Learning from Mistakes

I’m back.

It’s been a while since my last post so a brief explanation is in order.  I started Running Buddy with the goal of the site becoming a resource for all things running, and I had big plans for it.  I still do.  But I made some mistakes getting started that I’m now thankful I have the opportunity to fix.

Saturday's St. Patrick's Day Parade in Hoboken, NJ. Needless to say, there was a lot of green (which I didn't have because I didn't know we'd be celebrating St. Patty's Day on March 6!)

In my pre-kickoff research for RB, I looked at other blogs and how they got started.  I dug into the archives of Get Rich Slowly, one of my favorite and most admired blogs, written by J.D. Roth.  J.D. started from scratch and today makes his living blogging and writing.  Not a bad role model, I thought, so I looked at the first month of his blog, April 2006, and discovered he wrote his first post on April 9 and had one or more posts almost every single day from then into eternity.

Not to be deterred, I set out to post every day.

That was my first mistake.  Blogging in this way is a little like dieting, in that you fight to stay consistent but it’s very possible to fall off the wagon.  I fell off the wagon in December and climbed back on today.  But without the self-imposed pressure to post every day, I feel a bit more liberated, more optimistic, and confident that I’ll be able to consistently—if not exactly every single day—be able to post here and make RB a site worth following.

Mistake Number Two was narrowly defining my site’s focus.  Now admittedly, “inspiration for running, fitness, and life” is not that narrow.  But I was feeling a little obligated at least to maintain a semblance of something running-related in each post and while running is certainly one of my muses, it’s not necessarily something I have the urge to write about every single day.  I need to broaden my palette here, if you will, and that’s what I intend on doing.

The goal here will still be to inspire and help people achieve great things, so “Running Buddy” as I’ve defined it remains a good title for the site.  And, as running remains a major part of my life (notwithstanding my lingering injury), you can expect to find plenty of running posts in the future.  But a lot of other great content will wander these pages as well.

The place where lived for three years in Princeton after graduating from college. (No, unfortunately I didn't own it!)

I’m on the road this week, traveling for work and visiting friends I don’t get to see very often in New Jersey and Philly.   I usually have more people to see than available time, and my trips, rather than opportunities for relaxation, end up turning into non-stop lists of activities that rival even my busiest days in California.  But plenty of moments of solitude do arise (such as now), which should give me a few good opportunities this week for new posts.

Yesterday I was asked to be the best man in the wedding of one of my best friends, and it completely made my day.  I’m so happy for him and his fiancée, and I can’t wait for the celebration.

In the meantime, I’ll be here, writing.  And hopefully giving you good reasons to keep coming back!