I’ve written a Blog post every single day for the last 60 days.
This is a new consistency record for me.
I’ve been blogging since 2006 but I’ve never maintained this level of consistency, writing every single day, for this long.
I’ve always been a sporadic Blogger who writes between around 5-20 Blog posts a month but without the daily consistency I’ve had in the last 60 days.
So what changed?
How did I go from being inconsistent for almost 9 years to finally writing consistently on a daily basis for 60 days and counting?
Here are a few things that I changed…
#1 – Not Allowing Myself Any Excuses
In the past, when I would try to Blog on a consistent basis, everything would usually go smoothly at first, but then I would inevitably run into some sort of strange “abnormal” situation that in my mind I would accept as a justifiable reason to not Blog for one day.
For example, let’s say that I was blogging daily for 20 days in a row and then I ended up getting sick and feeling so crappy that I didn’t even get out of bed.
In the past I would tell myself “Oh, it’s okay…this is a justified reason why I can’t write a Blog post today… I’ll just write a few extra ones when I fell better.”
And you know what? As soon as I broke that streak of writing daily for even ONE DAY, it’s like a whole tidal wave of OTHER excuses would come pouring in and stop me from blogging.
So this time around I made a deal with myself that I would not allow any excuses to stop me.
My goal is to publish at least one Blog post per day, every day.
Ideally I prefer to write my Blog posts before the evening arrives, but the deal I made with myself is that in the worst case scenario where some weird circumstances arrive and prevent me from getting my Blog post done before night time, I told myself that I’m not allowed to go to bed until I write my Blog post.
In other words, sometime between waking up and going to bed I have to publish at least one Blog post (can also be a video).
The funny thing is that virtually as soon as I made the decision to not allow excuses to stop me, I ended up getting sick right in the beginning of January.
I felt like crap. It was my first time getting sick in about 4 years and it wasn’t pretty. I really felt horrible.
But you know what? I still wrote my daily Blog posts regardless.
It actually wasn’t that difficult, because the decision was already made. I wasn’t fighting with myself in my mind about whether I should or shouldn’t write a Blog post.
The decision was already made, I just had to execute.
In a lot of ways I think most of us ended up wasting 90% of our energy in INDECISION, trying to decide whether or not we’re going to follow through and do what we have told ourselves we will do, or if we’re going to break the promise we made ourselves.
Having that internal fight really drains your energy.
It’s much easier to just decide and then cut off any other possibilities from the equation.
There is no question whether I will publish a Blog post every day…the only question is when I’ll write or record it, whether it’ll be a text-based post, or a video or something else, and what topic my post will be about.
#2 – Creating a VERY Simple Plan for Myself
In addition to eliminating all excuses, I also implemented a VERY simple plan for myself that consists of only 3 things I strive to do daily.
- Write / Record and Publish at Least ONE Blog Post Per Day
- Promote My Blog Post(s) to My Email Subscribers / Facebook Group etc.
- Try to Improve SOME Aspect of My Blog or Content by at least 1%
That’s it.
All I do is create my one Blog post for each day and then I email it out to my email list and also promote it on social media sites, and then I also try to improve at least one part of my Blog or online business by 1% or more.
For example if I wanted to tweak some things on my Blog Theme, that would fall under #3, which I am allowed to do -BUT- it is always secondary to making sure #1 gets done first – my daily Blog Post.
Also, the only ONE thing on that list of 3 things that I *MUST* do each day, no negotiating is #1.
Ideally I also get #2 and #3 done each day a swell, but if I don’t – then I don’t. My primary focus is just writing that Blog post.
In the past I would always learn some cool new trick or strategy or system for improving my Blog, and then I would spend all day and night setting things up, tweaking things and doing crazy Ninja Tactics and stuff, but then my daily Blog post would get pushed to the back-burner.
Now it’s the opposite of that. I have to make sure I write or record one Blog post, and THEN everything else is secondary.
#3 – Eliminating Stupid Tech Challenges
Another thing that used to trip me up was running into technical challenges with my WordPress Blog from time to time.
I would spend hours on end trying to fix or install or setup some new plugin or Widget, or fix something with my Theme and then realize that I’ve spent the whole day playing with that stuff and my Blog post or video never got made.
So this time around I decided to upgrade to a fully managed and supported WordPress platform called Kalatu.
Kalatu allowed me to focus on what matters most – BLOGGING – not wasting my time trying to figure out how to fix some weird WordPress error, or searching for the perfect theme to install.
That is pretty much it, those are the three things I put my focus on…
…and as soon as I did, things began to “click” for me, and writing daily became much easier.
The other thing that contributed to me getting into a consistent Blogging pattern was…
#4 – Getting Clear on MY Why
The other thing that helped me out tremendously is getting clear on my “WHY”.
As in, WHY do even Blog? What’s it for?
I got clarity on that by declaring to myself and the world that I want to help 108 people retire from the jobs they hate and to start making money online, working from home, being their authentic / awesome self.
I put the focus on my audience – not me.
I SERIOUSLY 100% want to help 108 people reach that level of financial independence.
…AND I also got a lot more clarity as to what’s in it for me.
Meaning, what will *I* get from building a successful Blog…
… I decided that the first thing I will reward myself with will be a new car when my Blog reaches a stable $500+/month income level, so that way I essentially get a free car just by blogging once I reach that level of consistent income from my Blog and Blog related activities.
So this way I know WHY I’m doing this for myself and WHY I’m doing this for my audience as well.
Oh yeah, I just realized there was one more thing…
#5 – Scoreboard
Last month I wrote a Blog post which talked about having a score board for your goals.
I’ve been keeping a scoreboard running for myself, and I update it daily, and sometimes even multiple times per day.
That’s it! These are the 5 things that I did to significantly boost my consistency as a Blogger. 🙂
How about you?
Have you started Blogging daily yet?
What kind of strategies have you found to work for you in staying consistent in life?