“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” – William Wordsworth
Over the course of my life, I’ve embraced a number of different hobbies: baseball cards, video games, tennis, art, just to name a few. But none of them have changed my life or brought me as much satisfaction as the act of blogging. In almost too many ways to count, it has truly changed me and the way I live my life.
Consider these 15 thoughts on how blogging will impact your life:
1. You’ll become a better writer. At its core, writing is communication. It is about recording thoughts on paper and compelling others to agree with them. To that end, writing (just like every other form of communication that has ever existed) improves with practice. Blogging will not force you to become a better writer… it’ll just happen as you do it. And becoming a better writer holds important benefits for the rest of your life – whether you are creating a book, a presentation, a résumé, or an anniversary card for your spouse.
2. You’ll become a better thinker. Because the process of writing includes recording thoughts on paper, the blogging process encourages you to stop and think deeper. You will delve deeper into the matters of your life and the worldview that shapes them. Unfortunately, at this point, many will choose not to blog (or write at all) based on the faulty reasoning that they “have nothing to say.” But to that line of thinking I always respond the same way… maybe you just haven’t discovered yet what you have to say.
3. You’ll live a more intentional life. Once you start writing about your life and the thoughts that shape it, you’ll begin thinking more intentionally about who you are, who you are becoming, and whether you like what you see or not. And that just may be reason enough to get started.
4. You’ll develop an eye for meaningful things. By necessity, blogging requires a filter. It’s simply not possible to write about every event, every thought, and every happening in your life. Instead, blogging is a never-ending process of choosing to articulate the most meaningful events and the most important thoughts. This process of choice helps you develop an eye for meaningful things. And remember that sometimes the most meaningful things appear in the most mundane… but you’ll see what I mean once you get started.
5. It’ll lead to healthier life habits. Blogging requires time, devotion, commitment, and discipline. And just to be clear, those are all good things to embrace – they will help you get the most out of your days and life. Since beginning to blog, I have become an early riser, a runner, and can now properly identify my favorite drink at Starbuck’s (Caramel Macchiato). And even if those three habits don’t personally appeal to you, blogging will provide opportunity for new life habits to emerge in yours.
6. You’ll meet new people. Whether it be through comments, e-mails, or social media, you may be surprised at how quickly you meet people on-line. And by meet people, I mean legitimately form relationships that seek to serve one another. The blogging community is friendly, encouraging, and genuinely cheering for you to succeed… the only thing missing is you.
7. You’ll make some money. You don’t need to make money to enjoy blogging. In fact, sometimes making money from your blog can actually start to distract you from the joy that you found in the first place. That being said, whether you make $20/year or $20,000/year, it’s still pretty nice to have a hobby that actually pays you back.
8. You’ll inspire others. Blogging not only changes your life, it also changes the life of the reader. And because blogs are free for the audience and open to the public, on many levels, it is an act of giving. It is a selfless act of service to invest your time, energy, and worldview into a piece of writing and then offer it free to anybody who wants to read it. Others will find inspiration in your writing… and that’s a wonderful feeling.
9. You’ll become more well-rounded in your mindset. After all, blogging is an exercise in give-and-take. One of the greatest differences between blogging and traditional publishing is the opportunity for readers to offer input. As the blog’s writer, you introduce a topic that you feel is significant and meaningful. You take time to lay out a subject in the minds of your readers and offer your thoughts on the topic. Then, the readers get to respond. And often times, their responses in the comment section challenge us to take a new, fresh look at the very topic we thought was so important in the first place.
10. It’s free. Your blog can begin today without spending a single penny now (or ever). I use WordPress and highly recommend it. With an initial investment of $0, why not give it a shot?
11. You’ll become more comfortable being known. Blogging introduces yourself to the world. It causes you to articulate the life you live and the worldview behind the decisions that you make. Whether you have 1 reader or 10,000, the blogging process opens up your life to those on the outside. It is a good exercise in human-existence to be known by others. Over time, you’ll reveal more and more of yourself to the outside world… and you’ll be excited to find a world that relates to you and enjoys hearing your story.
12. It’ll serve as a personal journal. Blogging serves many of the same roles as a personal journey. It trains us to be observant and gives weight to the personal growth that we are experiencing. It trains our minds to track life and articulate the changes we are experiencing. Your blog becomes a digital record of your life that is saved “in the cloud.” As a result, it can never be lost, stolen, or destroyed in a fire.
13. You’ll become more confident. Blogging will help you discover more confidence in your life. You will quickly realize that you do live an important life with a unique view and have something to offer others.
14. You’ll find a platform to recommend. We all love to recommend something we have found enjoyable or beneficial – whether it be a nice restaurant, a good book, or a new outlook on life. The fullness of joy is not experienced until we have shared that joy with others. A blog provides an opportunity to do that very thing. It provides a platform to share the joy we have experienced and recommend good things we have discovered to others.
