5 Ways Blogging Makes You Better

Success demands

singleness of purpose.

- Vince Lombardi

After reading an excellent article by Jennifer Kahnweiler on Why Introverts Can Make the Best Leaders, I had a sudden flash of insight.

Blogging can make you a better friend, spouse, parent, and leader. How? Blogging encourages you to regularly make a special set of choices. The same habits that help some introverts become great leaders are routine requirements for good blogging. These habits train you, over time, to function more thoughtfully in other arenas --with great results.

1. Bloggers are required to think first, then speak their mind. The very act of writing a blog post slows you down. You have to ponder what you just said. Is that really what you meant? Is there a better way to say it? How will the person who reads it feel? These are good questions we should always be asking ourselves, but many of us don't stop to do it -- in everyday life. Blogging can be the tool that trains us to be more thoughtful with our words.

2. Blogging helps you to choose depth over breadth. What is one of the key components of a successful blog? Staying with a focus over a period of time. Blogs that try to cover too many topics tend to lose their readers. Blog traffic rewards writers who stay focused and cover a topic with more depth, rather than skimming the surface of whatever strikes their fancy. Once you learn to have conversations on your blog about a topic you've carefully considered, you have honed new skills in analysis and a taste for depth that will wear well in other settings.

3. Blogging teaches you to stay calm. Show me a blogger who uses a blog for venting feelings about a topic or a person, and I'll show you someone who is repairing the damage just done. Most of us learn quickly that it doesn't pay to let our immediate emotional response carry us away with it. We'll regret later what we said, and it will be right on the page of our blog for the public to read. For days afterward. Why does this matter? Because staying calm is a crucial part of successful conflict management in relationships. Keeping your cool when confronted empowers you to make wise decisions under pressure.

4. Blogging teaches you to craft your plans and intentions with clarity. When you're not clear, it's obvious in the feedback from your readers. That's okay, because you can try again, and again, until your message is plain. Thinking clearly about what you're doing and why, and being able to communicate that effectively, is an invaluable tool wherever you're interacting with people.

With blogging, I have learned that my vision must be clear. I must know what I am doing and why, and I must communicate it well, or else my readers will be lost and confused. My blogs have helped me grow tremendously in this way. Isn't this what you've learned, too?

5. Bloggers use solitude effectively. Writing blog posts is a solitary activity. We're alone with our thoughts. Many people in our modern world are not comfortable with themselves. They haven't learned the art of solitude. With blogging, you have a bridge to solitude that lets you to explore its richness and rewards in a pleasant way. Your solitude while writing blog posts teaches you how to be alone, how to think, how to reflect. The more you do it, the more skilled you become, and that can transfer to other settings. Next time you have an important decision to make, you just might choose to sit down alone and write out your thoughts before deciding. Because that's what you've learned to do already.

These five habits aren't common. They're exceptional. Isn't it interesting to know that you have already been applying them in your life? Next time you face a special challenge, you'll be more apt to think first and to reap the benefits of a thoughtful life.

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I love blogging for the way it makes me better. What's one thing you appreciate about blogging?