I’ve written for a dozen different blogs since I got started back in 2005. I bought more than 50 domain names in my quest for the perfect place to call home. I don’t believe I’ve ever spent more on a domain name than this one. Sidenote: that’s a sad fact since my wife isn’t crazy about it and would probably have preferred half a dozen other names I bought before this.
That’s okay. In order to make this story interesting we need at least a little diversity, don’t we? So we have my wife thinking I can’t choose a good name, and me… I’m just not sure what’s broken in my thought-to-publishing process.
Then I come across this quote from Jeff Goins, a local author and blogger I’ve never met in person:
“Most people think successful blogging is about traffic or trends or, even worse, a specific topic… Virtually nobody read my stuff, and even fewer people liked it. I sure didn’t. I was miserable and on the verge of giving up blogging entirely.
But then I discovered something important, a hidden secret I’d overlooked the whole time:
Writing isn’t about picking the right topic; it’s about finding the right voice. As I embraced this truth, it transformed my writing. And soon, I had more readers than I ever imagined possible….
Don’t chase trends. Don’t try to find the right topic. Find a strong voice, instead. Your voice. Then trust that the readers will come. The secret behind the world’s most successful blogs, the best authors and artists we revere and respect, is this: They have a worldview.”
Now, I have a worldview. Don’t get me wrong. But I’ve been loathe to share it in its entirety because of how I see myself in relation to the rest of the world.
Somewhere along the way, I became convinced that the world didn’t want or need to hear my REAL thoughts. So I looked for a way to sell people something that would at least benefit them in a single dimension.
If you’ve come across another blog of mine, you no doubt encountered my love of minimalist footwear, my wishful thinking about the Dallas Cowboys, my boring posturing about online reputation management, my ideas for really innovative business cards, or stories on prophetic experiences.
Those are but a few of the blogs that have gone the way of the dodo.
Meh.
Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you’ve tried once, twice, maybe a dozen times. Maybe you’ve assumed at least a prolonged season of failure due to the lack of progress. And that’s okay, I think. Even if you didn’t technically HAVE to be a failure for a period of time, if that’s what it takes to get you out of the funk you’ve been in, so be it.
As for me, I still don’t know that anyone DOES see the world the same way, but I’m finally ready to find out.