15. It’s quite a rush with every positive comment. There’s a certain little rush that accompanies the immediate positive feedback that you receive every time a reader posts a comment, shares your writing on Facebook, or tweets it out to their Twitter followers. While walking the fine line between finding encouragement in that feedback and obsessing over it may take some time to get used to, it’s far better to find that line than to never seek it out in the first place.
Remember, you don’t need to blog as a means to get rich or as a means to gather a huge following. You don’t even need to blog as a means to change the Internet… the change that a blog will cause in your life is reason enough.
In response to this post, Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have written an essay titled “How to Start a Blog Today” on their website. If you are interested in starting a blog for the first time, you will find the information to be quite useful and comprehensive.
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i think people underestimate the importance of no. 2. blogging, or rather, the process of writing, does a lot to clarify my thinking on many different things. and this is very important…
for those who are convinced they won’t build a following from blogging, i always suggest clearer thinking as an obvious reason to still blog…
Great post and even greater reasons to be blog. Even if I wanted to I would not be able to find a single point that I could disagree with. I’m not the best write but blogging has cetainly helped.
-Ravi Gupta
Great post Joshua and so true! Thanks for showing that there is more to blogging than just making a buck or two.
Dr. Laura
Great article Joshua. I can’t agree more about the positiveness of blogging. For a couple years I ran a different blog, one based on “whatever”. It was for when I found something funny, interesting or a picture I took that I wanted to share. It never had very many regular followers, mostly people that googled a term that matched something I wrote. BUT, that experience showed me how much I liked blogging and that I was a decent writer. When I started Simple Black Coffee I knew what I wanted things to look like and how I was going to start writing.
Having the focus of minimalism, simple living and consumerism brought me the opportunity to write to a “group” of like minded people and I entered a community of fellow bloggers. This works no matter what you are writing about, minimalism, dog training or writing about bird toys for parrots. There’s a community out there to fit your interests.
Number 6 (meeting new people) is a lot of fun and the feelings you get from 8 (inspiring others), 11 (becoming known) and 15 (comments!) are like gold.
Hi! This is something I was wondering about – have varied interests and see that most bloggers I follow have a “niche” so I was waiting to select before getting started, but maybe the key is to get started and the niche will appear:)
Hi! I have felt the same way, Jill ….. I have had so many careers and life experiences’….. I’m likely a LOT older than many on here …… but there is always the ‘writer’ lurking in the background. However, I have not yet found a ‘niche’ whereas I can get a ‘catchy’ title to FIT ….. Just too many experiences and life paths I’ve taken …. So hope that someone here may have some ‘answer’ on how those of us in ‘this situation’ can ‘get started’.
I actually did start a blog on wordpress ……. and ‘no followers’ …… a few FB friends commented when I first announced it and that was IT !!!
I need some FOCUS or NICHE ….. :)
Thanks for any help of the more focused BLOGgerrs !!! lol !!
Mahima
Hi Mahima. Yah I really liked what Craig (above) had to say about his discovering his niche through random writing. I would think through random writing, you can find what you are most passionate about, what is exciting to write about and research, what you can most help/inspire others with :)
Jill and Mahima
You could start a blog (with a specific focus or completely random with pictures of kittens and blog posts about American Idol) and just write about whatever you want. And then -when you find your niche or focus- just start writing on that. There’s no need to go back and erase old posts or start a new blog, just start writing towards that new goal.
I’ve never really reflected on all the benefits I get from blogging, I was just so attracted to it and enjoy the experience.
I do think it helps me live life more intentionally and provides a measure of accountability so that I practice what I write.
I enjoy my blogs, but find a couple of troubles. First, I haven’t found my audience yet, and those that do find me are apparently not into dialogue. Second, the topics I want to explore are not the things my blog is supposed to be about. I recently attempted to work on that one by starting a second blog, but sometimes I wish I had a place to be really thinky and get feedback from people.
Finally, I’m surprised there was no mention of 750words.com. It’s a great service, and private, if you want to write in the cloud in a fun way but save some thinking for yourself!
Thank you for this thought provoking post. I have two blogs–one on frugal living and one on making and saving money. I enjoy both –not sure I even want a following. I have learned a lot about writing and writing for the internet. I am learning–and learning is a joy. Minimalism is my new found love and I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work.
These are some great reasons to blog, and good ones to keep in mind, too, when someone from real life doesn’t get it :) “why would you want to blog? you’re sharing SO much information about yourself, out there for EVERYONE to see…. who would want to read it anyway? sounds like a lot of work for nothing…”
These are all great reasons to blog Joshua! Some of your list items I hadn’t thought about, but once I read them I was nodding my head in agreement.
