My Blog Beginning

Like many others bloggers out there, I started blogging because I wanted to share the techniques that I”ve used to achieve a degree of financial success.  I honestly thought that I was going to write so that the average person would get encouraged by read some of my articles and think “Wow, that would work” and give it a try.

I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that I was perfect, just that I had a better way of approaching finances.  While I still believe I have a lot to share, I never took into the account the self-improvement piece that was involved with blogging.  I was arrogant enough to believe that I was going to be the teacher, and I would be selflessly helping other, and reinforcing what I’ve learned over time.  Lately, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that it’s really a two way street!

The Self-Improvement Surprise

What I didn’t expect was the constant learning and self-improvement aspects of blogging!  I’m going to create a short list of ways that I’ve become both more creative and my self-improvements that have and are happening to me.

• The Calm:  Since I practically create a blog post every day, I’ve learned that if I slow down and remain calm, I can get a decent post created.  Sometime going slower is really moving faster…
• Organization:  I now have organization skills thanks to blogging.  In my prior life, I would just fly by the seat of my pants… no more!  Blogging has done wonders for the way I organize and track things.
• Communication:  Compared to where I started, my communication skills now rock, not just in written form either!  Since I started blogging, both my written and oral forms of communication has improved.  This has been a very welcome and needed surprise in my life!
• Continuous Learning:  Since I read other blogs and do research on topics, I learn something everyday.  Sometimes its earth shattering, but some times it’s small but interesting (it’s all good).  The point is that I’m not longer stagnant and just doing my time in life until I retire.
• Virtual Friends:  I now have friends in remote location that I’ve never seen, but that I care about and who I’m rooting for.  We can all rise in the blogosphere!
• Engaging in Conversation:  Commenting on so many other blog sites has enabled me to engage in verbal conversation in my real life more easily.  Whereas I’ve been an introvert for a good part of my life, now I’ll reach out and start the conversation instead of waiting for people to speak to me first.  I’ve since learned that prior to blogging, some people thought I was stuck up (to use a high school phrase), but this has never been so!  Now that I’m more sociable, they now see my true friendly colors.
• Improved Writing Skills:  This is obvious, with practice comes perfection.  While I still have a long way to go to achieve perfection, at least I’m heading down the road instead of parking on the side of it.
• Subtle Confidence:  While I don’t walk around saying that “I’m the man“, I do have a certain degree of increased confidence knowing that I’ve improved myself because of all the bullet points above.  It’s a great feeling!

 Why I Recommend Everybody Trying It

Obviously, I recommend it because of the benefits that I listed above! 

If you are going the serious route, consider going with a hosted service (hostgator.com, bluehost.com, etc), but if you just want to improve yourself and have don’t have a goal of creating side income from it, then consider one of the free sites like blogger.com or wordpress.org.

Surprisingly, I do make a little bit of money from blogging on the side.  While I didn’t start out with that as a goal, it has been a very welcome and pleasant surprise. 

Not sure if you want to try blogging or not?  Check out some of my previous articles on blogging called: Pros and Cons of Blogging, and the 15 Advantages of Blogging.

Good luck, if you decide to take the blogging plunge!

MR