Zen Zoomie’s Place: Chronicles of a (Wannabe) Pro Blogger

What do blogging as a career and running your first marathon have in common?

That’s a fair question. Well, for starters, they are two very ambitious goals—particularly for someone who’s just starting out at either running or blogging. If you’ve never run more than a mile before, and you only look at the end objective of being able to run for 26 miles straight without stopping, it is more than a little intimidating. It may even seem unachievable at the outset.

But if you look around a little bit, you’ll find example after example of normal, everyday people that have realized both of these ambitious achievements. We don’t have to brave the unknown path for the first time—others have done that for us! And I guarantee that many of those individuals have overcome obstacles far greater than any you or I can even imagine. Still need a little more convincing?

Check out the story of Army Major David Rozelle and what he’s been able to accomplish since losing one of his feet and part of his leg to an anti-tank mine while serving his country in Iraq. Within three years of having his lower leg amputated, David has now run three marathons (with a personal best time of 4 hours 19 minutes..respectable for someone with two good legs!). And as if that weren’t enough, he completed his first Ironman-length triathlon in 2006.

There is no doubt in my mind that the vast majority of the people on this earth have the capacity to achieve either of these things if they set their mind to it.

The key to success in either of these endeavors, as with many things in life, is no secret. Both take motivation, hard work, and perseverance to see through. Luckily, it’s not necessary to tackle an entire marathon the first time you go for a run. We know that training for a first marathon will take months to build up the body’s capacity to handle the amount of stress it will undergo on a 26 mile run. It would be completely foolish to go out and attempt to run 26 miles if you’ve never run before! Likewise, it’s not reasonable to expect to make $10,000 a month from blogging within weeks after starting your first website. But others have proven that it is possible and reasonable to expect that level of revenue within one or two years after beginning.

Setting high, but achievable goals

You’ll find as this blog progresses, that I’m a strong proponent of life-long self-improvement. I can’t imagine going through life not wanting to better yourself in some way—it’s part of human nature to want to improve. And the best way I know to ensure progress is by setting goals. Not just any goals, but things that seem to be just on the edge of being out of your reach. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m personally focusing on two specific, measurable, near-term goals:

1. To establish a successful and profitable (I define this to mean >$10,000/month net profit) blogging business within one year, and

2. To complete my first ever marathon this fall

Both of these goals are designed to help me improve aspects of my life that I consider to be among my most important life objectives: creating a lifestyle that allows me to spend more quality time with my family, and taking care of my body to ensure I’ll be around to enjoy that time for as long as possible.

Both goals are way out of my comfort zone, but they’re still realistic enough that I know I can achieve them. When I start doubting my success, all I have to do to reassure myself is look at those who have gone before me. You can hold me to my goals—I’ll be posting updates on how I’m progressing periodically. As of July 3, 2007, my longest run in my training program is 10 miles, and in the blogging business I’ve earned $0.65 so far!

What are your life objectives and what goals are you setting to keep moving your life in the right direction?