For me blogging is a way to stay excited and motivated to achieve my goals. There is something about knowing that people will read whether you followed through with your plans that can really light a fire under you, ya know? And blogging is a fun way to do something I love (write) in any format I choose.
That accountability helps keep one focused!
Bernice
I love blogging because of your #3 & #4. I have become much more aware of my day to day actions and how they affect the lives of others and my life. And I always am looking for meaningful moments and exploring what they mean through blogging. Great post to remind us amateurs that blogging is great!
Great list. I’ve kept a blog for a few years now, and made a resolution a few months back to update at least 5 times a week. It’s really been a great experience. All the more so, too, because I’ve been practicing minimalism/simplicity for years, and it has slowly come to be one of the main things I write about (along with a few other areas that are really important in my life).
Thanks for what you do here. Especially a post like this — it encourages me to keep doing it.
You know I’m a huge fan of all your posts, but this one is for sure a fav! Excellent.
Thanks Josh,
I just started my blog a few weeks ago and this was very encouraging!
I started blogging just as a journal for my own personal use but now I enjoy linking with others and have made some great blogging friends. What is amazing is how many people stop at my site (maybe only a few a day) but it still boggles my mind. I’ve even had people from the Netherlands! My little blog about my family. That’s the best part of blogging for me.
Hi Joshua,
This was perfect timing! I launched my blog last week, and have been hesitant about writing my next entry. This has inspired me – you know I will be writing more today :-)
Love, Joy, Peace & Light!
This is so good I’m writing an essay response to it and will post it today.
Been thinking of blogging for a long while but have stayed on the sidelines, following and reading, digging and learning from others. It is a time commitment when it’s not just brain dumping, and it’s quite scary when your purpose isn’t clear.
Very inspiring article – I’ve been thinking for a long time about launching a blog myself. But does everyone of you guys blog with their real name or are there some of you that like to stay anonymous but still want to get feedback on their thoughts? Some might be really personal…
I used to just use my first name or my last initial cause I was a little unsure about putting my whole name out there. But then after I got comfortable on the net and after seeing that so many successful bloggers used their whole real name I just started doing it too. There are tho, several good bloggers who are only known by their first name.
…plus, if you google your name you’ll find you are already pretty well known across the web. And that’s more scary than anything I can blog about.
Becker & friends:
I have thought about blogging and, in fact, got my son (20) to start a blog. But I have so many fears, even though I love writing and do consider myself a writer at heart.
1. What if I am just plain boring and no one is interested?
2. I have the type of personality where I like to be very honest and authentic. That doesn’t always work with my job, and I am thinking of blogging about my work towards a career change.
3. If I am really honest some people might be haters, and I am not good at taking criticism. I know I make choices and see things in a way that doesn’t apparently conform with the vast majority of people in the world. I know it’s an opportunity to ‘get over it’. But with if I just stay stuck in feeling criticised or disliked?
4. How do you write about your issues with other people without making them feel like you are airing their private lives in public?
Thanks!
Blogging has been amazing for me. It has been therapeutic for me, as I recovered from a nervous breakdown. I shared my recovery with others to help them, and in the same time it helps me. And it even serves as you said, a personal journal. I go back and reread previous posts as an encouragement and motivation to myself.
I have gained so many of these from blogging!
Bernice
Speeding through Life
Great List! You can have a blog and still remain anti-social though. I communicate through photos only – rarely even use words and have comments shut off.
Really enjoyed this post! I was hesitant to blog at first, but it’s been an excellent way to stay in touch with my family and loved ones. My blog has evolved from that simple goal into something bigger and it has also been the springboard to other writing gigs for me. I tell all my friends to blog now, too!
Fantastic article. Very well-written and inspiring.
I agree with every single point you make. I started blogging around November out of sheer boredom. I immediately realized how truly rewarding it could be. Now, I update my blog daily–I’m meeting new people, and improving my writing and analytical skills everyday.
Thanks for writing.
Thank you. You probably didn’t know this was going to hit me hard today, and that’s okay – I suspect you’re used to sending out messages people need to hear.
I started a new blog and was asking myself “how vain am I to do this? How do I even know that what I’m writing has value? How can I add anything original to this discussion?”
And then I read your post. Yes, this. Even if the only value I am adding is to myself, it’s worthwhile. So, thank you.
Thank you! I’m in the process of starting my second (non business-related) blog, and love these articles that free my mind, open up possibility, and inspire me!
thank you. I am just getting back to blogging and this was inspirational. I have been reading your for a few months and very much enjoy it, but do not normally comment.
Thanks so much for your post.
