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If you’re a blogger, marketer, designer or any type of creative, your best ideas probably hit you when you’re not actively looking for them. Rather, they strike when you’re engaged in another task, or sometimes quite randomly. That is why it is vital to carry a pad and pen (or the digital variety) with you everywhere you go.

What happens to me in many cases is my best ideas strike while in the shower, driving my car, at the gym or while running/rock climbing/swimming — times when I can’t just stop what I’m doing and write down an idea (hey inventors, here’s an idea: a water-proof white board for the shower).

Anyway while working out the other day, it struck me how going to the gym is highly analogous to blogging. The analogy is as simple as: going to the gym is good for your body, as blogging is good for your brain.

Think about it:

People get equally excited about the ideas of blogging and going to the gym and start out strong thinking how easy this will be, however only a few push through the dip (133 million blogs since 2002, yet only around 76,000 blogs have a Technorati Authority of 50 or higher).

Most people only go to the gym a few times before giving up. Most people only put down a few blog entries before giving up.

Both blogging and going to the gym are large commitments if you want to be successful, but the rewards are huge with each.

When you’re new, it’s easy to get both discouraged yet inspired when you see people in great shape. Same with seeing bloggers with hundreds of thousands of readers when you’re just starting out.

The payoff for success at blogging and going to the gym is not instant, rather the payoff is due to sustained effort over time with cumulative benefits.

Once you get into a groove, blogging and going to the gym become easier, more natural and much more rewarding with time.

Why blogging is such a a fantastic brain boost

Internal reflection and personal growth



Blogging allows you as a professional to share what you’ve learned with the world in a tangible format and concurrently solidify your learnings for later reflection. Over time, you are creating a personal knowledge base to build upon ideas, improving them and adding to them over time as you learn. It is a a process that keeps moving as long as you are growing. You develop much further by coming home each day and spending some time to archive/share your inspirations, reflections or thoughts than if you keep them locked up inside where they may be lost.

Challenging yourself to consistently share ideas

Just like you have to challenge your body to go to the gym, you have to challenge and train your mind to organize your thoughts to share with your audience daily. Eventually you will start to see potential blog ideas everywhere. You’ll encourage your brain to form fresh connections daily.

A book that you write slowly over time

I’ve written nearly 200 posts over the last year here at The Future Buzz, of varying length (some quite short, others several pages in length). The point is I have a set of themes I write and continue to build upon over time. If you’ve been a subscriber for a decent amount of time, you probably see the overarching picture I am painting with my ideas and getting to know my worldview (and for those of you who comment here, reply personally or respond on your own blog, I am getting to know you too). Tom Peters states he enjoys blogging even more than writing books, and I understand why. Blogging is like writing an open, social book, bit by bit.

Blogging keeps your mind sharp, improves your writing, brings you closer to intellectual people



By getting into a strong blogging routine, you will challenge your mind to grow and stay sharp, your writing will have a marked improvement and you’ll network/learn from other smart people in your niche.

Conclusion

Just like you can tell people the benefits of working out yet they’ll never make it to the gym a day in their life, I can tell you the benefits of blogging and you may never blog a day in your life. That’s up to you, however I think this analogy is a fantastic explanation for why blogging is beneficial.

Related posts from The Future Buzz

How To Successfully Integrate Blogging Into Your Busy Life

Why Every Marketer/PR Pro Should Have A Blog

Finding Balance: Vital For Workers In The Information Economy

Related posts from around the web

Start A Blog Today (Six Pixels Of Separation)

40 Key Elements to Getting Started In Social Media (LouisGray.com)

12 Reasons Why You Should Start a Blog (The Blog Herald)