“The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

The online world is a sea of numbers. If you have been online for any length of time, you are sure to be obsessed with one number or another. The list of numbers that can get to you is endless, and increasing by the day – the  number of times you check your email, the number of followers you have on Twitter, the number of friends you have on Facebook, and the list goes on.

If you also happen to be a blogger, then these numbers take on a whole new meaning. It can become so bad that sometimes your entire life begins to revolve around these numbers. You are constantly thinking and planning about what you can do to improve some, if not all, of them.

At times, I too have been obsessed with numbers. Some of the numbers that I have  been obsessed with, and have tried to improve, for this blog are:

1. Google Page Rank – This is a number that many bloggers swore by a few years ago. Every time Google made changes to the Page Ranks, the whole blogosphere would go crazy talking about whose PR had improved, and whose had gone down. People would either be happy about how their page rank had jumped up, or sad that they had lost their PR.   These days, it seems, PR changes don’t create as much of a frenzy as they used to. I guess bloggers have begun to see beyond Google PR.

2. Alexa Rank – This is another number that is still a puzzle to many. Till date, I can’t say that I have been able to understand what a good Alexa Rank really means. What I did find out instead was that an Alexa Rank of under 100,000 meant that your blog was doing good. So, off I went chasing that number. I chased hard, and I did manage to get there for a while, but, as often happens, I couldn’t keep my focus on it for long.

3. Page Visits and Site Visits – These are one of the first numbers that catch a blogger’s attention. After all, after you have posted something on your blog, you would want to know how many people are actually reading it. No blogger can really get over these numbers. Even after years of blogging it is gratifying to see one of your recent posts getting more hits than any other  post you may have posted in the past.

4. Comments – One of the reasons that blogs have become so popular today is the instant feedback that a blogger receives through comments. Therefore, it is not surprising that bloggers love to see a higher number of comments on any blog post. I am no exception,  so if you have the time, do leave a comment, or two.

5. Social Media numbers – Off late, the social media sites have become an important means to spread the word about a blog, or anything else, for that matter. It is no wonder, therefore, that bloggers are trying to use this medium as much as they can. Inevitably, these sites add to the numbers a blogger has to keep track of. Today, you will find a Tweet this button, and a Like this button on any site worth its salt, and higher is the number on these buttons, the better a blogger feels. (Yes, this site also has those buttons, and I would be overjoyed if you clicked them).

Although there are many other numbers that have  grabbed my attention at different times, the above five numbers have been my constant companions through my blogging journey.

As a blogger, what numbers do you care about?

Image: lokigrl616 from sxc.hu

When I started playing Table Tennis, I was surprised by the speed with which I learnt the basics of the game. I became “good enough” in the game in a couple of months, and I regularly began to beat the players who had taught me how to play the game. Just as I had begun to think that I could get really good at this, it became increasingly difficult  to become better at the game. Eventually, I reconciled myself to the fact that I will be playing the game only for fun.

I am sure something like that must have happened to you too. However hard you practice, you are not able to become perfect. That is to say that not all practice makes perfect.

There are only 24 hours in a day, and there is a limit to the  time that you can spend on practicing anything. It is not surprising, therefore, that the famous violinist Nathan Milstein wrote: “Once when I became concerned because others around me practiced all day long, I asked Professor Auer how many hours I should practice, and he said, ‘It really doesn’t matter how long. If you practice with your fingers, no amount is enough. If you practice with your head, two hours is plenty.”

That is the key to becoming good at anything. You have to practice with your head, and that means getting out of your comfort zone.

I could not get any better at Table Tennis, after a point, because I had become comfortable with what I had learnt. Instead of experimenting with new shots, I was using the ones I already knew. I was getting better at the shots I already was good at, but I was not getting better at the game. That is a mistake that is easy to make.

The key to becoming better at anything, therefore,  is a two step  process:

- Practicing what you already know, and thus becoming better at it
- Learning new things about the thing you want to get better at, and then practicing them. This has to be done deliberately, as  our brain will try to avoid stepping into unfamiliar territory.

The second step is vital, because that is what actually leads to improvement. Wouldn’t you agree?

Yesterday, while talking to a friend, I couldn’t remember the name of the movie, The Hurt locker. I could visualise the scenes from the movie in my head, but I just couldn’t recall the name. I didn’t try too hard to remember the name, as I had my good friend – my phone – with me. I opened Google on it, and in no time I knew the name that I had been trying to remember.

The Internet makes us all appear smarter. We have all the information we need on our finger tips, literally.  It is not just hard facts that can be found on the Internet, but even answers to life changing questions like, “How to wake up early in the morning?” can be found readily on the Internet.  (I did actually search the term “How to rise early” and found two interesting articles on the subject by Steve Pavlina and  Leo Babauta)

If such information is readily available, then isn’t it logical to assume that this world would now become a better place than it was when such information was not readily available to one and all? But, is that really so?

I think not.

The reason is simple, we read things, and we feel enlightened. We might even practice some of the things for a few days, but soon enough we are back to our old ways. The only difference is that we now know a few things that we didn’t know before. So, even though we fail to practice the things we have become aware of, we don’t fail to pass on this information to people around us, sometimes even when the information is not asked for.

The result of the above phenomenon is that there are a lot of “enlightened” citizens in our world today, and yet our world is none the better for it. An analogy of this, from the blogging world, is the large number of “How to make money blogs”, but only a few blogs actually making money.

It is like everyone wanting to change the world, but no one wanting to change.

In addition,  all the preaching and the gleaned knowledge – that we have, but don’t practice – can make us feel like someone we are not. So, it is in our best interests if we don’t preach what we don’t practice. Instead, we should practice what we become aware of, and then, maybe, preach what we practice.

