Bribri Costa Rica
I thought death was the inevitable outcome.
Kelli and I were 3 hours away from the nearest human being.
The rain pounded the hut for 2 days straight. Torrents savaged the tin roof, as if Animal the Muppet went mad on his drums.
After this disastrous deluge, the water turned to silt. Mud polluted our drinking supply.
The homeowner (aka hut owner) warned us not to drink muddy-looking water. He cautioned us not to touch it unless it ran clear.
We became dehydrated. I had two options. Wait it out for 1 more day before the 3 hour hike back into town for provisions or journey through the fer de lanz infested stream to jiggle the hose, loose the silt and purify the water supply again.
I chose the latter. I grabbed the razor-sharp machete you see in the image above – I kept it in tip-top shape by running it along a stone daily – and trudged deep into the jungle.
These words prove; I made the right choice.
But goodness did I have the fright of my life hiking up that jungle stream…..
How to Distance Yourself
Re-read the lead in up top.
Re-read it again.
That is how to distance yourself from the blogging competition.
I used the first person. I told one of my first person travel stories. I spruced it up to add a wee bit of flair. Mind you, this did happen. We spent 6 weeks in the jungle. Costa Rica. 2015-2016. We did a sit in the Bribri area on the Caribbean side of the tropical paradise.
Some areas down there net 27 feet of rain each year. That 2 day non-stop torrential downpour was like someone opened a spigot connected to the Caribbean Sea. I did in fact hike through a stream with venomous snakes and crocodiles around.
But your first person story may not be as colorful.
So what?
Most people live a different version of a normal life. Normal to me means wading through croc-infested waters in Costa Rica. Normal to most meat suits means bumping into someone on the way to the water cooler in the office. My normal resistance is probably different from your normal resistance. Who cares? More humans connect deeply with your experience as far as resonance. Is that a bad thing?
My point is this: first person experiences distance you from all bloggers because only you have access to these experiences. No one else can copy these stories in your voice because your stories and your voice are…..yours.
This is why AI blogging makes little sense. Sounding like pretty much all bloggers to become irrelevant versus writing in your voice with your experiences to be in-demand seems like an asinine trade-off to me. But millions make this trade daily. Even worse? No one sees it. No one knows that the easiest way to dissolve the blogging comp is to share first person experiences in your authentic blogging voice.
Peep This
You can read 100 more blog posts today.
None will sound quite like mine.
I claim zero special-ness. But I do claim my first person experiences; no one else can touch ’em which makes blogging competition nothing to me.
Every blogger reading this can claim their first person experiences to make blogging competition irrelevant to them.
Sounding like everyone else with the same 3rd person delivery keeps you in the blogging herd.
Distancing yourself from the herd means:
- blogging from a first person perspective
- sharing your experiences
- writing in your voice
- solving reader problemsÂ
- inspiring readers
The alternative is to remain in the blogging herd with dreadful 3rd person recounts identical to most bloggers.
AI bloggers will wipe you out unless they already have.
Do yourself a favor.
Share some first person stories.
Relate each to your blogging niche.
Share practical tips.
Guide readers from problem to solution.
Distance yourself from the blogging competition.
