Some facts about this 12,000-day blogging journey:
- As a college junior in 1979, i promised to write a book of life’s wisdom “to my children”.
- Thirty years later i still hadn’t written the first sentence.
- While personally unaffected, a Disney layoff in 2008-09 was a wake up call.
- i began blogging because i thought it would be good practice in preparation to write a book.
- i was pathetic at writing consistently.
- Over the course of half a year, i made several “No, this time i really mean it” promises to “write everyday”, and failed each time.
- After deciding to commit to the book, i had to ask, “What will it be about?”
- Immediately, the skeleton appeared in my head: we think, we move, we feel, we work, and we dwell – mind, body, spirit, money, hq.
- This was the birth of the five (websites) blogs idea.
- i also thought having multiple websites, linked to each other, would increase SEO (search engine optimization).
- i’m embarrassed by much of the early(2009-2011) stuff, but leave it for posterity.
- After (astonishingly) reaching the 100-day writing goal, i never intended to continue.
- On the 101st day (July 10, 2009), i decided to keep writing.
- i was surprised at how much i wanted to keep writing each day – as if the day would be amiss if i didn’t write.
- In early Fall 2009 i realized that a 200 consecutive day milestone was within reach.
- And as time passed, a one-year milestone without missing a single day loomed, and it seemed like it would be the crowning writing achievement.
- At some point, i began using photos and now i always do.
- One business trip was going to be particularly grueling so i wrote the next day’s posts in advance, anticipating i might miss a day of writing.
- i actually was able to write on that day i thought i might not be able to.
- That was the beginning of “writing ahead”.
- Over the course of three years, i went from a one-day surplus to two days, then five, seven, and ten.
- The surplus gradually increased to one month (150 extra posts), then 60 days…then 90, and finally to the current status, 100 days (500 extra posts).
- Some weekends i’d write for hours on end netting anywhere from 10 – 15 posts.
- Some weekends i’d binge write 10-12 hours a day. i couldn’t stop, and this would create 20-25 extra posts (or, four or five day’s surplus).
- i remember reaching the 3,000 post milestone on Halloween one year. Pretty scary how things add up over time.
- Part of what motivated me was seeing a daily GoDaddy analytic report that led me to believe i was getting ridiculously increasing visits in the tens-of-thousands. It was an accurate number but it wasn’t measuring people, it was measuring bots and people. It was mostly bots.
- One of my Disney Institute leaders one day told me, “I’ve been reading your blogs, i like that they are ‘short and pithy’.”
- That one, seemingly-insignificant statement became my battle-cry.
- Short and pithy.
- Sometime during the first year of blogging, i proclaimed myself “The Internet’s Only Five-A-Day Blogger”.
- Sometime in the second year, a Disney Institute colleague said, “The Internet’s only five a day blogger means nothing to me. It doesn’t tell me anything.”
- i agreed with Ben. He was absolutely right.
- Writing five daily, differently-themed posts keeps me focused and disciplined. And grateful.
- When will i stop daily blogging? No idea.
- Every so often, uh hum, a post becomes a long riff.
- By the time this goes live (100 days from October 25, 2015), the blog post count will be 12,500 (with a surplus of another 500 waiting for their turn).
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