I just started a blog myself and I can attest to the fact that many of these points are true. I have met a number of new people who I would never have met otherwise, I’m beginning to understand more about myself, and I think you are right to say that by blogging, you are forced to get comfortable putting your life out into the public domain. This can be scary at first, at least it was for me, but I am beginning to settle in to a new level of comfort with it.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the inspiration! I’m just starting out with my first little blog to document my changes in lifestyle, minimalism, and going mobile. But, unfortunately, I’m not a writer in the least, so it’s been very difficult. Lots to learn!
Mahima, I went to the WordPress website. They have suggestions there for how to find a focus for the entire blog and for individual posts. There was a plethora of information on making your blog stand out…IF that’s your goal.
It’s so much info. and right now I am trying to learn to sell on eBay, and studying for computer classes while still doing my regular job (speech therapy). I’m not sure learning to blog and doing the blogs would be the best way to spend my time. It’s not as easy as, say, doing THIS post.
Good stuff, Joshua! When I saw the title for this post, my first thought was 15?? – really? But sure enough, you nailed it. I’ve been blogging since 2004 and you’re right on every point. Like you, it has created positive habits and discipline. It has given me a platform to inspire, encourage, and teach. And I’ve met some pretty cool people that I would have never known about it through blogging.
Carry on! Love your heart. Love your thoughts.
I really enjoy your blog! Thanks for the encouragement!
I enjoy your blog and read it very often. Just no interest for me to blog, not my thing. Not everyone has the talent you have and others alike.
I was going to try and pick just one I really liked but as I kept reading they all were so great. But I narrowed it down to 1,5,6,8,12. I recently convinced my girlfriend to make a blog, at first she was skeptical but now she is stoked. We had a girls Vegan night where we made a healthy meal and helped her create her blog. Now, it’s almost like we kicked her butt into gear, she is revamping her lifestyle for the good and is wanting to spread her knowledge and experiences with everyone. it is so awesome to be an outsider watching her blog begin. I love writing my blog and I am so passionate about everything i write. I am always going, going, going and my blog helps ground me and gives me a chance to stop and reflect. Love this post!! Thanks for sharing!
So many things I agree with here. I’ve been stumbling around with my creative writing for a while and after reading this post I feel more energised. I’m definitely feeling points 1,2, and 4. Off the back of this, I started a new blog about what simplifying things means to me. In the last few days, my minds been much more focussed on writing and what would make interesting posts.
I just hope I can keep going after this initial burst of enthusiasm.
This is great encouragement regardless of whatever niche a blog falls into. Thank you for this post!
I work from home, so I don’t have a built-in community of people to share ideas with, and blogging has helped me find people who are also looking at life from a minimalist perspective. It’s been gratifying to get responses to my posts on living without a cell phone, one-car family life, de-cluttering, anxiety and all the other things this journey has helped me discover.
Great post, and a lot of inspiring stuff on your list!
Number 3 is so true! Thanks…!
Greetings from the Netherlands
Great post, Joshua.
I’ve been reading blogs every day for years, but didn’t start my own until about a month ago. I’ve already experienced many of the benefits on this list… Especially #1. Blogging is fantastic writing practice.
Regarding #4, I think the best way to approach blogging — or, for that matter, life in general — is summarized by Mary Oliver:
“Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”
Being a rookie blogger is great. Everything you mentioned is new and with that newness comes the good feelings of trying, discovering, learning, and just experiencing a new outlet to be creative and share. Good times indeed.
Thank you for the inspiration and guidance. I’ve been really searching to start blogging for a long time. I am a writer and you have pused me in the right direction.
So based on your recomendation, I am now on word press.
Which version do you use? Can you recomend an easy way for me to learn how to post, add links, earn money, etc.?
Thanks again for your guidance.
I will remain forever greatful and hope we can continue this journey together !!
Just discovered this blog – love it so far. Keep it up.
Thank you, Joshua – this post has offered inspiration for me to take my own blog more seriously, and even to broaden its focus to give me more opportunity to write.
why to blog? to share and enrich others with what has been revealed to you.
This post reminded me of a quote by Socrates: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Thanks for the great article Joshua.
I was awestruck with coincidental use of Wordsworth’s quote; I read it first from Wifely Steps’ blog then yours. In a day!
Thank you for sharing these reasons. The third one, “You’ll live a more intentional life,” resonates the most to me. I am in that phase where I ask myself those questions. People who lived their lives with intention have no regrets.
It is my first time reading your blog. And I am eager to read the archives. Thanks to Ryan and Joshua for their essay “How to Start a Blog Today” led me here.
I resisted starting a blog for years, but I finally gave in. It’s changed my life and I’ve experienced all 15 reasons you’ve listed. Now whenever someone has something funny or insightful to say, I always suggest they start a blog.
I’ve just begun blogging, and I’d say the most nerve-racking thing about it is that I get the idea no one is reading my blog. Oh well. Readers will come later — as you’ve said in this article, blogging has other benefits. It really does help to clarify my thoughts :)
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