During a 6 week stretch I spent in a remote jungle I learned lessons in toughness. Usually, I slept only 3-4 hours each evening. My mosquito net had more holes in it than a golf course. My mattress? Straw, with plastic covering. I felt the wooden frame dig into my back. I had over 60 bug bites on my body as these little nasties invaded my hole-filled net, feasting on my flesh.
How about food? Well, since we had no electricity, all food had to be dry. No refrigeration. This meant I lived off of scant veggies on the property along with dry soy, rice, and the most basic fare. I took in 600 calories daily which was way too low for a guy roaming around the jungle with a fearless Rhodesian Ridgeback dog all day long. Point blank; I had never been more uncomfortable in my life than I was during this 6-week stretch. Welcome to developing the habit of being a tough human being; spend a significant amount of time well outside of your comfort zone.
I do not suggest punishing yourself to be a tough blogger. No need to live in a jungle hut for a few months to toughen you up. But do leave your comfort zone routinely to be tough. For example, I write more guest posts each week. Usually, I publish 4-5 daily but 6 or more seems normal to me now. Heck yeah, it feels uncomfortable to write 6 guest posts daily in addition to the 4-5 posts I publish on my blog. But doing so makes me tougher, more focused, and flat out accelerates my blogging success because all growth occurs well outside of your comfort zone. Tough bloggers nudge outside of their comfort zone on an hourly basis, in some cases.
Exit Your Comfort Zone
How can you leave your comfort zone? What do you fear to do? How can you sprint or even nudge beyond what feels comfortable to you, blogging-wise? Broadcast live. Begin podcasting. Write your first eBook. All bold, uncomfortable steps toughen you up. Take these steps. Make these moves. Be tougher and more successful.
Hang with Toughies
Hang out with blogging toughies. Surround yourself with bloggers who routinely test their limits. I love befriending compassionate, successful, pro bloggers who inspire me to leave my comfort zone routinely. How could I take it easy to be surrounded by hard-charging bloggers who sprint out of their comfort zone habitually? I would feel bad kicking back and relaxing as my blogging buddies faced their fears. Being around driven, focused pros gives me clarity, focus, and a willingness to be just as tough as these old blogging birds.
Practice Energy Management
I spend 3-4 hours daily managing my energy to train for blogging because you need to be mentally and physically tough in order to publish 10-14 posts daily between your blog and guest posts. I do not play around; meditating, doing Kriya yoga, doing yin yoga, power walking and taking an icy cold shower all add up at day’s end, keeping me up until 2 AM to 3 AM sometimes, before wrapping up my energy management ritual. Be ALL IN on managing your energy. Meditate and power walk at a minimum.
Managing your energy expands your awareness. Expanding your awareness cultivates the skill of observing your thoughts and feelings so you can be comfortable with being uncomfortable, a key element of being a tough blogger.
eBook
Being a blogging solopreneur, this ride gets tough sometimes. How can you ride out the ups and downs of the solopreneur journey? Buy my eBook:
6 Tips to Embrace the Solopreneur Rollercoaster Ride
Ryan, thanks for sharing this awesome blog. Loved reading it.
Ram, thanks much for reading buddy.