The Stoic Approach to Successful Online Publishing

The Stoic Approach to Successful Online Publishing

Reader Comments (42)

  1. This is an excellent article Ryan, so true with online publishing as well as other aspects. I think #2 is especially important in life.

    Just like John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. Thank you for this inspiring post,

    Anthony

  2. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    I have been reading Seneca and Epictetus for years now. Over and over and over again. I believe everyone should read the Stoics and learn from these ancient, yet truthful insights about life.

    Great article Ryan. Thanks again.

  3. Ryan: Well, will you look at that! I’m a Stoic and I never knew it – well most of the time, anyway. I am definitely a person who finds some pleasure in all that I do, even if it is just knocking out an unpleasant task. I probably spend a little too much time thinking rather than doing, but I do find great value in planning – within reason. Thank you for the great post and helping me to define who I am:o))

  4. Great great piece. I know my partners and I have way too many peaks and valleys that lead to dips in productivity. Being more stoic and focusing on what we can control is spot-on advice. Thanks

  5. great content takes hard work and lots of effort. It can take weeks instead of hours. But for goodness sake: if you really want to be successful as an online publisher, start by setting yourself apart with great content.
    ———————————————————

    Thanks so much for confirming this. Time constraints allow me perhaps 3 posts a month but I try my hardest to make them worth my readers time.

  6. I really needed this! I definitely spend a lot of time planning and worrying and then I suffer from overthink and no matter what I produce seems not good enough.

    Great way to clarify the need forward motion.

    Amber.

  7. By “top secret online information project” I take it you mean SEO site for drug and alcohol addiction? Could have picked a better domain.

  8. “You should spend most of your time doing” is a lesson that has taken me quite a while to take to heart. I am a great one for spending hours and hours brainstorming but very little time actually doing things.

  9. I really enjoyed this article. I espcially agree on your thoughts regarding “Doing” and not “Thinking.” There’s only so much planning you can do before you should just get to work!

  10. Hey Joe. Very good guess, given the evidence available. But wrong.

    Here’s a hint: you note that the domain wouldn’t be a good fit for a site on addictions, so think about what the domain name might be a good fit for and you’ll be on the right track.

  11. Ah!

    I remember learning the basics of stoicism in high school and thinking “Man why would anyone want to live like that?”

    It makes a lot more sense with ten more years of life experience behind me.

    Great article Ryan.

  12. These 3 stoic sayings make perfect sense to me, especially the doing instead of checking statistics and stuff all the time, in fact if we all concentrated on doing rather than thinking, we would be better off financially in half the time.

    Once all the content on a blog has been written it could be repurposed into a book of our own and sold online and offline…just do it everyone!!!!!

  13. I have never spent weeks working on something that I was going to publish. That seems so different than everything I have heard. I guess with extensive keyword research I could extend my article writing time a little more.

  14. Huh, turns out the Stoics wrote the original serenity prayer. Who knew?

    This is a good reminder–I have a bad tendency to spend unbelievable amounts of time thinking about stuff rather than, you know, doing stuff. If I put my worrying energy into things I actually could control, I’d probably be queen of the universe at the moment.

  15. “spend 10x as much time writing and developing content as you spend reading about how to develop content”

    It’s the whole idea that writers write. Yes, they read plenty, too–but, you’ve got to write a lot to be able to produce lasting quality writing.

  16. I wholeheartedly agree. Too much junk out there masquerading as valued information. Lots of dreamers, pretenders, and …well, masqueraders. Happiness and success is what everyone wants, however they define that. Good info expands to accomplish that end.

    Jeff Korhan

  17. For a lot of the “newbies” out there, this is especially important. It might even be better stated as “spend more time doing than dreaming.”

    Dreams are useful only when used to invigorate to action. Otherwise, they are never achieved.

  18. First of all, I like how you used the term “online publisher” instead of blogger. There’s a level of distinction there — just because you publish online doesn’t automatically mean you’re a blogger.

    I find stoicism helpful, and especially your rule #2. Thinking is necessary but doing is absolutely essential.

    I just wish there was more recognition for emotion, compassion, intuition and spontaneity. Sometimes the best works of expression arise from those virtues.

  19. How easy it is to get caught up thinking “research” (AKA reading other people’s stuff) is working. Sure, I need to keep on top of my industry but I also need to get my writing done.

    Great post. Thanks.

  20. Good article… I need to take this to heart. I’ve been tethered to my stats since I launched and it becoming a growing obsession… I need to step away and enjoy life then return with new and compelling stories to tell. Thanks for the advice!

  21. Another great article. The ‘stat-check-tic’ is very, very hard to shake. Having one day per week when you don’t touch your PC on is even harder. But it has helped. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you wife! P. 🙂

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