Facebook
Linkedin
RSS Feed
Twitter
YouTube
Dear Blogger, You’re Taking Yourself Too Seriously
Today’s guest post is written by Michael Schechter.
Hey! You! Over there!
Dear blogger, we need to talk. Sit down for a second, ’cause I really want you to hear what I am saying.
You are taking yourself too seriously. No, don’t argue. Take a moment. Think about what I’m saying here.
Sure you take the work seriously, and that’s great. Sure, you have a blog that gets people’s attention and you’ve earned it. But at a certain point, a switch flipped (or a bit, for you geeks out there). You pushed yourself ahead of the work. What you were trying to say took a backseat to who you are trying to be.
Now, you may want to rush to the comments and tell me I’m an ass (I get that. No really, I get that…all the time.). You may want to write a blog talking about “haters” (I get that too).
But how about this: Take a day. Don’t comment. Don’t blog about this. Just think. Think about who you were when you started and who you are now. Ask yourself, what would the “you” from back then write about you now?
I’m betting a lot of things have improved. I’m betting that you are a better writer than you once were, that you have a larger network than ever before, that new and exciting opportunities appear every single day.
And that’s awesome; you deserve that. What you don’t deserve is the new attitude that comes with the new success.
Here’s the thing, I want what you have (so you can save yourself from telling me I’m jealous in the comments), but the thing is, if I start taking myself and my blog more seriously than the work, then I want you to punch me in the face. No, seriously, feel free to do it (except you Danny Brown, you would just do it for fun).
You really do rock; we really do listen to you for a reason. Think about where you started and where you are heading. Don’t go back to who you were at the beginning, I mean, we all have to evolve. Just take one quick second and one giant step back to get some perspective.
Don’t worry, it’s not too late. Just go back to doing what you love, without loving yourself quite so much. Oddly enough, it will make us love you even more.
As for the rest of you, the next wave of bloggers who are just starting to experience a taste of this success: keep your head on straight and don’t become the person you’re currently making fun of. And me, I’m just going to keep writing a blog that no one reads.
Michael Schechter is the digital marketing director for Honora Pearls, a monthly columnist for JCK Magazine, and the founder of Gen-Next Jewelers. He also steals and shares your best ideas and quotes on his Tumblr blog, Smarter Than I Am.
It is quite fascinating that we become the person we were making fun of, eventually in blogging. I started my blogging life blogging politics (tough gig!) as I was sick of the spin and general 'look at me look at me' attitude of the popular political bloggers out there.
eventually, through one reason or another, you find yourself acting like one of them, particularly when you ignore Michael Schechter's advice of DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY and remember who you were when you started.
My advice to anybody who wants to blog politics is only do it if you have thick skin, to wrap around your own thick skin..
I 100% agree (if I ever meet you I'll shake your hand) with your advice of take a break, don't blog or comment for a day. Sometimes, I had to do this for several weeks (my blog was a multi-author blog so was still updated).
My advice to bloggers who find themselves in major anger-fests online with other users is don't just read How to Win Friends & Influence People, wear it.
ps- if anybody is thinking gosh why would people/bloggers engage in anger fests and slanging matches in comment spaces, just head on over to a political blog of some sort. you'll see what I mean..
An out’n'out great post. Love those points and the thought. Thanks for sharing, love to see more from you. Regards,
EmanuelAndrei Hopefully ginidietrich will be crazy enough to let me come back and play :)
A day without commenting, moderating, reading and blogging?I couldn't imagine! Yet it happens to me once in a while when I am off for a vacation and when I am about to leave I work on double espresso to schedule posts and keep my blog and social networks live.
But when I come back I feel all great, recharged and refreshed. The point is to much throttle can sometimes make us miss the point and result in an accident. It is essential that we always stop and think at steps.
Good one Mic. I won't punch you on your face for this post's sake, coz luckily (for you) I agree.
Jane | Problogging Success Me either, which is kind of why the post was as much to myself as anything else. We've gotten into a weird habit of jumping to our response. We are better critical thinkers for blogging, so sometimes we just get ahead of ourselves. Nice to take a step back and think now and again (although I have to remember how to do it which is always tough...).
Thanks for not punching me... :)
Your post is so engaging for bloggers that no seasoned one couldn't react to it. Funny advice and so right. So right because it's true I am taking myself seriously. And as what you've said it's best to think about what you love to do way back when you were just starting, and not by loving yourself too much.
