Four Stupid Reasons People Don’t Blog

Yes, that may be the first time I use “stupid” in a title. But I couldn't come up with a nicer way to say it. Please accept my apologies if it bothers or annoys you.

Nevertheless, I'm not writing to annoy you. I'm writing to challenge you, because I honestly have heard these statements too many times.

And they're flat out lies.

Lies we tell ourselves. Lies we believe. Lies we believe even when others tell us it's not true.

So now it's time to stop listening to those lies.

No one wants to hear what I have to say

Let me be very clear. This is a lie from the pit of hell. Any hell you care to imagine.

It's so easy to tell ourselves that we have no audience. But it's simply not true.

The world is a big place. And Google can make connections in the unlikeliest of places.

So just because you want to share some insights from your days as an underwater basket weaver (the role my dad was always worried I'd pursue) and don't know people around you that want to hear about it doesn't mean that no one on the planet has a similar interest.

The reality is that someone out there is already looking for advice. Looking for help.

And they're just waiting for your voice.

I have nothing to say

Oh how I know that's not true.

You tell me (and everyone else) that you have nothing to say. But it's simply not true.

Do me a favor.

Name the last day that you were able to wake up, get thru the whole day, and never communicate with a single soul.

It's likely that it's rarely or never happened.

You have words. Whether you say them, write them, draw them, sing them, or any other way you communicate.

You have words. Share them.

I might say something wrong

Yes. Not even “might.” You will write something that is incorrect.

I guarantee it.

Who cares?

Let's talk about who the smartest people in the world are. Ready?

They all have one trait in common with you and me.

They change their minds.

So if you write something that is wrong, simply learn from it, and change your mind.

Then write about that process too.

I promise it will help someone.

Every story we live thru is a story that can help someone – even when it's the story of our mistake.

I'm not a writer

Good news. Guess what? Neither am I.

Long before I wrote a word, I was a person who would speak words.

My tone, my approach, my messages – they all start as verbal messages because I think of myself as a speaker, not a writer. It also means I make spelling and grammatical mistkes.

(see that one? I did it on purpose. Now watch as certain folks can't help but comment.)

But guess what?

I'm not suggesting we're all authors. Or all “writers” in whatever definition feels too far away from our reality.

I'm simply saying we all know how to communicate. So stop believing the lie that says you suddenly can't.

These four stupid reasons are all lies

I have one and only one main point to share with you. It's not complicated. It's not even the suggestion that you should blog. It goes deeper.

Stop lying to yourself.

That's what we're doing, when we fall prey to believing these things that aren't true.

You would feel bad lying to me. So feel bad lying to yourself.

If you don't want to blog, don't. But don't do it for a reason that isn't a lie.

Cool?