“It’s just a hobby, RIGHT?” people may ask as you yet again set up for a marathon blogging session. “Why take it so seriously? Why waste time? Don’t you wanna doom scroll like us?”
Sometimes times it’s not even other people asking those questions, it’s our own brain questioning ourselves is this is truly a good use of our time when there are so many, more pleasant and easier things we could be doing. Your brain may be questioning why you are intentionally playing life on hard mode.
But you can’t turn it off even if you wanted to. It’s all you can think about. You’re wondering if you have gone too far. You realize you are absolutely obsessed with building your blog. It’s kind of scary. You can’t even remember the last time you were obsessed with something, you’d have to think all the way back to your dinosaur toys from when you were a child. Is this healthy?
Obsession Is Just Another Word For Relentless Focus
Obsession scares people (unless it’s for the local sports squad) because it makes them feel inferior. You will be told to “mellow out” and to “relax” and to “take a breath” and you will be told this like they are passing down deep, serene insight about how to live life. But you and I know the truth, the only people who ever did anything great in this world were obsessed.
I’m not talking about historical figures or titans of industry, though they were obsessed too. I’m talking about the people you really admire in your life. The mother who obsesses over caring for her family is flirting with greatness, for example. Or the man who is obsessed with mastering the craft of repairing combustion engines. These people do not have time for Netflix. They do not have time for phones. They only have time for greatness in their craft.
Obsession is the only path to greatness, whether we are talking about our blogs or something else. It’s all the same. But now we’re gonna talk about blogs.
Every Successful Blogger Was Obsessed
Bloggers tend to play down what they had to do to win. Not because they want to minimize the hard work, but because they don’t want other people to think they are crazy. They don’t want to talk about being up until 3:00 AM multiple nights in a row, functioning on three hours of sleep so they can keep their 30 day blog post streak alive. But that’s how it is.
Read any biography of a person who achieved anything and you will immediately see that they were crazy. The only reason we don’t remember that they were crazy is because they typically downplayed what they had to do to win because they didn’t want other people to think they were crazy. Same for bloggers.
This is what blogging crazy obsession looks like:
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Relentlessly posting new content.
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Researching the minutia of SEO
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Studying analytics
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Pouring over books about writing, copywriting, and internet marketing
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Studying obscure internet forum threads for insight on the blogging game
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Mastering a third party platform to drive traffic
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Optimizing WordPress and plugins
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Thinking about your blog day and night and what you are going to do to make it better
Blogging Is Not A Casual Endeavor
If you “just wanna blog” that’s fine. I respect it. There are things in my life, like playing guitar, that I do casually and have no desire to do what it takes to reach the pinnacle of that craft. Blogging, specifically solo-blogging, is something I do desire to reach the heights with and I am willing to do what it takes, and you do to, you wouldn’t be on this website otherwise.
For us, blogging is a business. It is not a casual endeavor like playing guitar or pick up basketball. Can’t be casual if you don’t want casual results. We aren’t just blogging, we are building assets that will positively impact ourselves and our families. And the blog needs to be taken just as serious as if you opened a brick and mortar business that you can only work on outside of your 9-5 job.
The Hidden Blog Work Nobody Understands
Nobody else sees the invisible work: editing drafts, updating old posts, learning new tools, writing meta descriptions, optimizing WordPress, optimizing themes, building email.
What people do see: low to no traffic, low growth, no progress, wasted time, chasing unrealistic dreams. Other people do not understand that you are building a business and building a business is slow and difficult. Persistence in the face of seemingly no progress is a requirement.
Obsession Creates Compounding Effects For Blogging Success
Traffic is a big factor in the blogging game. Let’s do some math. Let’s say after a year Google is sending you some traffic. Let’s say each post only gets about 10 people per day, not a whole lot, right?
Well, actually. Let’s say you stuck with three posts per week, which is 156 posts x 10 person per post. Well, now we are talking 1,560 visitors per week, or in a 30 day month, 46,800 visitors. Oh, all of a sudden that ain’t so bad. Let’s say you up your game to 200 posts per year for 3 years which is 600 blog posts…with just 10 visits per blog post per day you are at: 6,000 / day and about 183,000 per month which translates to…full-time blogging. It’s the compounding effect, baby! Persistence = Massive Growth. (This is also why it’s important to pick a niche you know you can write about forever, so you can figure out what to say even if you feel like you have nothing to say.)
Traffic isn’t the only thing that compounds. Other things do too: technical skills, writing skills, blogging knowledge, audience insights, driving traffic from third party platforms.
Make Sure You Are Taking Care Of Your Health In Your Obsession
When one is obsessed, usually the first thing to go is taking care of your health. While obsession is generally good, this is one of the bad side-effects so I am putting this warning here: exercising is just as important to your blogging success as is writing on the blog.
Blogging is a sedentary activity, so it’s very easy to put on the pounds while being obsessed, but you don’t want to do that. Make sure you are setting time aside to exercise. It has a great ROI! My favorite thing to do is go on hour long walks, listen to music, and let my mind wander around, thinking about the blog. I usually come back from these walks with renewed fire and new ideas to try.
Healthy obsession has boundaries. Unhealthy obsession does not.
To help manage, set clear work goals: daily, weekly, and monthly. That way you will not just work endlessly toward an unspecified outcome. Schedule blocks of time for exercise, family time, and for the things you need to do to keep the household going. Everything else can go toward the blog.
Be Deaf To Criticism (Except From Your Spouse And Children When They Want To Spend More Time With You, Listen To Them)
Criticism is projection. Your “peer” group will not like your obsession because it highlights their own lack of action in life.
They have a story in their heads that “they can’t do anything about it” but your obsession with winning shows their excuses are not valid, and they don’t like that.
Their excuses for lack of action are broken and this is upsetting. Like crabs in a barrel, they will try to pull you back down to their level because if you escape it will upset their entire mental framework for them being a victim in life, and that their position in life is due to their own decision and actions.
They do not want to take responsibility for this. Do not listen to criticism from these people, it is not meant to help you.
The only valid opinions are your opinion, your spouse’s opinion, and your children’s opinions. Nobody else gets a vote.
Signs You Are On The Right Track For Winning The Blogging Game
While trying to win the blogging game, you will go down the wrong path from time to time, you will hit dead ends and will have to turn around. That’s all part of the process. Here are some signs you are on the right track.
You Are On The Right Blogging Track When…
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You obsessively think about your blog all day and think about how to improve it.
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You seek deeper knowledge and skills by reading blogs, forums, books, tutorials, and completing courses (there are many free courses out there, this isn’t a pitch to buy a course).
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You analyze what works and double down on it.
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You update old posts every 3 – 6 months.
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You prioritize a solid foundation and long-term growth over short-term validation.
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You continue to embrace persistency even when there are slow or no results for your efforts yet.
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You reframe the narrative: “I’m not toxic with obsession, I’m committed to winning and building a better life for my family.”
Winners always look extreme before success is achieved. Keep On Going!
Obsession means you are on the right track and that you need to keep on going. Do you think Ray Kroc built McDonalds by being casual? Did John D. Rockefeller build the Standard Oil Company empire by being realistic? Did Michael Jordan become the greatest basketball champion by setting aside one hour a day, three days a week for practice?
You must be extreme and you must be obsessed to win the blogging game. And, of course, the rewards of being extreme is complete freedom and financial independence.
While you are at the beach on Tuesday all the you “realistic” peers will be in the office because they didn’t want to do what it took to get free. Who looks like the crazy person now? To continue to choose the destiny of forever working in a cubicle?
Obsession is the only thing that makes logical sense!
Until next time, blog on, friend. Blog on.