How Perseverance can help you become a Prolific Blogger

I’ve been blogging for more than 20 years. There were times I got blogger burnout and times where I contemplated stopping, but I kept on. I’ve written thoughts of blog posts, and have contributed writing or content in several media to other websites over the years.

So, how did that happen? Well… perseverance.

Persevere is to continue trying to do or achieve something despite difficulties. – Oxford dictionary

So, here’s a story to tie in with this.

How Perseverance can help you become a Prolific Blogger

There’s a lot of things we do in life that may be difficult, and it almost seems hopeless that you will achieve it.

When I was 20 years old, I spent a month in Bogotá, Colombia. One of the places I visited was Monserrate, which is a mountain that is over 10,241 feet above sea level (city sits at 8,660 feet above sea level), that has a church at the top, and it can be seen from most places in the city. You could take a trolley up and down, or opt to walk up and down the mountain.

I opted for taking the trolley up, and trying to walk down the mountain. The church was beautiful and the view over the capital of Colombia was fantastic!

(Note: I had to take a pic of the image, as it was glued in one of my old scrapbooks.)

The entire walk down the mountain, I was super nervous. It was a 60 minute walk down (there are over 1500 steps.) The walk path and steps were slick. There were absolutely no handrails. A couple times I slipped, as it recently rained, and because of elevation, sometimes there was fog.

There were people that used the path to jog up and down like it was nothing, and here I was, getting my @$s handed to me, by a mountain pathway. However, I didn’t quit.

About 3 quarters of the way down the mountain path, my legs were getting tired – either by the effort of walking down, not used to the elevation, and possibly the stress of being nervous the whole way down. I still kept on, even when my legs started getting shaky.

When I made it to the bottom, my legs shook so bad, and started to feel a bit numb. We ended up taking a taxi to the place I was staying at, rather than walk a bit more to a bus stop. Even while sitting , my legs still shook. I was exhausted (which was strange to me, as I had regularly ran and worked out then.)

All the time, during the walk down the mountain, I had brief thoughts of sitting and resting, but I didn’t. I kept on, and it was a good thing, because it started raining as soon as we made it to the street level. This would’ve made the path even more dangerous.

This is why I walk through my life like I did on that mountain- persevere even when your mind or body is trying to fight you.

You never know what will happen if you just stop too long. If you let people who are toxic take too much time, you get hurt longer. If you spend too much time deciding whether to do something, it will never get done. If you don’t approach things with an open-mind, then you will never learn. Perseverance is a good trait to have, as you come out stronger in the toughest of situations.

So, how does this tie in with blogging

Blogging is one of those things that you probably start with an idea, turn it into a small hobby, and as you get into the habit, you start to get serious about it. A long time ago, this is how I started. I thought I’d start a personal site that I could sprinkle in my art, poetry, short stories, opinions, and maybe some interesting stories that happened.

That worked, and eventually I got good at even learning how to code and design websites. I started writing simple tutorials, and even made some a little money and won some website competitions. After a while, I got serious, and separated my personal site from the business I wanted to focus on starting. Nile Flores Media, formerly Blondish.net, ended up being where I settled my web design and development.

In the beginning, nothing was glamorous about what I was doing. In fact, it’s still not always that way, but because of blogging and WordPress, I’ve been able to travel and meet a lot of people. I’ve been able to learn and take on new interests. I was able to get my depression under manageable control. I was able to enjoy my life.

I had times where money was tight, or my emotions were tough, or I experienced family passing away (I lost 7 family members since 2016), and it was difficult to want to even get online to write anything or even work. But I did. I couldn’t give up, because I know that this is accepting that it’s okay to stop learning and growing as a person.

As a blogger, web designer and developer, it’s important to keep learning. When you stop, you get behind.

When people ask me how I stuck to blogging for over 2 decades, I always tell them – perseverance.

For beginners, here’s advice on how to start.

Get in the habit of blogging. Your first blog shouldn’t be lasered focused, and you’re definitely not going to have the prettiest site on the block. That doesn’t matter. Use your beginning days of blogging to learn the ins and outs of blogging. Use it to learn how to build a community around your blog, through the comments, or on social network sites.

Additionally, use this time to also observe and see what you like, so you can eventually get an idea of how you’d like your blog branding to go. Make sure you’re tracking your traffic, even if it’s not really that impressive.

Once you’ve got your habit of blogging regularly, then little by little work on tweaking your website, and also trying monetization. You can make notations and start trying out a content schedule for your site.

Frankly, the most important part of blogging, is the habit of creating content. This is the same for podcasting, vlogging, and running social media channels. Write about what interests you, and be willing to research on what you don’t, in order to learn and grow as a blogger. Be a good blog citizen by linking to reputable websites. You never know when those people might turn some attention your way.

If you need a break, then it’s okay to take a break. Just keep creating content somehow, even if it isn’t much. You’re not a machine, and your readers don’t expect you to pump out content every day, even if you work from home. Be realistic and make sure to take care of yourself.

How long have you been blogging? If it’s been more than 5 years or 10 years, what has kept you going?