The power of blogging, from my masterminders

Last week my travel blog turned 14. There is literally nothing else in life I’ve done consistently for fourteen years straight – but there is something about blogging that has definitely got me hooked for life! Blogging is such a fun way to be able to express your thoughts, share information and get to know people (among many other reasons to blog) and I’m so glad that not only have I been blogging for nearly a decade and a half, but I’ve also been able to share that love with literally hundreds of people through workshops and consulting clients.

Blogging with my mastermind groups

During June, all my mastermind group members accepted the challenge of writing a blog post. Some wrote several, some wrote one when they hadn’t written one in ages (and a few didn’t yet meet the challenge … but I will probably forgive them! … more likely if they bring me chocolate).

I thought that sharing the blog posts they wrote would be a great way for all of them to explore what their fellow masterminders had written – as well as to point everyone else who reads my blog in the direction of some amazing bloggers, authors, artists and small businesses. So … here they are!

Talking about travel …

Ah, my favourite topic. So I was pleased to see that:

• Narelle blogged about Travel Planning and Why I Love It – spoiler alert, Narelle is kind of obsessive about planning and this post will make you fall into the agree or disagree camp quite quickly! I interviewed Narelle and her mastermind colleague Shauna about travel planning for my podcast a while back and when they got to talking about spreadsheets for trips two years in advance, I really got the giggles!!
• Carolyn wrote about Nine reasons why travel broadens your mind, if you know me well you’ll know that I LOVE this post because I’m always going on about the self-development potential of travel (and not just because it’s a great excuse to travel more often!).
• Susan published a post about 7 ways I’m a tourist in my own backyard which reminds me I need to do more backyard tourist-ing too!

Thoughtful blog posts …

Blogging can be such a great outlet for important ideas, and to share your thoughtful, specialised knowledge, in the hope of creating change, or of helping, and here are some great examples of that:

• Maureen published My ‘silver fox’ protest fell on deaf ears to follow up her previous post on a Sex in aged care facilities study and they are both worth the read (and to make you think about if you, too, are unwittingly exhibiting any ageist behaviours). I know I shouldn’t have favourites but Maureen’s blog posts are always varied and interesting and I always want to read them immediately!
• Tracy wrote about Grief, loss and motherhood and combined both her own personal experiences with her work and I think this is business blogging at its best.
• Kelly blogged on the Opportunity for change, an important post about the necessity of an intersection between modern medicine and the (too often forgotten) factor of hope.
• Aggie got particularly thoughtful about creating her list of 19 Things I’ll Do in 2019, and I’m enjoying watching her attempt many of them!

Work and writing advice …

Of course, if my mastermind clients are blogging about topics that are totally my thing like writing and content marketing, I am ALL over it:

• Melinda published a post with 5 Writing Prompts to Kickstart Your Memoir and Family History with some fabulous ideas (I want to try them …)
• Sherene wrote a great post titled Are you Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny about the controversial issue of giving some of your work away for free – go and add your opinion to the comments!
• Pam gave her readers an update on her books and writing with a surprise twist (and an idea I can’t wait to see sitting on my bookshelf someday) with Behind the Scenes.

Getting specific …

I just love working with people in all different fields, because the internet especially has meant that we can specialise further and the people we are serving can find us. That’s why I like these posts:

• Clare creates resources for English language learners in Australia and her new product, Workwise English Quizzes, got its own blog post this month.
• Shannon helps many people – especially school parents – to get fundraising ideas and to fundraise more effectively, and she wrote a post about The Dwellingup Pumpkin Festival – Lessons from a Little School which is simply a delightful story!
• Liz blogged at the Wise Matildas site about their Wise Matilda of the Month: (another masterminder) Shauna Thomson. Love Shauna’s wisdom about nurturing a business that is nurturing for you.