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Blogging is hard.
When you’re a new blogger, information overload, fear, and uncertainty can make you feel as if you’re swimming against the tide, about to go under.
Drowning is harder.
But last night I watched an inspiring true story (click the video in the top right corner to hear the story) of a fisherman who had been washed overboard only to find himself drifting miles away from shore.
He only had the lid from a plastic cooler to keep himself afloat.
After hours spent bobbing alone in middle of the ocean, the man is elated when he sees a would be rescuer, coming toward him in a boat. Elation turns to horror when the boat up turns away and leaves the fisherman alone to drown.
This happens not once, but TWICE!
So what happens next? What could this possibly have to do with blogging?
To hear how it all turns out, click the video in the top right hand corner…
And if this story inspires you, please leave a comment below – NOW POWERED BY COMMENTLUV!
@donpower on Twitter
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Don, you’ve pretty much summed it up what it can be like, not just with Blogging, but with other aspects of our lives.
Like the fisherman, holding on in there even when things seem impossible is the key to success in any business or life endeavour. I’m digging the video!
Karl
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..When ‘Thank You’ Just Isn’t Enough!
I was exposed to ‘The Secret’ a while back and I’m normally very skeptical of about this type of Oprah-esque ’self fulffillment mumbo jumbo’…
But something about The Secret resonated with me. What I’m left with, if I remember to do it, is to get it in my head (and repeat it in my head) that I have as much “right” and liklihood at success as ANYBODY else.
In my life I have tended to focus more on the negative side of things (ie: trying to rationalize all the ways an idea won’t work or where it might fail).
Well, gladly, I changed that negative focus some time ago – maybe with the birth of my first child about 7 years ago. I want my kids to know that ANYTHING is possible for them and I’m happy to say that I came to really believe this and practice this in my life ever since.
This blogging thing is a real gamble but I don’t want or need to focus on failure, I just want to convince myself that it will be a success.
And one way or another I truly believe that it will!
Thanks for playing a part in my success Karl. May I be honoured enough to play a role in yours!
@donpower
donpower´s last blog ..Never Wish an Irishman Good Luck
My life is totally laid out by the principles of the ‘law of attraction’ and the message of ‘The Secret’. Events that try us will come into our life but staying focused on our goals and continuing to be positive has really worked for me.
My daughter, who had her 7th birthday this month, was also the turning factor for my mindset, as with you, I want her to know that she can be all that she can be by believing in herself and taking the steps towards her goal.
Not only will I see you at the top Don, I hope to continually see you on the way up.
Karl
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..5 Time-Tested Tactics To Boost Your Christmas Sales
Wow! I had no idea we had such things in common. That is so cool – and just confirms this idea of the law of attraction!
Thanks for all the encouragement Karl!
On a separate note, your commenluv ‘phone home’ is broken – same as mine (ie: ‘this site is not a member of comluv’). Any idea on how to fix it?
donpower´s last blog ..How to Make A Jillion Dollars
Hey Don,
I recently changed my email address so now it has created some clitch for my account. I’ve changed my email address back to the original one tied to the CommentLuv account and now waiting to see if it picks up again without me having to contact support. If I find a solution or I get some feedback I’ll be sure to pass it your way. Did you get the link I sent you on Twitter regarding Analytics for Thesis?
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..Who Else Wants More RSS Subscribers?
Hey Don, I guess there’s another proof that life itself is the best inspiration. As Karl commented, holding on and never give up not only is essential for blogging but also can help you in a lot of situations (private or in your job). But relating this story to blogging (especially at the beginning) was really a good idea.
To stay in your example: Hold on to your blog Don. There are people out there that will not just turn arround and leave. Thanks for sharing this.
Elmar´s last blog ..der_schneider: Who To Follow Back On Twitter? http://bit.ly/7tgrXe (via @twitter_tips) <– Good explaination of Ratio and Follower-Count.
Thanks for your comment Elmar. I’m so new at this that every move I make is a second guess – but the journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step, right?
FYI – As per my reply to Karl, above, you have the same comluv discionnect to home base as I have…
I checked out your blog – do you have an English version of your stuff somewhere?
Cheers! Stay in touch!
@donpower
donpower´s last blog ..Never Wish an Irishman Good Luck
Hey Don. Well, my commluv seems to link to my twitter. But I actually don’t have an account on that.
About the english blog: No, I still don’t. The one you saw is for my german company, but I am planning my “journey of a thousand miles” in english allready.
Looking forward to more of your posts and seeing / reading you on Twitter.
Elmar´s last blog ..der_schneider: Don’t know why, but Mails where the first two pages seem to be just cc-adresses kind of ’scare’ me.
Hey Don,
Here is the link if you would like to read any site in English. You just input the URL.
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://ds2null.de/&sl=auto&tl=en
That is Elmar’s site.
