Category: motivation

This Four Letter Word Keeps You from Writing

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 15 Comments

Writer’s block.

The most hated words by those who love them more than anything else in the world.

Also known as creative bankruptcy.

Truth be told, writer’s block is all about one four-letter word. One that we rarely even want to mention.

It’s an “F word” that is frowned upon by people from all areas of life. And this word is keeping you from writing.

Fear.

Fear affects us all more than we care to admit, and it’s especially insidious for writers. Writing online is one of those activities where you’re really putting yourself out there, and the critics seems to be all to eager. But as we’ll see below, failure and mediocrity are not the only things we fear.

Most fear works at the subconscious level and manifests itself in the form of procrastination and writer’s block. We want to write that novel or business book, start that killer blog, release that article that will boost our authority… and yet we keep putting it off.

I don’t like to waste time on regret, because, well, it’s a waste of time. But looking back, I see I’ve wasted so much time in my writing life because I let fear hold me back.

And the truth is, every time I push myself in a new direction, I’m still afraid. I don’t think that ever changes—it’s just part of the game.

The key is to not let it stop you.

Here are the main ways fear holds us back as writers, with a few tips for looking fear in the face and sitting down to work. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, it’s doing what needs to be done despite fear. Continue reading “This Four Letter Word Keeps You from Writing” →

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The 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 44 Comments

It’s easy to get discouraged when reading about the millions and millions of other folks who also blog.

The good news?

Most of them kind of suck, because they never bother to do a bit of research, to learn from their mistakes, so they keep doing them over and over again.

What about you? Are you guilty of committing these seven deadly sins of blogging? Continue reading “The 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging” →

10 Questions Every Blogger Should Ask Themselves

~ Jordan Peters ~ 9 Comments

The truth about writing is that it’s 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration; a good writer starts with a quick burst of creativity and spends the rest of their time refining and editing those initial ideas.

This ratio of creating vs. editing time helps clarify your ideas so your audience understands your point of view.

To help you in these crucial editing stages, I think that it’s important to ask yourself some questions so you can make an honest, constructive and critical appraisal of a blog post work before publishing it.

Asking these simple questions could mean the difference between a hastily written blog article that remains obscure and a well-written, influential, and engaging blog that courts a loyal audience with ease. Continue reading “10 Questions Every Blogger Should Ask Themselves” →

Blogging Is All About Problem-Solving

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 6 Comments

Think of all aspects of life as pyramids. Much like Maslow’s famous pyramid of needs.

Now, the curious thing is that each need is its own pyramid. Of course, the baseline is low. Very low.

Maybe not a lot of people are starving in the world right now as they used to in the past, but most people’s eating habits are pretty much destroying higher brain function and messing up with their bodies. Junk food is everywhere.

In fact, it’s crazy how difficult it is to eat healthy food.

Imagine how it would be walking down the street eating a cucumber or a carrot. People would look at you and be like, “What is that guy eating? A cucumber? What the…”

But if you were eating a hamburger…

How many people do get enough rest?

How many people are happy in their relationships?

How many people can say that they have the friends they want? Are you helping those around you to become better people? Are they? Continue reading “Blogging Is All About Problem-Solving” →

How to Get Ideas

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 8 Comments

Some of the most basic rules of blogging are quite simple: content is king, write every day, and commit to a regular posting schedule.

All of these rules are not easy to follow. They’re quite frustrating, in a way. After all, a three word rule shouldn’t be that difficult to follow.

Or the fact that the secret to being a successful blogger is all about producing great content. Regularly. On daily basis, if that’s possible.

Which begs the following question:

How are you supposed to keep dreaming up great ideas to write about?

A plethora of well-known tactics will ensure you become a writing machine:

  • You should always write down your ideas when they strike so you can remember them later.
  • You should do as Hemingway did and finish every writing session mid-sentence so you can effortlessly pick up where you left off.
  • And on, and on, and on …

And all of that is good advice. But what if your biggest problem is finding ideas to write about?

Read on, because we’re about to dive deep into the psychology of content creation.  Continue reading “How to Get Ideas” →

How to Become The Blogger

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 34 Comments

What if I were to tell you there’s an actual step by step guide to becoming The Blogger? Would you believe me?

Would you invest a few minutes of your time to read it?

Be careful though. This is the kind of stuff that has the potential of transforming your life.

We’re talking about some Tony Robbins walking on fire kind of stuff.

Life changing.

You’re not going to be a blogger after reading this.

No.

You’re not going to be just another blogger.

You’re going to be The Blogger. The boss at blogging. The artist. The best of the best. Continue reading “How to Become The Blogger” →

What is a Blogger’s Most Valuable Trait?

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 9 Comments

  • How can we write better blog posts?
  • Why do even skilled writers miss the target sometimes?
  • What is one leading cause of blog posts that fails to influence readers?

I would argue that there’s this one trait that separates great bloggers from so-so ones, and it has less to do with words and grammar than you might think.

What is this magic thing? Continue reading “What is a Blogger’s Most Valuable Trait?” →

How to Win Friends and Influence People (As a Blogger)

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 20 Comments

First published more than 70 years ago, Dale Carnegie’s guide on people skills entitled “How to Win Friends and Influence People” contains wisdom that is mostly true to this very day, because human nature, for better or worse, does not change much over time.

And even in this brave new world of the Internet and social media, we can still look to age-old truths in deciphering a code to grow an audience (win friends) and successfully engage readers via our blogs (influence people).

Here are eight of these truths … Continue reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People (As a Blogger)” →

Are You Sabotaging Your Blog?

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 18 Comments

Correct me if I’m wrong: you know you should write a blog post. After all, it’s been a while since you last hit that publish button. Yet, somehow, without you realizing it, you spend hours on Twitter and Facebook “working,” only to wonder later what happened…

You comment on other blogs, telling yourself you’re “networking,” never mind that none of those comments actually lead to anything.

You have a growing collection of books and courses promising to teach you all the secrets in the universe, but they have been labeled “to be read” indefinitely.

In the back of your mind, you know you can do better. Technically, you even know what to do.

But something inside you refuses to let you, and every day you struggle with whether or not you should just give up or find some other shortcut.

You know how I know this?

Because I’m just like you. Continue reading “Are You Sabotaging Your Blog?” →