About two weeks ago I was involved in a discussion on
Twitter with someone about blogging and awareness.
He writes a blog about AIX systems which I like but rarely
get to play with any more. He tweeted to me about how management doesn’t “get”
his blogging nor gives him any credit for it. My answer is, this too will pass
and his time will come. Writing for a few weeks or months, even in some cases
years, does not produce tangible results until some catalyst brings you into
the spotlight.
I tried to point out that blogging is first and foremost a
personal endeavor, unless it is your primary source of income. We went back and
forth a bit and discussed some posts and ideas. His blog is well written and
quite technical and documented well, but probably not for your average person
in business. Having worked on many systems over the years, I appreciate when
people take time to fill in the blanks of what might be missing in wikis and
official documentation.
After a few messages and some others following our
discussion, the bloggers readers, some are my own followers perhaps, let us
know they read his blog, love it and encouraged him to continue. I also
encouraged him to continue, but one person is not enough. If 4-6 people can
provide you encouragement, you will be on your way.
There have been times over the last 2 years especially when
I wanted to pack it all in. Drop blogging and get on to do something new.
Amazingly what I needed was a sabbatical from writing. Changes in my
professional and personal life obviously weighed heavily at times, but so did
my blog. Sitting there idle, one post a month at times, I felt like my desire
to write had flown away. Regrettably, I let my blogging lapse and in turn
possibly hurt my own abilities to connect with new people, potential clients
and perhaps employers.
I am not likely to become a daily blogger again, that took a
lot of time that is now spent on other endeavors.
On the other hand, I foresee
having some more free time, in theory, to write more often.
Everything I read, says one should write daily to get your
brain accustomed to writing no mater your mood or ideas. It may not make me a
better writer, but it will help on those days when I have documentation to
produce.
Maybe I was trying to convince myself about my own writing
when I encouraged my AIX blogger friend to keep going. Perhaps I was just
trying to help someone else that does not get the value of what they write.
The
value is in the long term benefits of people trusting your skills and ideas and
encouraging others to do so.
Peers help strengthen the weaker egos from failure. We all
want to see others succeed and exceed all expectations. You are, and can
should be, the catalyst for your kids, spouse, friends, coworkers and in some
cases even competitors.
