5 Things More Important Than Blogging

Have you ever noticed how bogged down we get in blogging sometimes?

We need to get our latest post finished then we need to promote it, reply to comments, look at new ways on monetizing our traffic… The list always seems endless.

But I want to tell you something that might shock you:

Some Things Are More Important Than Blogging!

‘No Way!!!!!’

All kidding aside, no matter how serious you are about making money online through blogging, there are 5 things that should always come before blogging!

Family

I’m not sure if it was the same for you, but while growing up, one thing was constantly being instilled into me.

‘Family Comes First’

Growing up I could never really understand this statement. I always thoughts it was just my parents way of making sure I spend time with them, but as I grew older I started to understand what they meant.

You see, friends stay for a season of our life but then the majority of them leave. Family is for life. You didn’t get to choose them but one thing that you can be sure of is that while everyone else may walk out of your life – you will always have your family.

How Does This Relate To Blogging?

Have you ever had one of those friends at school that you didn’t really spend that much time with them during the semester but you ended up be inseparable over the school holidays? Everything you did had to be with them and everyday you were either at their place or they were at yours. But then when school starts back up again, everything goes back to how it was.

What I am trying to say is don’t let blogging become that ‘friend’.

Don’t let blogging take up all your free time so that whoever you share the house with doesn’t even realise that you exist! Take time away from your blogging – it will still be there when you get back, and spend some time with your family. Eat together, watch a movie with them or instead of blogging one night, bring out a board game and have an ‘old fashioned’ family night.

Work & Studies

If you are not working full-time online through blogging or internet marketing then I’m guessing that you either have a job or are studying. While blogging may seem important and you know you have the potential to create a full-time income from it – at the moment you’re not. So make sure that when you are at work, you are committing 100% to your work. They are paying you and expect and deserve nothing less. That means:

• No blogging while you are at work
• No blog visiting while you are at work

Especially with the current economic conditions, you never know how stable or secure your job is. So why would you risk it? This not only includes your actions but also your mind. While you are working keep your focus on the things you have to do there. When you finish you can turn your mind back to blogging.

Healthy Living

I know for a lot of bloggers looking to make a full-time income online, it is so easy to get so caught up in your blogging and your trying so hard to make it successful that you disregard everything, including your own body. This can be extremely dangerous and cause long term health problems – and what is the point of making it as a successful blogger who is creating a full-time income, when cannot enjoy the lifestyle it brings?

I know sometimes we have to put extra effort into our blogs. I understand that. But what I’m talking about not letting blogging get in the way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Here Are A Few Things You Can Do To Make Sure You Maintaining A Healthy Lifestyle:

• Healthy Eating
  The food you eat gives you the energy that body needs to function properly. Don’t pass this off lightly! You can’t just think that you can eat junk and then when you get tired, because you haven’t been eating healthy, that you can just slug down a couple of the latest caffeinated energy drink and all will be good.
  It’s not that simple.

  Check out just a few facts about how complex our body is:
  - It takes the interaction of 72 different muscles to produce human speech.
  - Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.
  - Heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood through those vessels every day.

  Your body is extremely complex and we really have to be watchful of what we fuel it with! But not only what we feed it, but also making sure that we are feeding ourselves regularly. So make sure you are having breakfast, lunch and dinner -everyday!

• Active Lifestyle
  We all know that just sitting in front of our computer all day is not good for us – so why do we still do it? I know that blogging is important, but there always has to be a balance. Now when I say healthy living I know you instantly think that I am going to tell you that you need to start exercising. Not necessarily.Everyone associates exercise with hard-work, no fun and pain, but it doesn’t have to be like that.It is all about finding something that you enjoy, whether that is going for a walk, taking a ride through the park, going to the beach for a swim. In all honesty, it is just getting yourself away from your computer and outside, to make sure that you are getting a daily dose of fresh air.
• Quality Sleep
  I will be the first to admit that I fail at this one! I will wake up at 6am to try and comment a few blogs or work on a new post, then I’ll head straight to work. When work finishes I usually get an hour or two before I have something on that night. After that I get to spend an hour or two with Fiona and by the time I get home it is usually 10pm or later – and I still haven’t really done much blogging. So I usually jump on the computer when I get home and spend a good 3-4hours working on building my blogs before going to bed at 1-2am – to start all over again tomorrow! I know that sleep is extremely important and it is something that I personally need to work on. Here is an excellent article on how to get the best sleep!

