Blogger in Chief – You Call the Shots

For me, the best thing about blogging is that it stands for who I am, it’s a part of me, and I get to call the shots. I’ve always enjoyed writing, but my career has led me in another direction. Even so, when blogs showed up, it became clear that it was my chance to run an online publication. And since it’s a one man show, I like to think of myself as a Blogger in Chief.

Over what, you might ask, since there’s no editorial team? Over my blog, my templates, my plugins, my ideas, decisions have to be made daily in order to achieve the goals I’ve set for myself.

Opportunity rising

The toughest challenge for a blogger is to keep up, especially when doing it part-time, besides having a day job and also a social life. Staying updated with such a huge volume of information circulating the blogosphere and most important, filtering it, it’s not the easiest thing to do, yet it must be done in order to give yourself the chance to spot every opportunity that rises.

But spotting an opportunity is not enough, action is required. And when it comes to making things happen, I like to think of bloggers as avant-gardists, ready to accept any challenge, to explore every possible route.

After all, you’re in charge, you need to take responsibility and make a decision. What do you want to achieve with your blog? Where do you want to see your blog in 6 months from now, how a bout in a year, or two? These goals don’t just happen, and if you fail to take action, you might regret it for a very long time.

Sure, you need to analyze all possible endings for a situation that you encounter, but in the end (preferably sooner than later) you need to decide upon what you want to accomplish and what’s the best way to do so. There’s no gray, it’s only black and white, as one of my favorite movie characters said:

“Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

The motivational trap

In a past article, I’ve told you that for a successful blogger, I find defining the capability of self evaluation, but as one of my readers noticed, it’s one defining characteristic for being successful in any field.

The biggest trap you can fall in is not evaluating yourself at the right value. As I was once said to my father: “I know who I am and what I can do, but in order to achieve 100% of that, I need to aim higher.” Know your value, but set the bar higher. By forcing yourself to touch it, you’ll most probably achieve at least your own top level, and who knows, maybe even go beyond. Life is our constant teacher, and with it, our value will increase.

Are you ready to be in charge?

You’d better, because opportunity won’t come back by your door if you’re not at home. When you see it, take action. Be that successful blogger you’ve always wanted to become, and remember one thing:

You call the shots!