Comments on: The Greatest Blogging Skill

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:53:47 +0000

“Is is” … I need to eat breakfast.

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:50:16 +0000

Ken, it’s dizzying, huh? The trick is is just to try.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:37:34 +0000

Thanks for this post. It gave me a new way for me to think of improvement. There’s so much potential to improve! One could be overwhelmed, but the idea of focusing on one thing at a time is timely. An increasingly accelerating rate! What a concept! Better get going myself…

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:51:47 +0000

You’re welcome, Richard!

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:55:26 +0000

Thanks for taking my criticism so graciously Easton.
I think it’s humility, grace and clear-mindedness amidst the general “self-help psycho-babble” available on the net that I’ve come to respect about ProBlogger over time.
Your response has done much to restore my faith in Darren’s site.

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:10:42 +0000

Anne, I’m always around. You’re always welcome at my blog.

Richard, I apologize. My concept clearly needs some concrete examples and actionable exercises to ground its loftiness. Thank you for motivating me to make the argument much more compelling.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:08:20 +0000

Hi Darren,

I’m with Silky on this one.

This post is much different to something you would write, and I wonder about the wisdom of including posts from others like Easton who use such hyperbolic language.

No offence Easton, but I think there is a philosophical gulf between the “upward-ever-upward” tone you bring to blogging and the understated, solid concepts Darren brings to the craft.

As a blogger I have much to learn, which is why I visited ProBlogger (after some time away) this morning. But I have to say I was disappointed to see the path ProBlogger appears to be on with this post.

Richard

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:04:00 +0000

Yes, I’m very interested in improving my writing as I blog. If anyone wants to be a blog buddy with me and share ways to improve our improvement ;) let me know!

-Anne

By: Grandy

Grandy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:35:33 +0000

Wow…Thanks for the reminder that I still have so much to learn. I’ll be back. ;)

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:49:34 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story, Billie. I’m fascinated by the power of effective metacognition.

By: Billie

Billie — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:41:28 +0000

I have been blogging since mid December, and have been applying these principles of my own volition. I am 65 years old with the rare, incurable Myasthenia Gravis, and have taken my life with MG and my road to remission through IVIG treatments online through my blog. My mind is working constantly to improve my presentation in all areas, considering the type of audience I attract. I am constantly searching other blogs and information to see what might apply to me. Due to my disease, everything I might like to employ is not possible, but I am trying. My StatCounter began Jan 9th, and is nearing 2000, with my own url filtered out.

Metacognition has been part of my life for a long time, or I would not have been able to expose myself publicly as I have done.

Thanks for this article. I will be rereading it for utilization.

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:49:25 +0000

RB, I’m glad you enjoyed it. This is not a fully-baked idea; I would love others’ help in developing it. But we can’t deny that regular introspection and self-measurement tend to lead to faster improvement.

By: RB

RB — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:12:03 +0000

I really, REALLY liked reading this…
I’ve been taken steps to improve daily…researching, reading, trying new things. Inviting guest bloggers/opinions…
What would really get me going is calendaring my writing week. I write blogs and save them as drafts and I’ll admit some have fallen by the wayside.
But reading this made me think about all the things I could improve rather quickly.

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:57:08 +0000

@Aaron: Thanks man.
@Luke: You can start real slow and speed up from there.
@Jay: Exactly. I chose “meta” because it seemed to fit, but there may be a better name for the idea.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:10:22 +0000

ok you mean accelerating improvement. you will come to a point that your improvement becomes exponential.

By: Luke

Luke — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:03:39 +0000

Okay, I think it’s great to improve your self-improvement, but you have to do some serious self-improvement to start with, or what the heck would you be improving?

Cool post anyway. :-)

By: Aaron Brazell

Aaron Brazell — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:10:13 +0000

No worries, Easton. I just don’t want a buzz word to be created here that means something completely different than intended. ;)

You know… like… social graph! ;-)

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:08:22 +0000

Aaron, that’s a great way to put it. I studied the word “meta” for a while before submitting this post, and it seemed to fit pretty well because it can mean “self-referential.” However, I like “exponential” because it accurately describes the nature of the ideal improvement curve. Sadly, there is no single word that captures the full meaning of this concept.

By: Aaron Brazell

Aaron Brazell — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:46:47 +0000

Well... technically, you're talking about exponential improvement. Meta means organic or part of or granular. Meta Improvement describes improving in more and more related ways. Not increasing improvent. Fine detail, but a detail nonetheless.

By: Easton Ellsworth

Easton Ellsworth — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:42:23 +0000

@Nicole, congratulations! I’m glad I was able to help a little.

@Tim, I think I understand you. In this post, I offered no data to support my assertion that meta-improvement is the greatest blogging skill. I will try to fix this problem in my upcoming book. I agree with your belief that we can judge people by their fruits far better than by what other people say. Thank heavens for the curtain-pulling Totos of the world.

@Stu: You’re welcome. A comment is just a comment. But a sincere comment between humans can become an unforgettable point in the development of a meaningful relationship. I’ll address and respond to your suggestions in my first book.