Kovalam Beach, India
For full transparency, let’s dive into the title.
*Many* years ago, the National Geographic Channel pitched me on being interviewed for a new show in development. Something about diseases in the tropics. I suffered through giardia during my trip to India and covered it on my blog. Observe the featured image above to see the Incredible Shrinking Man way back in 2013 post giardia.
I did a test Skype interview – I told you it was a long time ago – and passed with flying colors, according to the producer.
She contacted an independent cameraman in New York City to visit my location in Northern New Jersey for taping.
1 day before my superstar debut (hehehe….) I received an email from the producer; we would not move forward because Nat Geo scrapped the show. I guess viewers did not want to hear about diarrhea as much as the network head honchos thought.
Anyway, I felt a tiny twinge of disappointment but largely happy. Being pitched by a brand famous around the world for a TV interview proved that I was on the right track.
The interview became “failed” because it never came to fruition. Since my classic square jawed American mug did not grace the small screen, I never mentioned this to you guys…..until now.
Why now?
I am less judgey about my failures. Or, seeming failures.
I also brainstormed 3 lessons from the experience that can help you to accelerate your blogging success.
1: Working Patiently on Your Blog Draws Neat Opportunities to You
Decades ago, I was a fired security guard. I had no idea what blogging was.
But I patiently created and published a volume of helpful blog posts and offsite content over 1000’s of hours. I REALLY worked on my blog for a long time. Organically, I attracted the types of opportunities that few attract….AKA, getting pitched by the National Geographic Channel for a TV interview.
Spend 1000’s of hours calmly crafting your blog into a trusted resource. Be amazed at the opportunities which flow to you.
Warning; much learning, practice and mastery goes into building a respected blogging asset. Nothing happens overnight. But if you frame the work as an investment, way cool opportunities can flow your way after 1000’s of work-hours.
Suggested reading to point you in the right direction: How to Create Long Form Blog Content
2: Frame Temporary Disappointment as Fears to Be Looked Past
Admittedly, my heart sunk a wee bit on learning that the show did not make the cut.
But that emotion was just my fears attaching me to that specific opportunity.
I faced, felt and released these fears in order to put ’em in my rear view mirror.
Every blogger faces fear manifest as disappointment on this journey. You have likely felt frustrated by a lack of progress at one time or another.
Seemingly big opportunities dissolving can trigger a deep sense of possibilities lost. But that mental baggage needs to go for you to reach the next blogging level.
Losing your biggest client, missing out on a guest posting opportunity or being besieged by negative reviews stings.
Step into the feeling to make it temporary versus wallowing permanently to create struggles.
You need to expose, feel and forgive fears both big and small to reach higher traffic and income numbers.
No one travels into the blogging stratosphere being bogged down by these energies.
You take off after shedding the emotional anchor known as “fear”.
3: Being Transparent Tends to Attract the Richest Opportunities
We have all heard the axiom: “Honesty is the best policy.”
Before you roll your eyes….consider the blog post that arrested the attention of a National Geographic Channel producer:
Please read Wild Travel Story #1.
Everyone loves spending time on beaches sipping your favorite beverage with your toes in the sand.
Not as many favor nearly dying from dehydration in rural India.
Being honest means sharing the downsides of various experiences. Or; being transparent means divulging the highly difficult aspects of your experiences, including some that most bloggers fear to share, for whatever reason.
My tagline speaks of retiring to a life of island hopping through smart blogging. But my experience in India certainly did not fit within the parameters of the perfect “lifestyle” of a digital nomad. Ya know; all the filtered Instagram photos of smiling goddesses – and gods – in Infinity Pools with washboard abs, gleaming smiles and enough energetic wattage to light up a small town.
Typically, few of these cats become transparent enough to discuss their Bali Belly, Delhi Belly or flat out diarrhea squirts almost everyone experiences in the tropics, from time to time. Either you have the digestive system of a Komodo dragon or the fortune of Lady Luck to skirt the squirts in tropical locations. Westerners need to gradually adjust to bacteria in these hot, humid locales.
I shared a graphic, completely transparent recount of cheating death in India which caught the eye of folks from the National Geographic Channel.
The richest opportunities usually flow to genuine bloggers who share “the rest of the story.”
For you, this means being a transparent blogger. Share your wins. Share your losses. Share everything in between. Be believable to fellow humans who also experience wins, losses, and yes, everything in between.
High level bloggers who run things through their heart feel highly relatable. Instead of being someone who becomes impossible to follow because of their lofty, self-created pedestal and “walk on water status”, these types of pros reach the top by dissecting their mistakes here and there while teaching you how to succeed.
Most deeply fear sharing their mistakes for not wanting to be exposed as a fraud.
What could be more fraudulent than only sharing your successes and covering up, burying and hiding your failures?
The most genuine, successful bloggers share their struggles to be:
- human
- relatable
- truly helpful
Most bloggers struggle by trying to do everything from the head to protect their image versus blogging from the heart to be truly helpful, even if means analyzing their biggest blunders.
You will sleep soundly by not leaving too much on the table.
Put it all out there for your readers.
Succeed by being highly transparent.
Conclusion
My failed interview with the National Geographic Channel points you in the right direction.
Patiently build your blog into a trusted resource.
Face, feel and look past blogging fears to reach your next stage of blogging growth.
Be highly transparent to align with immense blogging success.
Who would have ever thought that an intestinal illness could accelerate your blogging success?
