogging Is Like Going To The Gym…For Your Brain
Posted by Adam Singer in Blogging
image credit: lastbeats
If you’re a blogger, marketer, designer or any type of creative, your best ideas probably hit you when you’re not actively looking for them. Rather, they strike when you’re engaged in another task, or sometimes quite randomly. That is why it is vital to carry a pad and pen (or the digital variety) with you everywhere you go.
What happens to me in many cases is my best ideas strike while in the shower, driving my car, at the gym or while running/rock climbing/swimming — times when I can’t just stop what I’m doing and write down an idea (hey inventors, here’s an idea: a water-proof white board for the shower).
Anyway while working out the other day, it struck me how going to the gym is highly analogous to blogging. The analogy is as simple as: going to the gym is good for your body, as blogging is good for your brain.
Think about it:
People get equally excited about the ideas of blogging and going to the gym and start out strong thinking how easy this will be, however only a few push through the dip (133 million blogs since 2002, yet only around 76,000 blogs have a Technorati Authority of 50 or higher).
Most people only go to the gym a few times before giving up. Most people only put down a few blog entries before giving up.
Both blogging and going to the gym are large commitments if you want to be successful, but the rewards are huge with each.
When you’re new, it’s easy to get both discouraged yet inspired when you see people in great shape. Same with seeing bloggers with hundreds of thousands of readers when you’re just starting out.
The payoff for success at blogging and going to the gym is not instant, rather the payoff is due to sustained effort over time with cumulative benefits.
Once you get into a groove, blogging and going to the gym become easier, more natural and much more rewarding with time.
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It is amazing how many people write wonderful emails and letters, and talk clearly and with knowledge, yet shy at writing a bog or journal because..'they have no idea how to do that..." almost as if writing a blog is another dimension to writing and speaking. People tediously write emails about their trips, their experiences, and bulk post them to numerous people. Many people have letter boxes overflowing with thousands of 'saved' emails because the emails contained content they 'may read one day again' One day I discovered that writing in a blog, and posting the blog somewhere accessible to my friends and readers meant that I would keep in constant contact with them, and they had constant contact with me, as hopefully the idea was that they could reply back on the blog, and I would have their comments there too. This was a social blog, and as I was traveling a lot at the time, the easy way of staying in contact with all my friends. This was my first blog on Yahoo Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newslink It began in 1999 when I was teaching in New Zealand. I had already had 4 addresses in New Zealand in a period of 5 years...and with each change came a change in Internet provider… that is how it was then. My son came up with the idea of me starting a journal on Yahoo Groups...and the first entry is still there when I asked him what that was and how I should start. I was also running teacher Groups at the time linking with Epals..and the changes meant that each time I lost my mailing list...and Newslink possibly still has that original list of member addresses, though many addresses may have changed as many have changed providers as broadband became available. My n also suggested I change and get an email address with yahoo..and those two are still there, and I have used Yahoo now for over 10 years. Interesting…a decade with Yahoo...my next blog title maybe. I next started using 360 Yahoo and Typepad...and then Wordpress and finally my own websites, but this article is not about my blogs, though it well could be. Yes, blogging is a fantastic brain boost...it is also a way of storing all the mind trips we do...and records of the journeys we travel. ………………………………………………………………………………….
Why blogging is such a a fantastic brain boost
Internal reflection and personal growth
Blogging allows you as a professional to share what you’ve learned with the world in a tangible format and concurrently solidify your learnings for later reflection. Over time, you are creating a personal knowledge base to build upon ideas, improving them and adding to them over time as you learn. It is a a process that keeps moving as long as you are growing. You develop much further by coming home each day and spending some time to archive/share your inspirations, reflections or thoughts than if you keep them locked up inside where they may be lost.
Challenging yourself to consistently share ideas
Just like you have to challenge your body to go to the gym, you have to challenge and train your mind to organize your thoughts to share with your audience daily. Eventually you will start to see potential blog ideas everywhere. You’ll encourage your brain to form fresh connections daily.
A book that you write slowly over time
I’ve written nearly 200 posts over the last year here at The Future Buzz, of varying length (some quite short, others several pages in length). The point is I have a set of themes I write and continue to build upon over time. If you’ve been a subscriber for a decent amount of time, you probably see the overarching picture I am painting with my ideas and getting to know my worldview (and for those of you who comment here, reply personally or respond on your own blog, I am getting to know you too). Tom Peters states he enjoys blogging even more than writing books, and I understand why. Blogging is like writing an open, social book, bit by bit.
Blogging keeps your mind sharp, improves your writing, brings you closer to intellectual people
By getting into a strong blogging routine, you will challenge your mind to grow and stay sharp, your writing will have a marked improvement and you’ll network/learn from other smart people in your niche.