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You can read ProBlogger, you can IttyBiz to your heart’s content, but the one fundamental of business – of life, indeed – is mastery of a discipline. And for that, you need neither them, nor I.
You simply need you.
Some boffin once said specialisation is the work of an insect, not a human. I disagree. The pride and respect garnered from focusing long and hard on one subject is beyond measure.
I once played guitar, solidly, for two years.
In those two years I found new and rewarding friendships, was invited to riff on stage with some amazing musicians, travelled far and wide learning the craft and generally discovered new heights of creative technique. These benefits were galvanised by a new-found ability to write songs. Writing songs helped me to refine my general writing abilities.
The knock-on effects were endless. I place incredible measure on those friendships. Music has an intense ability to link people – it’s no surprise that harmony, coined so often in relation to voices or instruments in sync, is also often referred to as a component of solving world conflict.
Rather than encourage you to get your hands on a big organ, I’m suggesting that you spend some time this weekend thinking of things you really, really enjoy. Ski jumping. Sewing decolletage. Eating pickled onions straight from the tub. Swimming with dolphins.
How do they make you feel? What have you learned from these hobbies and passions, both directly (better necklines for your own handmade dresses, longer airtime, the ability to handle that skank bitterness in your mouth) and indirectly (membership of the Dressmakers Circle, avoiding being drowned through advanced mammal handling techniques)? Where will your desires in this direction, take you next? What do others think about your fondness for these skills and crafts? What do you enjoy most about them?
I loathe to use commercial jargon. But I strongly recommend, right now, you work on an audit of your passions. Write down everything that springs to mind when you think of them – the emotional, the spiritual, the financial, the physical.
Armed with this information, huge swathes of storylines for blog posts will inevitably crop up. Then it’s time to make a start and jot down a few draft ideas that could be fleshed out in the future to make those posts complete.
Once you have a half dozen or more ideas, create a Google Calendar and add these posts in. Perhaps schedule posts twice a week on your passions, if you can – once a day is perhaps a touch lunatic unless you have time on your hands.
Stick to the calendar, write from the heart, and always – always - respond to people who are kind enough to comment.
Tell me what stirred your passion to such an extent that you couldn’t but tell others about it. Did it end up on a blog, or in a real-world chat?
So… who REALLY killed Archie in Eastenders? Did you know this storyline’s scriptwriter came from my home town?
Dave Thackeray
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