Looking Back to a Bright Future
Written by Guest Writer - January 5, 2010 3 Comments
One of my favorite things about New Years is the Best and Worst lists that are popping up all over. Best and worst technology, best and worst styles, best and worst blogs . . . they’re everywhere!
The great thing about these kinds of lists is that each one can teach you a lot about your field of interest. Take something you’re interested, like movies, and you look at it closely. You see what worked and what didn’t, what went wrong and what went right.
Then you learn from your mistakes and get back out there.
Why We Have to Check Our Rearview Every Six Seconds
Keeping an eye on what’s behind you is the best way to shape a brighter future. If you charge forward blindly, you’re bound to make mistakes you’ve made before. And there’s nothing more embarrassing than that, right?
The smart person—be they writer, businessperson, chef, student, or blogger—keeps his mind on the future by learning from the past. We’re always moving forward. It’s unavoidable. It’s why we’re born with eyes on the front of our heads instead of the back.
We can make decisions that lead us one way or another, but we can’t choose where we’ll go until we can learn from where we’ve been.
Blogs: A Thing of the Past?
Even if that header just made you panic (or cheer), don’t go deleting your website just yet. Blogs aren’t going anywhere. In the fast-paced culture of today’s internet, you must be on top of daily updates to stay in touch. Blogs keep you informed and provide you with a daily dose of knowledge, wisdom, and humor. Good stuff!
They’re kinda like journals. They hold pithy insights and give you a tablespoon of intellectual medicine to hold you over until the next dose. A thousand lessons go into each post, from writing to responding to answering comments, and whether or not you enjoyed it, each article you wrote made the next one a better representation of who you are.
In the long run, however, blogs are transient. Articles are posted today and replaced tomorrow. All the musing and planning and writing and editing that went into the post is gone, gone, gone, banished to the dark jungles of the Archives page, leaving just the memories to spur you on.
Is the work you put into your blog always doomed to be wasted the day after the article is posted?
It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way!
Most published authors force themselves to write every single day. Never mind the hair-pulling, the tears, the wasted hours of staring mindlessly at the wall while waiting for inspiration. They set a time limit or a wordcount, and they don’t get up from their desk until they reach it.
Does blogging ever feel that way?
Consider this: What if each article in your blog was really a chapter in a book? What if every word you’ve written for your website over the past months or years is part of a larger project that you didn’t know you were working on?
Consider the Ebook
You’ve seen them around, I’m sure. These days a business can hardly call itself legitimate without the offer of a downloadable ebook. And why not? Good ebooks are the treasure chests of the internet world. The knowledge, insight, and lessons of ten, twenty, or a hundred blog posts wrapped up in one easy bundle.
They’re comprehensive, cheap, and easy to transport. A world of knowledge at your fingertips. Searchable, easily copied, immediately delivered, and a low-cost investment. Did you know that getting published was a possibility for your future?
So what’s your excuse?
You Choose Your Future
Don’t dwell in the past. Stewing in what was leaves you carsick, dizzy, and vertigo-ridden for the journey ahead. Look forward, but never forget that life gives you rearview mirrors for a reason.
Start your new year by looking back—to old blog posts, to that half-finished story you tucked away and forgot, to that great idea for a how-to manual that you outlined and never actually wrote. Look back, and then take a step forward and see where your past can take you.
And don’t forget that Sirius would love to come along for the ride.
Want to learn how to conquer your fear of success and get back on track?
Read the Comments
3 Outstanding Responses to "Looking Back to a Bright Future"
Dave Doolin on January 5, 2010 at 9:43 pm | Permalink
It could be way worse.
You could be sweating blood writing reports no one will read, which you lose the copyright on.
At least with a blog, your work is yours.
.-= Dave Doolin’s last blog post… Made to Stick: Earworms for your brain =-.
Rose on January 6, 2010 at 12:58 pm | Permalink
@ Dave: Hmm, true. The blog is yours . . . but then again, the report no one will read gets you paid, neh?
Then again, I’d rather be poor and have my blood than rich and drained dry. Being in control of what gets written does have its perks.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Wendi Kelly, Allison Day. Allison Day said: Sometimes you need to look backward before you can go forward – great new post on Sirius from @OkonaiNeko
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