Have you ever asked yourself the question : “Is Blogging good for Writing?” If you have, I am sure the answer must have been very obvious – a resounding yes!

I have, in the past, written a few posts that talk about how Blogging can help you improve your skills as a writer. I am not going to backtrack on anything that I have said in those posts,  but in this post I will play the devil’s advocate and try to build up a case to prove that blogging can actually be detrimental to you as a writer.

Not possible, you say. Read on then is what I say!

The blogging – social networking connection. If you are a blogger, and a serious one, you can’t escape being on the social networks. Don’t all the blogging experts tell you that sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc. play an important role in getting visitors to your site? So, you simply have to join them, and, to be honest, this approach works in as far as getting visitors to your blog is concerned.

But social networking, as I am sure many of you must have found by now, can be addictive. You join the sites to promote your blog,  and then you make friends, and then telling these friends what you have been doing all day is topmost on your To-do list. Sounds Familiar?

Once that has happened, you find that every time you open your computer to write something, a little voice begs you to check your Twitter or Facebook account. Sooner, rather than later, you give in to that little voice, and before you know it, you have lost some valuable time that could have been better spent in writing.

The blogging-Internet connection. So, maybe, social networking is not your thing, but to post a blog you have to get online, and there are many distractions on the Internet than just the social networking sites. You start out with visiting a few sites – for research, you tell yourself – but before you know it you are hopping sites reading one article after another, watching a youtube video, or chatting with an online  friend. Time flies, and you realise that only once it has flown out of your reach.

The blogging schedule. Deadlines have different effects on different writers. Some thrive on deadlines, and some find deadlines quite limiting. Whichever category you may belong to, having the pressure of a blogging schedule can severely hamper your creativity and writing. In fact, I believe, that it is one of the main reasons why we see so many “I have a writer’s block” posts on a lot of blogs.

The making money fallacy. If you have a blog, I am sure, the thought of making money from your blog has crossed your mind – and more than once. It has mine.

Whatever some of the bigger blogs might say on the issue, I have a strong feeling that there are easier ways to make money than blogging. But once you have a blog, and people start telling you how good you are as a writer, you can’t escape  the feeling that maybe you could just chuck away your regular job and earn your livelihood by blogging.

While that is not impossible, it is quite difficult. And it requires skills other than just good writing. If you try to make your blog  a money churner, there is a very good chance that you are going to lose your focus as a writer.

For a writer, therefore, there are a few downsides to creating a blog, and you have to be fully aware of these pitfalls, or your will have a difficult time as a writer.

Note: As I said before, I strongly believe that blogging is an excellent medium for someone who wants to be a better writer. However, like all things,  there is a downside to blogging too. What is your take on the points I have mentioned in the post above?

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken – Samuel  Johnson

All of us have a habit, or two, that we want to get rid of, but can’t. The bad habit stays with us and soon we accept it as an integral part of our being. Every now and then the realisation dawns upon us that our life would become much better if we got rid of the bad habit. Kicking a bad habit out of our life, however, is easier said than done.

Here is what I think we should do when we are trying to quit a bad habit.

1. Accept. The first and the most important step is to identify a bad habit, and label it as bad. When we find it difficult to get rid of a bad habit, we try to rationalize the habit. We look for the silver lining in the cloud so that we can use that as an excuse to continue with the habit. For example, a smoker might tell himself, “I smoke only with friends, and that too only because smoking help us gel as a group.” So, even though he knows that he is slowly killing himself with his smoking habit, he gives himself  a good reason for doing so.

2. Tell the world. Once we have identified a habit as bad, and decided to get rid of it, we should announce our decision to our close friends and relatives. Many people have told me that they don’t like to tell others about their decision to get rid of a habit until they have got rid of the habit. They feel that a failure to get rid of the habit may lead to embarrassment. In fact this fear is precisely the reason that we should tell others about our resolution to quit a bad habit. The fear of embarrassment can, and should, be used positively as a motivator to help us stick to our resolve.

Moreover, telling others about our decision might get us some good advice from someone who has already done what we are planning to do.

3.Keep track. Once we have started the journey of getting ready of the bad habit, it is a good idea to keep a track of our journey. Keeping track of the number of days we have managed to avoid the habit provides a sense of achievement which, in turn, can act as a powerful motivator for  staying on course. These days there are many tools that can help us track our progress. Joe’s Goals is one good tool that I feel could be very useful for anyone trying  to get rid of some bad habits, and develop some good ones.

4. Be wary of those weak moments. After we have successfully managed to stay off the habit for a few days, one day we might suddenly feel  a strong urge to do the thing that we are trying to avoid. A part of our brain quietly says, “It is just one time, and then we will be back on the quitting regime”.

Don’t fall for that; stay strong and keep off the habit.  Think of all the hardships that we have gone through to get to where we are, and also think of all the benefits that will accrue over a period of time on account of kicking the bad habit.

5. Replace it with another, good habit. Once we have got rid of the bad habit, we might have some free time on our hands. It is best if we use this time to do something good and healthy. In fact, an effort should be made to replace the bad habit with a good one. It is often quoted that it takes about 21 days for a person to develop a good habit. While I cannot vouch for the authenticity of that statement, I think it is a good idea to make a plan to develop a good habit over a period of 21 days.

In spite of  the above, there will be times when we fail to quit a bad habit the first time we try to do so. That does not mean that the above tips don’t work, or the habit is unbreakable. It just means that we are going to have to try again, and harder to break free of the  bad habit.

What is the one bad habit that you have been trying to get rid of? What are your tips to quit a bad habit?

Image: mzacha from sxc.hu