This is a personal-oriented blog post where I explain my 8 reasons why I blog.

A few weeks ago I felt a lack of motivation to keep posting and tracking my journey towards one million euros. The truth is that this has happened to me before, once a year I’d say. But this is completely normal. Most bloggers go through down periods. Some stopped writing, others don’t.

So, what about me?

During August, I took a couple of weeks off from blogging and writing, so I could have a break, disconnect, breath and experiment with doing other things. I paid attention to me as being a non-blogger.

The first week I didn’t miss it, I was fine, but the second one I “craved” it. The writing was like literally calling me. My thoughts got gradually messier and I began to lose so much focus that I even began shorting Tesla! (Mayday, Mayday!).

I didn’t notice the fact of being so attached to blogging and writing, I wasn’t aware that this habit is so beneficial to me. What was meant to be just an unprofessional but fun writing experience has turned into much more than that, it’s now like a part of me. A habit that I have become addicted to. I need it.

My intention by writing this post is to put down all the 8 reasons why I blog, all it has brought to me and how much It has changed my life for good. So, if I never lack motivation again I can come back, get a quick recharge and move on.

This post may also be useful for those who are pondering the idea of starting their own blog or get inspiration on their own blogging journeys. Hope you’ll find it useful if that is that the case.

Let’s get started! 😀

Surround with like-minded people

Getting immersed in the blogosphere is fascinating. As an INTP what I personally enjoy reading the most are personal blogs. Jumping from one to another is like travelling from a thought bubble to another thought bubble. You get to know people from their inner side, you read their thinking, their minds and the decisions they make.

In a recent conversation with a friend of mine, he asked me how the blogging experience was going on. I said it was time-consuming but rewarding. I also described blogging to him as being sort of an introvert’s social media.

I’ve come to connect with a lot of people so far and plan to continue doing so.

Improve my writing skills

Another reason why I blog is to practice writing. Nowadays we have most of the resources for free and a couple of mouse clicks away, which makes writing and blogging much easier.

If you are willing to learn, read often and enjoy surfing the web, the learning potential is massive.

When I started this blog it really took me ages to write a few lines. My thoughts were unorganised, I was insecure, and I felt timid to post anything. This was challenging, a fact that actually motivated me. I engaged with smart thinking machines, I admired them and wanted to write as they did.

Today, I believe I write better at English than in Spanish. Some Spanish readers have wondered why I don’t write anything in Spanish. The main reason being is because I don’t know many financial terms in Spanish. My eagerness to improve my financial literacy started after moving to the UK. If I wanted to write a blog post about finances and investing in Spanish I would have to translate English words into Spanish, weird. However, it is something I want to do at some point, a sort of page written only in Spanish would be good, as I believe it may help some people.

The truth being said though, I am still far away of becoming a good writer in English or Spanish. But I know I can get there, because when I compare my writing skills now and then, I can see a noticeable improvement, a fact that gives me encouragement to not abandon the blogging and writing habit.

Wait for me until I write my first book!

Stick to my goals

Sticking to my goals is fundamental to me. My domain names reveal it. To me, it adds a sense of purpose and puts me on the right path. Whilst I work on achieving my goals, I make sure I stick to the habits that will get me to the end, or even better, I develop new habits that turn me into a better version of myself.

I know I repeat myself often, but mentioning that I managed to stop smoking thanks to blogging is a must. This by its own is amazing! I had tried to stop many times before. Nicotine patches, nicotine gums, quit smoking tablets, e-cigarettes, etc — nothing bloody worked! 

Then I blogged about it and some magic happened! 

17 months after, I can happily and firmly confirm that I have not had a single smoke puff. Temptations I’ve had many (especially on Christmas party!), but I‘ve always managed them well. 

The secret for this success is thanks to a little tactic I used. To tie a goal in my blog, which indirectly gave me a purpose. I promised to myself that I would recover the 45K Euros I had lost by doing something great. That was saving and investing ethically the money I would save after giving up smoking, plus other earnings I may get by side hustling. 

