Though you might infer otherwise from the proliferation of high-priced self-improvement seminars, personal growth is basically a simple equation. If you eat more than you excrete, then you grow. Eat less, and you shrink.
Not all growth is positive, of course. If you can’t metabolize what you eat, then you will grow bloated and sick, not strong and healthy. So the desired equation is slightly more complicated: personal growth requires both digestion, and nutritious food to digest.
This rule applies to the physical body, and equally so to the work of a blogger. Information comes in from various sources, your mind digests it, and the end result is knowledge. Your blog posts are crafted from this knowledge.
Are you eating and digesting enough to grow? Here is a metric you can use to evaluate your growth potential, and the potential of your blog.
Calculate Your BMI: Blogger Mass Index
The Blogger Mass Index, or BMI, is a ratio of your blogging input to blog output. The higher your ratio, the greater your ability to craft unique and compelling content, attract subscribers and links, and build a reputation for excellence within your community.
To calculate your BMI:
- Count the information sources that influenced your blog over the past month. Reading an online blog post or article, or watching a YouTube video clip, earns you one point. Reading an offline book or magazine gets three points. Specific, relevant events and life experiences are worth five points each.
- Divide the sum by the number of blog posts you wrote over the same month.
If your BMI is 10 or above: Congratulations! Your blog may be imitated, but your hunger for knowledge and passion for sharing ensure that it will never be duplicated. While educating your readers, your blog also serves as a catalyst for personal growth and self-improvement.
If your BMI is 1 or below: You are a cut-and-paste hack, and your blog is soon to be forgotten amongst the endless hordes of aggregators and arbitrageurs. Sorry!
If your BMI is somewhere in between: Consider reallocating your time, to maximize your blogging gains. Spend more time listening, and less time talking. Prioritize learning above teaching. Read more, write less. Your own readers will thank you for it.
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18 responses so far ↓
1 Patrick Parker // Jul 24, 2007
Hi, Chris. I love the idea of an index of blog originality. This BMI is great, and I’ll be trying to use it soon.
I also just posted my response to your comment on my blog about eye contact.
http://mokurendojo.blogspot.com/2007/07/dont-look-into-eye_24.html
Keep up the good work, Chris.
2 Andreas // Jul 28, 2007
Nice tipps! Best regards.
Andreas
3 Mark // Jul 29, 2007
This is a really excellent article. I read a lot of blogs and also non-blog websites for inspiration, as well as reading books offline. Your article contains first-rate advice not only for bloggers, but also for life in general. Thanks!
4 Bloggrrl // Aug 4, 2007
Clever clever clever! I love the way you presented this!
5 Harrison // Aug 5, 2007
From the calculation, we must read 10 articles or more before write 1 for our blogs.
6 Chris // Aug 5, 2007
Yes, if you have no relevant experience, and get all your information from the Internet, and yet somehow do not consider yourself a hack writer.
Try performing a web search for “make money online”, and you’ll see why I implore all bloggers to check their BMI.
7 Stuart // Aug 5, 2007
You know I don’t agree with you, I think writing is more important than reading because knowledge doesn’t necessarily come from the outside world only, introspection and subjective experience are great sources of knowledge as well….. but I loved the BMI, very clever
8 bullast // Aug 6, 2007
excellent ideas
9 Chris // Aug 6, 2007
Thank you for illustrating my point. If you had read my article carefully, you would have noticed that I prioritize personal experience above blogs and books.
10 Stuart // Aug 6, 2007
That figures, the one paragraph I didn’t read.
11 John Hewitt, Friendly Neighborhood Writer // Aug 7, 2007
My blog is influenced by a lot of sources, but that is probably because I read so much naturally. I don’t go out looking for topics to blog about, but I find plenty of them just the same.
12 Galba Bright of Tune up your EQ // Sep 2, 2007
Hello Chris: A nice article with a great analogy. I agree with the concept. When you speak of “Specific, relevant events and life experiences are worth five points each. ” should this calculation be included in the articles read sub-total? Kudos to you also for the PersonalDevelopment Oracle .. a great BMI tool
13 Chris // Sep 3, 2007
Galba, you are correct. I left it out of the graphic for the sake of simplicity.
I used the Personal Development Oracle to assist me in writing my latest article on goals.
14 Galba Bright of Tune up your EQ // Sep 3, 2007
Thanks for the clarification, Chris: So reflection and reading are required if we are to become effective writers.
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