This is definitely not a blog that no one reads. :-)
noyavellanosa Let's not hope they don't! I've always had a healthy ego, nice to take that focus off myself and onto the work every now and again :)
Lol at "Take a day. Don’t comment. Don’t blog about this. Just think." Good deal of us are thinking aloud here, Michael, and thank you for setting off so many great thoughts. The blog post will be coming soon. Seriously.
In the meantime, as you said, remembering from whence we came gets harder the farther we go, and we all need the reminder.
ShakirahDawud Looking forward to your post! On a serious kick, I'm all for things evolving, I just hate when they lose their core. The core, that ideal that got you started in the first place, should never really change. Or at least I hope it doesn't...
Holy Moly, Michael, way to throw some cold water on many a face. Hang on, let me dry mine off. Ha! If only. I am grateful for each and every comment and kind soul who wonders over to my blog and while I don't have nearly the traffic that bdorman264 (the invisible wizard blogger) does, I'm still working on it.
For me, it's a blend and a balance (could I use that word anymore without completely buying it outright?)...making sure that I attract the leads and new business that I want to, maintain my real business in the process, and not become a douchecopter while I climb the blogging mountain. Thanks, ginidietrich for that awesome new word.
I really liked this post, Michael and I've always been a fan!
EricaAllison Cold water officially thrown... Also, please note that I will only ever refer to bdorman264. as the invisible wizard (while giggling quietly to myself) from now on. I think you and I may have a knife fight over the word balance. It is my precious... PRECIOUS.... I also want to steal the word douchecopter now... Glad you enjoyed it and I'm thrilled that you don't know better enough to stay a fan :)
MSchechter EricaAllison I'd like to join in and show my appreciation for balance, and the word douchecopters as well.
Lisa Gerber EricaAllison Seriously cannot believe that you guys haven't picked up that domain yet.
Mark,
Yeah man, go ahead, slam us for reading you!! LOL I like your reminder, and it's like Gini says as it is human nature... we have to know it doesn't make us appealing, but it takes a reality check once in awhile. I found you a couple months ago, following links around and loved one of your talking "head" posts.
I had all these comments to make, then I read the other comments! Now, I'm freakin! What do you mean, all my teachers, mentors and smarties are going to be gone?! What? ~Keep smilin' Mark, and keep stealin' it's awesome, what you share.
girlygrizzly I do that from time to time... Keeping friends is not my strong suit :) Happy to connect and happy to keep stealing, love sharing smart stuff from smarter people :)
This one is for bdornan, Livefyre is keeping us apart :)
Even without Gini's permission, it is a fair callout :) I know what you mean about the self love, hell I am damn near irresistible. Just like to keep those feelings separate from the work! Finding voice is so key and something that I'm still getting my brain around as well. As you may have noticed I tend to swing wildly with my words :) It's a damn interesting process and while I've only been blogging with some level of frequency for a few months now, I'm noticing an impact (eventually hopefully the readers will as well). Change is a given, but there is the ability to direct it as long as we take the time to actually talk things out. Thankfully Gini. and others are out there keeping everyone honest! Don't worry, I make everything about me too... seems like we have a lot in common... Enjoy my humble little abode, I'm still pulling things together over there, but I like where it is heading. Hope you do too!
MSchechter Thank goodness we have Gini as our moral compass and ranks our stuff on her bullshit meter................:). If it doesn't pass her test, it ain't seein' the light of day.............
I was about to comment on this, then you told me not to.
Seriously though, the day I take myself seriously is the day I start my cat blog.
JayDolan You never listen do you... well if it is the bacon cat blog, you have a reader!
This is something we talk a lot about...both internally and with close friends: When you reach a certain level, is it inevitable? I don't know. I relate it to the athletes who leave college and are instant gazillionnaires. They have no idea what to do with their money. They have no responsibility around how to manage it. Women are throwing themselves at them so they lose perspective. It's hard not to - we're human beings. But I think you can do three things: Take your advice outlined here, have a good network of friends who will tell you what's what if your head gets too bad, and listen to AllieRambles
deleted_91832_Sean McGinnis Not if I have any say in the matter!
deleted_91832_Sean McGinnis ginidietrich Sure, bloggin' bitches will hunt you down. LOL! I know a lot of blogging men have been doing that P90X, you'll have to ask them.
And thx Gini. I haven't been commenting much lately and forgot how funny your commentators can be at times but I always learn great stuff here!
