Want a great blog? Should you stop caring or stop being afraid?

I’ve read several great posts over the last month that all address the theme that you need to ‘stop caring’ in order for your blog to grow and prosper. Each of them make the point in different ways that your blog will be more successful when it’s about you and it’s sharing your thoughts. ‘Stop caring’ about what other people think and focus on what you’re passionate about.  Conceptually, I think it’s great advice. But for me; the theme is missing one important element. I need to focus more on not being afraid rather than stop caring.

Maybe I’m warped and narcissist but the fact is that I do care what other people think about what I write. Honestly, if I didn’t care I wouldn’t bother. I’d rather talk to people than blog to them. Why am I blogging? Well, I want to get my ideas out there to be seen as a thought leader and I’d like to make some money doing it over time. There, I said it. Don’t hate me for it.

Here are 3 ‘stop caring’ blogs that made a lot of sense to me.

http://www.socmedsean.com/the-one-tip-that-took-my-blog-to-new-levels-stop-caring/

http://thomaslarock.com/2012/06/this-blog-post-shows-i-stopped-caring/

http://marlonribunal.com/i-dont-care-and-why-that-is-good-for-my-blog/

Here’s a summary of the key advice Sean shared in his blog (it’s the first one in the list above).

All of that advice is great. But as I chew on the advice and try to make it my own I keep focusing on the idea that I need to stop being afraid of what others will think about what I write. I care a lot. That won’t change; or I should say, that if I stop caring I’ll simply stop writing. Writing is hard for me. It’s not fun or cathartic. I want to write because I care about what you think. But sometimes I don’t write because I’m afraid of what you will think.