If you are not looking after your body then how do you expect it to look after you? Your body will not be working at it’s best and it will actually start to deteriorate, causing tiredness and illess. Is blogging really worth that much to you?

Friends

I know I took a bit of a swing at friends in the family section above, but that doesn’t mean that friends are not important.

What is the point of being successful and having a lifestyle where you wake up in the morning, write a blog post and somehow bring in a full-time income, if you have no one to enjoy it with?  Friends are what keep us sane. They have a way of taking our mind off blogging for a while, and put it back on people – which is really where our mind should be blogging anyway!

Friends are important because:

• They Encourage Us
  I don’t know about you but I have some of the most encouraging friends ever! They are constantly building me up with their words and actions and having people around you that act like true friends should, really make you believe that you can achieve anything.
• They Inspire Us
  This one can be taken one of two ways. Firstly spending time with your friends will bring inspiration for an unending supply of  blog posts. But what I’m really meaning when I say that friends inspire, is by watching their lives and seeing them doing things that they never thought they could.  Maybe something that they do was done with such a selfless heart or maybe it’s watching the way they handle a curveball that life has thrown their way - yet they make it through still standing firm.Inspiration can come in many different ways, but ‘doing life’ with your friends is sure to be a source of a lot of it!
• They Challenge Us
  Almost all of my close friends know that I blog, a few of them visit this blog on a regular basis but only 2 of them know of my goal to make a full-time income blogging. You should have heard them when they noticed that I hadn’t been blogging for two months! One of my friends started to challenge me about whether I was really committed to achieving my goal – or whether it was just a pipedream. She told me that I needed to keep working at it and not give up all the time and effort that I had invested into this blog, but to continue to grow it and achieve the goals I had set out to accomplish!The reason I had stopped blogging was because I started spending all of my spare time with Fiona – which just happened to be one of the best decisions of my life! I thought that getting engaged would mean changes and that maybe blogging was going to have to be one of the things that would have to go. Fiona thought otherwise. About 3 weeks ago she sent me this text message (I saved it :D):

  Baby I have been researching u on google and found so many articles about u and ur sites and blogs. I just want to say how proud I am of you and all that you have done. Ur amazing at writing sweetie! U have such a talent. I know that since you met me u haven’t done much blogging and I will understand if u would like more time to do what you love. I love you sweetie xx

  Ever since that message she has been on my case to spend more time blogging. Infact just last week she told me that she had been reading all my blogs and that now she would like to start one, if I had time to show her how! (We decided to start a new blog together which I’m sure you will hear a lot about very shortly!)

  I guess what I’m trying to say is that your friends will be there when you want to give up. They will remind you of your goals, the reason you started blogging in the first place, and challenge you to continue pursuing your dream.

• They Make Life Fun
  All mushy stuff aside, FRIENDS ARE FUN! There is nothing better than spending time with your friends, relaxing and just mucking around (like you can only do with friends). Where would you be without them?

You

Lastly, YOU are more important than blogging, so make sure you always set aside time to do the things that you enjoy. I know that blogging is fun but what did you used to do before you started blogging? Did you enjoy reading a good book, or climbing a mountain? Was it taking the time to enjoy a nice walk along the beach, or maybe it’s your favourite TV show. Either way take time to do the things that you love! Otherwise you will end up becoming someone that you no longer enjoy being – and most likely someone that no one enjoys being around!

Conclusion

I am one of those people that if I start something, I jump in ‘boots and all’. I wont do anything half-hearted! So while I absolutely love blogging, I have had to (and am still working on) creating a healthy balance where blogging does not overtake the more important things in life.

What is the point of blogging if you end up with a successful blog but a negliected family, no job, a worn out body, no friends and a ‘you’ that you no longer like?

What do you think? What is more important than blogging for you?

About Thomas Sinfield

Thomas run multiple blogs and is busy testing different strategies and systems to increase profitability and exposure. He is currently working on a new project (yes another blog) that is set to be his most profitable yet.