What do you do with your mind when you are sweeping the floor? Do you listen to music? Do you have the tv running in the background?
What do you listen to when you are working out or taking a walk?
What motivates you?
What inspires you?
I listen to podcasts. I love podcasts.
In the mornings after coffee time, I generally clean the kitchen or do a random chore around the house. The moment that I get up to do this, I pop in my bluetooth headphones and pick a morning podcast.
If it is Monday morning, I always listen to Kate's Take. Her podcast is probably my all-time favorite. It is precise, short and always provides something actionable. This weeks episode was exactly that but there was a part that really got me to thinking.
In Kate's latest blog post on Eofire and her podcast episode S1 Episode 9 she made some points that really impacted me.
In 2013 she was blogging daily. She was killing it with content but the world was not responding, at all. Their EOFire podcast was growing but the blog wasn't. She was trying something that she called the Weekly Bonfire. She did this for 3 months and it was a dead blog.
The she had what she calls a review period. She looked back on what was and was not working and adjusted her efforts. That is all good and great. It is important to have checkpoints and review periods. This was good stuff and now that I am using their Freedom Journal this will be built in for me. I will be doing these review periods as part of that program. So I thought yep, got it. Good stuff.
Then she added something that really hit me at the core. Read it below:
Bonus: Characteristics of successful individuals
I’ve barely skimmed the surface here in terms of what sets successful individuals apart; but in my defense, this post is about the #1 thing…
Still, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the characteristics (qualities and traits) we hear and see over and over and over here on EOFire – these are characteristics that almost every one of our guests possesses.
- Ability to embrace fear
- Accept that the outcome is unknown
- Know how to FOCUS
- Disciplined
- Willing to make sacrifices
- Know there will never be a perfect time to start
- Determined
- Aren’t afraid of failing; in fact, they aim to fail fast
- Tackle huge, overwhelming to-do’s by simply taking the first step
- Understand the importance of community & relationships
So, how many of these characteristics do you possess?
Of the ones you know you don’t possess, how can you start implementing small things in your daily routine that will help you start to pick up on some of these characteristics?
Follow Kate on Twitter https://twitter.com/katelerickson
Link to full article: http://www.eofire.com/1-thing-sets-successful-individuals-apart/
Ok so let me ask you, what do you think?
Here is what I think: Discipline is probably the most important aspect. I have been following John and Kate for a long time. They inspire and motivate me. The one thing about them that I have noticed above all things is their discipline. They live in what may be the most perfect part of the United States, San Diego. They are not far from one of the most beautiful beaches in my opinion and on weekends, they are working. They are not at the beach, even though they could be. Sure, they go do cool stuff. Sure they have fun.
But they have discipline unlike anything or anyone that I have ever seen. Sure they work hard but I don't think that is the secret. They work in a disciplined manner and I think that is the secret.
Then while I was cleaning house I listened a podcast called Results 513. It is a weird name and not sure where it came from but I love their short episodes.
Here is something that they said today that impacted me:
One of the great luck factors is contained in the power of decision. People are successful because they have made a clear unequivocal do or die decision to be successful. People are unsuccessful because they have never made that decision. For you to achieve greatly in your chosen field, you must get serious about yourself and your future. The great majority of people are strolling through life. They want things to get better and they hope things will get better but they have never made a clear definite decision to make things better by getting better. I’ve spoken to thousands of successful people over the years and the turning point for everyone of them came when they made a clear written decision to be the best in their particular field.
Read the full post here: http://results513.com/blog/the-power-of-decision/
So what does this have to do with blogging?
Everything.
Blogging requires discipline. It requires you to make a decision that you are a blogger. It requires that when there is nothing but crickets you analyze the situation and you ask yourself "Am I on the right track and I should keep going or Should I pivot and find a better set of topics?" Neither of those were a question of should you stop blogging.
Kate didn't stop blogging, she just adjusted what she was blogging about. She stopped analyzed and reorganized her path. Now, her blog is doing better.
So just know that you got this. I got this. Just keep blogging.