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 The Flinch“Pass it on” is the final assignment in the ebook I read over the weekend.

The book, “The Flinch”,written by author and blogger, Julien Smith is a free download from Amazon.

To complete the assignment, I am passing it onto YOU.

Today’s Lesson

My blogger friend Davina told me about this book and when she forwarded the link to me, I downloaded it immediately. Within the first few sentences, I was hooked.

I knew “the flinch” played a major part in my life and wanted to learn more.

The first words which resonated with me are in the introduction,

This is a book about being a champion, and what it takes to get there. It’s about decisions, and how to know when you’re making the right ones. It’s also about you: the current, present you; the potential, future you; and the one, single difference between them.

It’s about an instinct “the flinch” and why mastering it is vital.

This book is about how to stop flinching. It’s about facing pain.

Now you might be asking, “What does this have to do with blogging?”.

Let me share a few more paragraphs,

Forget secondhand learning. It leaves no scars. It doesn’t provide the basic understanding that sits in the body as well as in the brain. There’s no trace of its passing. It might as well have been a dream.

Firsthand knowledge, however, is visceral, painful, and necessary. It uses the conscious and the unconscious to process the lesson, and it uses all your senses. When you fall down, your whole motor system is involved. You can’t learn this from books. It just doesn’t work, because you didn’t really fall. You need to feel it in your gut – and on your scraped hands and shins – for the lesson to take effect.

But if you’re surrounded by padding, scar-free learning is all you have left. It defines who you are. It limits you, but those limits aren’t actually yours – they’re the limits of the men and women who came before you.

When I read those words, I was reminded of how easy it is to learn blogging from others. How we can avoid making the same mistakes they did, and how we can possibly advance faster in the blogosphere if we follow the lead of fellow bloggers.

But, is that REALLY beneficial? Is it REALLY helpful for a blogger to NOT go through some of the pains associated with trial and error?

I think it’s one thing to learn how other bloggers succeeded, what steps they use(d) to promote their blog, what they think of different blogging issues and to even hear about the mistakes they made, but that’s their blogging journey. Not ours.

To copy what others do (or have done) “may” work for us, however not learning from our own mistakes, could be detrimental to our authenticity.

It could also make us lose sight of other possibilities.

That’s not something I want.

What about you?

Today’s Assignment

How do you prefer to learn blogging?

Trough trial and error, including by making mistakes?

Or would you rather fast track your blog and avoid the pitfalls?

Care to share?

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Have you ever noticed how much fake stuff there is?

In the real world we see fake Rolex’s and other knock-offs. There are also fake breasts, fingernails, hair, eye lashes, tattoos, fake foods engineered to (sort of) taste like the real thing, fake weather conditions including snow and the list goes on.

Online and in print media we see fake in the form of air brushing or Photoshopping.

On social networking sites, pedophiles take on a fake identity to scam young children.

Today’s Lesson

On blogs we see fake, too. It may come in the form of plagiarized content or stolen photos.

We see evidence of fake in product reviews; reviews which make products and/or services sound magical. You know the ones; if we buy the product or service it can (possibly) make us rich, skinny, popular, etc…

For us bloggers, doubt may set in when we see an affiliate link.

Sadly, what some bloggers are truthfully sharing can be labeled as fake, too.

Although it’s normal to ask, “Is this person telling the truth?”, or, “Are they only interested scamming us out of our hard earned money?”, skepticism doesn’t stop there.

We also see it in comments.

On my How to Remove Coffee and Tea Stains From Carafes, Pitchers and Thermos Bottles post, published on my Observation Mountain blog, several of the comments verify this.

Some who commented said, in part,

Was a skeptic like some of the rest…

Ok…I read all the comments and said to myself “yeah, right!”. I just came back from the kitchen…I tried it and OMG!!! One of the first tips I’ve found that REALLY works!!!!!

The first time I read the doubting words, I was somewhat surprised. I knew I told the truth and knew what I shared worked. That said, it pleased me to hear what I had shared was beneficial.

So it makes me wonder, how many people spend time online but doubt the validity of what they read?

How many bloggers bend the truth to earn a buck, or to appear to be an expert, or …?

How many blog posts are written for search engines instead of for the readers?

How do honest bloggers feel when others are skeptical about what they post?

Today’s Assignment

When you read blogs, are you skeptical of what the blog author posted?

Has anyone ever questioned the validity of your words?

Care to share?

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Image depicting 2012 with fireworksWith the onset of a new year many people decide to start fresh. Some will restart those goals which were never met in years past, whereas others vow to make the new year the best it can be.

With blogging, making New Year’s resolutions isn’t a bad idea either.

Today’s Lesson

I feel the beginning of a new year is the perfect time to access where we are, blog wise, as well as where we’d like to go with our blogs and to review how we spend our time online.

Some of the items we might consider changing are:

  • Post more or less often
  • Spend more or less time on social networks
  • Start another blog
  • Quit blogging
  • Visit and comment on other blogs more or less frequently
  • Revive old posts
  • Fine-tune our niche
  • Change our blog theme
  • Change our blog platform
  • Re-evaluate and/or delete the information we’ve shared online
  • Write an ebook
  • Launch a new product or service
  • Expand our blogging knowledge
  • Monetize our blogs
  • Start guest posting
  • Improve the navigation of our blogs
  • Add/remove plugins. Automate that which we can
  • Work on creating our online brand
  • Learn and use SEO (search engine optimization)
  • Close/open comments
  • Concentrate on providing more value in our blog posts
  • Do more self-promotion
  • Other. ______Fill in the blank_____

For myself, I plan to spend more time on another blogging project, less time on social networks and will continue to improve my knowledge about blogging.

What about you?

Today’s Assignment

What are your blogging resolutions for 2012?

Care to share?

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