The Evolution Of This Blog, Unlike Biological Evolution, Is Goal-Oriented

Hi folks,

This morning I was completing a two hour run on the road, having ridden my bike for about 120 miles in the last 36 hours, with most of this training undertaken at >90°F and high humidity. The usual pre-taper stuff one does for Ironman training. My mind was wandering, maybe because of the relentless heat. I started to think about where my blog is going. Is it evolving, I wondered? I tried to come up with a word for ‘blog evolution.’ Blog comes from weblog (coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997, apparently), but evolution? Here is a definition from the Internet:

“1620s, “an opening of what was rolled up,” from L. evolutionem (nom. evolutio) “unrolling (of a book),” noun of action from evolvere (see evolve). Used in various senses in medicine, mathematics, and general use, including “growth to maturity and development of an individual living thing” (1660s).” From the Online Etymology Dictionary.

I like to think that my blog is evolving in the sense that it is ‘growing to maturity,’ or that is what I am trying to do with it anyway. Whenever I attempt to improve something in my life my default approach is to (a) meditate upon it, (b) study it, through books or other literature, (c) create a synthesis of my learning, which really means have an opinion about what I learned, (d) act upon this opinion, and (e) watch what happens next.

My meditation led to the conclusion that I first blogged to find other people, preferably endurance athletes, with an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in order to find someone to talk to about mine and the concerns it engendered in my psyche. This motivation slowly changed into the pleasure of telling stories about things that interest me. Finally, I clearly had an underlying motive to use blogging to complement my e-business aspirations (see: Old Dogs in Training LLC). Having been gently pushed off of the gravy train of my great PHARMA job within days of discovering my AAA, change was clearly on my immediate horizon. The juxtaposition of these momentous (for me) events was serendipitous, as they were causally unrelated.

This situation encouraged the making of plans to supplement my income over the coming years, many of which were based on ideas I gleaned from The Four Hour Work Week, which my son, Nick, fortunately insisted that I read. I have had no interest in the concept of retirement since reading Steven M. Pollen’s excellent book ‘Die Broke,’ and I enjoy spending money on good stuff, be it for me or someone else of my choosing.

It would appear that my blog has three goals or functions:

1. Finding support for my AAA situation, but this is now satisfied by  the AAA Facebook site.
2. Telling stories.
3. Helping my planned e-business interests.

So much for meditation. Time for some education on the nature of blogging and blogging skills.

Daniel Sharkov, really helpful guy in Bulgaria - Thanks!

There is a lot of good stuff out there, to which I was frequently guided by Twitter (that I use in conjunction with Tweetdeck and Twuffer).  This great blogsite, for instance, came to me via a friendly chap, Daniel Sharkov in Bulgaria. One of his recent, and very helpful, tweets said,

“3 Blogging eBooks That are Worth the Read – http://su.pr/161PzR #Blogging”

As I trust this guy who seems to know more about blogging than I imagined needed knowing, I bought book number one on his list, and here it is.

As the proverbial old dog, I am learning new stuff again. Love it!

The first thing this book asks me to do is sum up the nature of my blog in a way that would convince someone to consider reading it. This has to be completed in 100-150 words. My best attempt so far, with a heat-stressed brain and exhausted body, is:

My blog, https://athletewithstent.com, the complementary website, http://olddogsintraining.com, and downloadable training manual (under construction) have been designed to help older people with health challenges become and stay physically and mentally fit through the creation of their own personal exercise philosophy. This philosophy is developed using guidance and insights based on my life experiences and those of others, combined with links to a wide range of online resources, to create a road map to intelligent training and a healthy, balanced life. The goal or dream is to reach a target audience of people over 50 years of age, who are not seriously physically handicapped, and to convince them to think like athletes not like ‘old people,’ and thus reduce their risk of diabetes, heart disease, and a generally unfulfilling life.

That’s it in 126 words. Let’s see how I do after working through the book. Sure looks insightful, entertaining and challenging.

-k @FitOldDog