Karl
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..Who Else Wants More RSS Subscribers?
OMG! Never tested that before! Let’s see what I am saying in english
Thx for the Tip!
Fluch!
Karl beat me to the punch.
I was going to try and impress you with this:
Die Reise von tausend Meilen fängt mit einem Einzelschritt an!
(I use http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ for translations!)
Thanks Karl, for diebstahl meines donners
- Don
donpower´s last blog ..What a Blogger Can Learn From a Drowning Man [VIDEO - click post title or image]
Thanks Don,
Did I get this right, diebstahl meines donners translates as ‘theft of my thunder’… any time my friend.
Karl Foxley´s last blog ..Who Else Wants More RSS Subscribers?
@Don: yes, you definitly impressed me! And it’s allways nice to read some familiar words with all the language chaos I have in my head
@Karl: I’d translate it “Theft of my thunder” as well.
Karl, Elmar – hahaha. That’s why you can never trust a machine to do a translator’s job.
Close enough for government work, as we used to say!
Karl – is the ‘K’ in your name indicative of a German background?
And Elmar, do you have any connection with Uruguay? If yes, I suppose you know the story of the Graf Spie?
Well Don I’m sure your blog will be a success as you have a good outlook. Blogging like anything takes commitment if you really want results.
“It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.”- Roger Babson
Rose´s last blog ..Family Holiday Traditions Around the World
Hey Rose!
Thanks for your comment!
Regarding things never being final, I referred to this in another post’s comment but it applies here too: life lessons under a tree…
http://sethsimonds.com/the-comma-gun/
Cheers!
- Don
Thanks for sharing Don! The no1. thing I have gained from starting a blog is meeting other great bloggers like yourself and building relationships with them. I am amazed at how many connections I have made online since I started my online venture 5-6 months ago. I wish I started years ago.
It’s great to be able to have that community and support base which you can go to while on the blogging journey.
Your video really spoke to me. As you know I’ve taken that leap from 9-5 to trying to make my own living online. It’s inspiring energy from people like yourself that can get you going when things aren’t going the way you’d planned.
Thanks for sharing!
Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com
Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com´s last blog ..Guest Post Interview: Derek Jensen
Thanks Sarge!
I got a lot from you too. Yours was one of the first blogs I encountered when I got into this blogging thing (I’ve only been posting for a couple of weeks now but have been researching for about 6-8 months prior to that – when I still had a day job!).
I see you and a lot of the folks who you follow all showing up in the same places now so it is cool to know that I’m starting to be accepted into a community of like minded folks. Viva La Blogger!!
- Don
Don,
Good idea this to put it across so well and easy.
You are right though, Having you’re own site is a mine field, you just have to plough on and get through it, the market is big enough for us all.
Good post Don, see you around brother
Hey Info!
Thanks for stopping by – I’ve been reading your blog for a while now too! (Are you ex-military?) It seems like I’m following right behind in your footsteps. Amazing that I’m running into so many people with such similar circumstances and experiences.
Water finds it’s own level, right?
I think you guys already know Karl Foxley but if not, check him out. He’s another kindred blogger!
Cheers and thanks again for stopping by. As per my comment to Sarge above, I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around!
- Don
Quite the experience the fisherman had! You have to go see this blog post. Even birds help each other out right to the bitter end. http://michellelouie.com/birds-have-feelings-too
I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s actually too much information out there and people who want to blog should just blog and learn the hard way.
Don’t think I’m being too harsh here though… If you really want to get anywhere with your blog, find other newbies who are just as determined as you are and share ideas about how you’re going to make it. Help one another.
I cannot believe it, Don, you just took my idea about doing video comments! Awesome. I’ve thought about doing this on my blog.
Great story and we could all use a helping hand no matter what topic, how small or large we are… Just a little support from a lot of people can go a LONG way.
Thanks for the article. I’m tweeting it just so you know.
Whenever I reply to an article now I tweet them.
Keep working hard and stay with us!
Eric´s last blog ..The Most Money You’ll Ever Make With Your Blog
I can only imagine the horrific feeling he went through. But it’s definitely something bloggers can learn from.
Emily from Husky Training´s last blog ..How to Keep Your Husky Happy
Blogging is a challenging job but you can understand this if you take an example of a person drowning in the sea. He sees that a boat is coming to rescue him but taking a closer look, it takes a turn and disappears leaving the person helpless. Similarly blogging is too similar. In which you have a fear, uncertainty, information overload etc…
The real challenge in blogging is how we can keep our audience excited or interested with our post. Also there are times when we ran out of ideas on what to write.
Great story and vid. The thing that worries me as a future blogger is knowing that there are so many people out there trying to take business away from the genuine people with knowledge, that readers and browsers don’t know who to choose. You can work really hard and someone else who is just a pretender can do better. I guess tha’ts just life though.