AllieRambles Funny? Or certifiably insane? I go with the latter.
deleted_91832_Sean McGinnis ginidietrich AllieRambles it's funny you say that, some political bloggers I know of do think they are god's gift, it is painful to see!
ginidietrich AllieRambles Yay! I finally got it to work (livefyre + Twitter + me = evil stuff). The pro athlete analogy is perfect. You just have no idea how to react to the success and quickly find yourself lost. I've got one, I am off to do three, now just gotta find myself some friends :)
Michael,
I wish I was at "big-head" stage. I have a ways to go. And when I get there, and I will, I'll just go see John Chow, Darren Rowse and Pat Flynn and they will set me straight. Or a good dose of Gini's blog reminds me of who to look up to.
Thx.
~Allie
AllieRambles I love you. #thatisall
AllieRambles Good to have people who will do that :)
You are an ass; but Gini said I could say that. And the one true thing you did say was "that I love myself too much" but by golly, I'm pretty damn fantastic and it's just hard not to.
I'm still the same guy as I was when I started in March; I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing and maybe it just means I haven't allowed myself to grow. I'm still writing some pretty vanilla stuff, I just have more people stopping by now.
I know I can get serious and write about business, sales, relationships, life, etc, etc, etc; but I probably won't be speaking to my audience for the most part if I start getting all business-like. I'm hoping to find a blend and it still be my voice.
Internally, things have changed as I gain some traction and maybe I just need to be more serious about my direction than the way I write. In many ways I am much further down the road than expected, but in so many more I am just a neophyte.
I'm only writing once a week so it's not like I'm trying to meet all these deadlines.
But I really do believe what you are saying because I have seen it with my own eyes. I'm not going to say it's good or bad but I have definitely noticed the change in some people I was kicking around with before. I guess that is the one thing you can count on in here is change.
And don't give me this 'no one reads stuff', the invisible moniker is mine.......just sayin' and I'm going over to your house now.
You'll probably notice how I made this all about me............yikes; thanks for stopping by Gini's.
bdorman264 I still remember the good old days when you started blogging back in March. Now we are just the little people.
John Falchetto It's a facade..........:). I'm the man behind the curtain.
bdorman264 John Falchetto The Wizard!
ginidietrich John Falchetto Did you see that cat when they pulled the curtain back? Balding, pasty and portly...........hey, that is me....:)
bdorman264 Oh sure, listen to the guy who averages 1,983 comments a post talk about being a regular guy.
TheJackB Instead of going for the lion's head I'm really thinking of asking Brian if I can start using the Extremely Average moniker now.......
My mother has me on auto-comment so it just looks like a lot more.
bdorman264 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't try that Southern charm on me. I know that you are really from the Jersey Shore. When the camera's not on you sound just like Tony Soprano. ;)
Got to run over to Griddy's place and leave another 27 comments. Not only do I have outrun you I got that Canadian dude who lives in Wine country to chase down.
TheJackB bdorman264 Boys, boys, boys....there are plenty of points and medals to go around. Hang in there.
EricaAllison Oh sure, another blogger with 289,872 comments per post weighs in. ;) bdorman264
TheJackB bdorman264 You forgot a decimal there. 2.89872 ;)
Michael,
All for the punches but not you. Now dannybrown punched you for fun? That surprises me.
When you say nobody reads your blog I feel a bit left out. I am really nobody?
John Falchetto dannybrown Hey, it doesn't take a genius to read between the lines Johnny; I think you should have called him an ass too.......
bdorman264 I worked with asses for a long time (real ones) and Michael isn't one. dannybrown
John Falchettodannybrown
Fair point... going to have to change that to a blog that one person reads :)
dannybrown. hasn't punched me yet, but it's coming... I can sense these kinds of things...
MSchechter John Falchetto Um. I read your blog, too.
ginidietrich John Falchetto Sweet, gonna go for a McDonalds thing... like 2 readers served daily!
Conversation from Twitter
hafizhfiz : Thanks for the RT. #Business #Sme #Smb #Blogging #SocialMedia
you're wellcome RT mamur hafizhfiz : Thanks for the RT. #Business #Sme #Smb #Blogging #SocialMedia
ginidietrich I love that you're using chutzpah in a tweet! ;)
nateriggs Thanks for spreading the post buddy! How have you been? It's been a while!
ericamallison Don't think I'm ignoring your comment, livefyre is just not playing well with me today... :) I shall respond!
[...] Thanks for stopping by. I really do appreciate you. I’m not taking myself too seriously here. I really do appreciate each and every comment and share and witty RT. I also love the repartee [...]
[...] and more from MichaelSchechter.me. With the marked exception of when she foolishly lets me guest post. [↩]Tweet 0 Comments – Leave a comment! « Previous Post [...]