Getting to grips with blogging – even with expert help and lots of encouragement – isn’t something I found easy. I’d agree to create no-end of content and come up with the same excuse “I didn’t have time”. It’s something I hear from my own coaching clients and it’s usually a sign something’s not quite aligned. It took a beach break to realise what was holding me back. Read on for my tips on how to get blogging…
Go with the Flow
It’s amazing what a late summer escape can do. Taking some quiet time out on the sand, to sit and think about what’s really going on, made me realise I’ve had some limiting beliefs about the whole concept of blogging. Views that had blocked my flow! The moment of enlightenment came as I was watching the waves rhythmically lapping the shores. They continually roll in – nothing blocks their flow.
And so, I told myself, it’s time I took some of ‘my own medicine’ and deployed some of the strategies I incorporate with my clients. I often use the ‘Iceberg Model’ and once I’d acknowledged my reluctance to blog and the avoidance strategies I used in the process, I shifted my focus to look at what was going on in those deeper layers. In a nutshell, I began working from the bottom up.
Why Blog?
Before I began blogging, I had to be clear about my identity, purpose and intentions. Back on that beach, I realised I wanted to blog as a systemic coach and facilitator who is passionate about helping people to make a sustainable shift in their leadership, and to help them really connect with themselves and their people.
My purpose is to share insights, frameworks and real case studies in the hope it will help people to fully connect with themselves and others. If I can facilitate real conversation points in my blogs, it will be worthwhile.
Another reason I want to blog is to talk about my point of view, and share why and how I work. If this generates interest and helps prepare people to focus on their ‘inner work’ as a leader, it’s worth doing in my eyes. If something I blog is meaningful to others, then I’m up for creating the space.
Believe in Your Blog
My values are clear to me and I’ve got to a point in my life where the key ones permeate through pretty much everything I do. Based on my core value of integrity, I needed to be really clear on the ‘why’ of blogging, so I could get into it and sustain the flow. Based on my core value of flexibility, I also needed to make it my own. Looking at other people’s blogs can be helpful and trigger some inspiration, but it’s important for me to not get too constrained by rules and procedures. I needed to create my own ‘signature’ around this. The limiting beliefs getting in my way were…
- It’s just a sales pitch and people will see straight through it
- It doesn’t add any value
- It isn’t authentic
- It’s purely a tactic for driving business
Perhaps you recognise these, too? But once I’d grounded myself in my identity and purpose and was clear on my intentions, I was able to gradually ‘knock’ these limiting beliefs off their pedestals. This was a crucial step in breaking down my paralysing fear of blogging. But to have any chance of sustaining this breakthrough, I also needed to transform these into enabling beliefs – to create a much more positive and enabling story I can continually remind myself of when I’m battling with the calendar, and other priorities, to create some space. And so, these positive and enabling beliefs surfaced…
- People value new insights and/or stories of how others have faced similar dilemmas
- Sharing thinking, frameworks, models, case studies and resources will generate more of a collaborative community where there is mutual exchange
- Sharing what I have and what I think will create more space to let new thinking emerge
- Sharing how I work will help attract the right clients
Blogging Know-how
The next ‘level’ on the iceberg to tackle was capabilities. I needed to do an inner sense check and ask myself, do I have all the capabilities I need to blog? The core content was there, I just needed – and continually need – to create the right conditions and make a commitment to make it happen.
I also need to make sure my blog looked good visually, was presented in the right form and worked from a technical perspective. That’s when I called in the help of my social media expert, Shelley Röstlund, from Social Intelligence. I know where my strengths lie, and I have no hesitation in asking for help when I need it!
Finally, I needed to work on my new behaviour. Having done the ‘deeper work’ below the water line, this bit was easier. I needed to put time aside to regularly blog, and create the conditions that enable me to maintain this. For me, that’s about making a realistic commitment to others. My core value of integrity won’t allow me to let others down once I’ve made a promise. And so, my promise is to publish a blog at least once a month, with content that brings together helpful, easy-to-read material, insights and my point of view.
The Tick List
So the ‘Iceberg workout’ makes sure…
- We are fully aligned
- Our behaviours are underpinned with a clear and congruent sense of identity and purpose
- We are operating in alignment with our core values
- The stories we tell ourselves are enabling instead of limiting
- We have a sense check of our capabilities and build these up or call on expert help where needed.
When we have all that in play, we have a chance of a sustainable breakthrough in our behaviours!
As I’m quite a visual person, I’ve created this image above as a monthly trigger to help me keep my promise – along with a finely tuned ‘prod’ from Shelley. And do you know what, I’m looking forward to writing and publishing the next one already. Watch this space…
What are you getting blocked on? Perhaps the ‘Iceberg Workout’ could help you with a sustainable breakthrough rather than a ‘quick fix’. I work with senior leaders and executives to facilitate them through situations where they feel blocked or fail to see how they’re going to navigate through an issue.
If you have resonated with the iceberg exercise mentioned in this blog and would like some help, please do get in touch. You can comment below and ask me a question, or drop me an email – I’d be happy to help.