Elements of Visionary Blogging, Part 5: Strengthen Your Diligence

September 5th, 2008 by Easton Ellsworth

Welcome to Part 5 of a 5-part series on the elements of visionary blogging. This article will help you become a more diligent blogger so you can increase your blogging success.

• Part 1: Increase Your Awareness (the ability to see)
• Part 2: Sharpen Your Focus (the ability to look)
• Part 3: Hone Your Discernment (the ability to evaluate)
• Part 4: Excite Your Imagination (the ability to create)
• Part 5: Strengthen Your Diligence (the ability to endure)

Recognize this mountain?

Look closely at the colossal peak in the photo above. Can you name it?

• Hint: It’s bigger and taller than Mount Everest.
• Hint: It can be seen from two cities that are more than 350 miles (560 kilometers) apart by car.
• Hint: Its name in Athabaskan means “the Great One.”

You’ll find the answer at the end of this article.

What’s with the mountain shot anyway?

I showed you the mountain photo to help you ponder two things.

First, the incredible diligence required for a mountain to rise up from the earth over millions of years.

Second, the incredible diligence required for a human to climb it in a matter of days.

What is diligence?

Diligence is zealous, intense, sustained effort. It’s refusing to give up no matter what. It means never forgetting or laying aside your vision for your blog.

Why does diligence matter to business blogging?

A lack of diligence has killed more business blogs and ruined more bloggers’ efforts than anything else, with the possible exception of self-doubt.

I’ve seen hundreds of professional blogs start out well, like hikers setting out for a summit on a clear summer day.

But then the weather begins to rage. One by one the mountaineers turn back, exhausted or afraid.

Only the bravest and stubbornest of souls can conquer the highest, loneliest peaks on earth.

So it is with blogging.

If you haven’t wept over your blogging, maybe you are not diligent enough.

If it hasn’t physically hurt, you might not be working hard enough.

Do you know what it’s like to clench your teeth in frustration because your blog is not making the difference you had hoped?

Or what it’s like to bite your lip and push forward, whatever the consequences and no matter the obstacles?

Without diligence, none of the other visionary blogging elements can guarantee your blog’s success.

It is diligence alone that seals the deal, making sure that your blogging vision finally becomes reality.

How can you strengthen your blogging diligence?

It’s simple. It’s hard, but it’s simple.

1. Look in the mirror. Becoming a harder worker is impossible until you examine yourself carefully. When are your least productive times? Your most productive times? What do you waste the most time doing? What causes you to work harder? What leads you away from blogging diligently?

2. Decide. Set an ultra-specific goal that tests your utmost limits as a blogger. If it don’t make you hurt from the strain, it ain’t gonna make you more diligent.

3. Work like a burro. Or work like a banshee. Take your pick. Either way, make up your mind to put one foot in front of the other nonstop until you stand on the summit – the roof of the world.

If you do these three things on a daily basis, I promise you that you will always be a little more diligent than you were before. And your blog (and your blog visitors) will thank you for it.

Remember These Words

I once sang them in front of a crowd. They mean everything.

I can climb up to the mountaintop
Touch the stars out in the sky
And I can change this cold world to a better place
Brother, you can bet I’m gonna try
Just watch me fly

Thank You

You have now learned the fifth element of the Visionary Blogging method for blogger self-improvement.

And whatever makes you a better blogger will also make your blog better.

I know that awareness, focus, discernment, imagination and diligence are vital to long-term blog success.

I challenge you to set a goal right now to work to become a better blogger in one of these five areas over the next seven days.

If you stubbornly strive to achieve that goal, you will make yourself a more skilled, more successful blogger. I promise.

I invite you to subscribe to Visionary Blogging so you don’t miss future updates on how to speed up the blog improvement process and make it more effective.

If you’re serious about improving your blog, I also urge you to try my Iris blog consulting service. Your blog will never be the same.

Thank you so much for reading and responding to me. I appreciate your support, your questions and insights.

My next post will reveal the ultimate secret to easy blogging success. Unless you already know it, of course.

I wish you the best as you strive to become a more diligent, perseverant blogger.

Enjoy this inspiring video.

Photo by Unhindered by Talent

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Related Articles

1. Elements of Visionary Blogging, Part 2: Sharpen Your Focus
2. Elements of Visionary Blogging, Part 1: Increase Your Awareness
3. Elements of Visionary Blogging, Part 3: Hone Your Discernment
4. Elements of Visionary Blogging, Part 4: Excite Your Imagination
5. What is Visionary Blogging?