These actions have made a change on me, a change that makes me much happier, and by no means I want to exchange that feeling for a filthy smoking puff.

The blog works as a fundamental base structure to all of this. If I were to stop blogging, I risk it would all collapse — no, thanks.

Blogging can change your life, it can truly make you a renewed person. Many people have overcome tough addictions as alcoholism with the help of blogging. 

Sitting down, writing your reflections and sharing them with the world is super powerful.

Make better decisions

Writing on a blog challenged me in many ways. You need to make decisions on what to write about, how to structure the blog post, what wording and tone to use for each paragraph, where to add images, GIFs or references, or jokes that maybe aren’t funny to everyone, etc. 

As I kept on being a disciplined writer, I noticed I was becoming a better thinker too. Writing forced me to organize my thoughts, and although I struggled at first, it has become less challenging.

Learning

It is commonly said that if you can’t explain something simply you don’t understand it well. This is a saying that most people would agree with.

I don’t personally retain a lot of information by just simply reading books, blog posts, magazines or articles. But, In fact, I don’t seem to be the only one.

As Edgar Dale’s cone of experience shows, we only retain 10% of what we read, while if we participate in saying or writing we retain up to 70%.

Edgar Dale's cone of learning.png
By Jeffrey Anderson CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

I think the image is self-explanatory. Reading, hearing and watching are passive ways of learning. We don’t retain as much because we are not actively engaging with new content, whereas if we read, take notes and write as we go, it magnifies our learning curve significantly. Why? Because we are forced into taking action by analysing, defining, creating and evaluating, which are all active ways or learning.

Create opportunities

Over the long term, blogging can also become handy to create new opportunities. Usually, at first, no one pays attention to you. Many bloggers give up within the first few months, so many don’t bother to follow you until you’ve stuck around for a while. You will need to be passionate about what you write to last long enough.

It was not after the first year that this blog started to become more noticeable, especially on social media. At this point, I felt I was truly a part of the Personal Finance and FI community, and that I had a chance to contribute and help others within this niche.

As one online presence improves so does the networking. Is a non-stop of meeting new interesting people.

And guess what? What does interesting people do? 

They create opportunities.

Earn and donate

This was one of my big reasons before I started. I explained this on detail on my first anniversary blog post.

Long story short, a monk made me realize that helping others is what makes genuine happiness. I wanted to make some money online and donate it to a charity. I thought this would contribute to my happy being, and it does. 

But, on the other side, some of the money I have made so far has come from promoting investments that turned out to be scams. That has given me mixed feelings, and I must admit that I focus more on my personal goals now than earning and donating now.

To keep me accountable and document my life

One million euros is the goal, but having a goal without taking any action to accomplish it is no more than just a mere illusion.

I want to dream, and I want that dream to become a reality. This is when keeping myself accountable is a must. When I write my monthly savings report I check out how my money flows, what’s coming in and out, and most importantly I control what I spend money on. This has a beneficial impact on my spending behaviour, I became mindfulness about money. Now I ask questions such as, do I really need to buy this? Why I need it? Is it adding any value into my life? This has not only allowed me to increase my savings rate but also embrace a minimalistic and simplistic lifestyle.

On the other side, my portfolio updates are also mandatory to me, since my goal is to reach one million euros. They help me to keep my investments on track, take investing decisions, and also have a bit of fun. This fun bit is more important than one may think because of a simple reason:

Blogging — just like becoming wealthier— is a marathon, not a sprint.

Thanks for reading my 8 reasons why I blog. Albeit this is a personal-oriented blog post, I still hope that whether you are a blogger or future blogger, it helped you to get some insights or inspiration.

I am more than happy to hear about you, so don’t hesitate to comment on your own reasons why you blog or why you are considering the idea to start your own blog.