6 Things I Learned from doing the 30-Day Blog Challenge

DAY TWENTYNINE. Remember how it was like in high school, just before graduation day? The seniors, day after their final exams, wouldn’t have classes anymore and would just come to school to rehearse for the graduation ceremony, maybe work on their last remaining requirements, but mostly spend the remaining days of high school hanging out, relaxing, and reminiscing the years that passed.

I know. That’s kinda how I felt the past few days, like graduating. Still two more posts remaining to end this 30 days, and already, I was taking a break and celebrating the end of it. That, or I really just felt like stalling. :P

Okay. Now on with my last two posts.

To say that I learned a lot of things from this little project is an understatement. Now I’m happy to say with conviction that creating a habit and developing some form of discipline is *really* possible in a span of 30 days.

Here are some musings, which you can also consider as “tips” in case you’d like to embark on this project too.

1. 30 days is just right. There are so many numbers to choose from — 365 days, 52 weeks, 1000 awesome things, 500 days of summer (heh) — but 30 days is, IMO, just enough to be considered an achievement without making you feel obligated at some point. Sure, there were days when you’d feel you wouldn’t be able to make it, and you’d like to just drop everything off.

The first week would be spent feeling your way around. In the second week you would feel a bit of pressure, and maybe some doubts if you really can make it. Third week, you’d start to feel like you can blog with your eyes closed, as if it’s as normal as eating or washing the dishes. And in the fourth week you’d start relaxing a bit, along with feeling sentimental about ending something that somehow changed you for the better.

Overall, 30 days is just right for me. (And for you, too!) IMO, it’s perfect for those people who’ve been keeping their own blogs for years but are only updating them sporadically.

2. Anything can be awesome. (Also, anything can be bloggable). In the past four weeks, I’ve blogged about the simplest of things, which is perhaps the very essence of this month’s theme. If you know me from way back, you’d understand how un-likely it is for me to be thinking of positive things more than the negative ones. I’m a pessimist to the core, I’ve said it before. And to impose on myself to appreciate the simple joys that come with each passing day for one whole month (even in the worst of days) is considerably an achievement in itself. And true enough, the days came when it’s not that difficult anymore to think of grand and awesome things, however simple these things may seem. There will always be something to blog about everyday, whether it’s the new shop you came across, or the recipe you discovered, the book you’re reading, or the last movie you watched.

3. It’s not just about you, it’s about your readers as well. I have witnessed those days when blogs were simply online diaries, where bloggers would simply rant about their days, not caring really if people read their juvenile online drama or not (been there, done that). Blogging has evolved a lot ever since, and bloggers have become more particular about providing real information for the readers other than what they ate for breakfast or how awful their day had been.

I still write in the first person, and I will keep on doing so, after all, this is still an online journal. However, I’ve come to terms with what’s more important, and that is to share something about myself or about the things that I love, with the intention of having people benefit from them somehow. Moreover, I’m very happy to have known new people and found new sites in the course of this project, much thanks to all of you for sending me emails and comments, otherwise, I wouldn’t have known you awesome people.

4. Spread the link love, don’t hold back. As an SEO, I’ve been trained at one point to preserve as much inbound links as possible (unless they pay you), so as not to transfer “link juice” and dilute your page’s overall linking power. But screw SEO! I enjoy so much freely re-posting photographs by other people, and backtracking other people’s blogs, and quite honestly, the links I’ve thrown here and there have brought people back to my site as well.

5. Explore other creative forms of blogging. In the past month I did a couple of typecasting, mobile blogging, and visual blogging, and I enjoyed each one of them! More so, it was fun finding people who are doing the same thing, i.e. the typecasters are typewriter-loving people I never knew existed until recently, when I developed this newfound love for typewriters. I wish I was able to typecast more than I did this month, but I still have to work on my typing skills. I’ll make sure to have more quality bonding moments with Henry soon and hopefully join the ranks of people who bring their typewriters to Starbucks to do something creative.

5. Follow through. Of course there’s more after 30 days, there’s got to be. The point of this 30 Day Challenge, after all, is to create the habit of blogging (although I do remember wanting to prove something, haha, when I decided to do this). I remember the last time I had a small talk with Abe of Yugatech, back when he held a Blogging Seminar in USAP. It’s been almost a year since, but one thing I do remember about our short exchange of thoughts was him advising me to “just be consistent” if I want something to work. Now that’s something to live by from the expert himself.

So, who else is trying out this 30 day challenge? Liz is nearing finish line, and Reah’s on her 9th day. Join the club! :)

30 Days of Awesome,  29/30.