Forrest Gump said life was like a box of chocolates. In 2010, I think he’d be more apt to say:

Life is like a bunch of blog posts–you never know the impact of you’re gonna write.

Blogging creates a platform to influence people, even people who don’t know you beyond your About page.

If you’re a blogger, I hope this list inspires you. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, I hope it convinces you to take the plunge.

7 Ways Blogging is Just Like Life

1. It’s hard. If that’s not a euphemism I don’t know what is. Nothing about life is easy. You have to wake up every day and decide that you’re going to take things in stride, putting your best foot forward. Blogging is the same way. There are days when you’re not going to want to write. There are days when you know you have something to say, but you don’t make the time to say it. Make the time. It’s worth it. We want to hear from you.

2. You’re going to have off days. If we knew which side of the bed was the wrong one, we’d probably avoid getting up on it. If we knew which blog posts were going to be absolute garbage, we probably wouldn’t write them. Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable. All you can hope to do is keep driving forward in an effort to find out what works and what doesn’t. Then, simply do the things that work.

3. What you do gets noticed… People watchers are everywhere. People notice when you help an old lady cross the street, and when you walk out of the bathroom with toilet paper on your foot. People are reading your posts and talking about them with others, for better or worse. But…

4. …but not everyone is going to comment. Just because people see you doing fantastic things doesn’t mean they are going to say something to you. Some will encourage you to keep going through their comments, but most won’t say a word. Be encouraged by the people who take the time to tell you, and don’t forget about the majority you’re impacting who aren’t saying anything.

5. You have an opportunity to make an impact every day. Each day you live and each post you write is going to affect someone’s thinking. The information you share in conversations and through posts will either integrate with their worldview or differentiate from it. It inspires critical thinking. You are filling a void no one else in this world can by doing what you do every day.

6. To keep influencing, you have to stay motivated. When things get hard, the easiest thing to do is quit. Please don’t. What you do matters. Every day you have a chance to positively or negatively affect the people around you. If you are motivated to make a difference, you will. Without the driving force of motivation, you’re going to ineveitably lose your impact. Let your impact motivate you.

7. It’s not about the stats. If you can only help one person today [or if only one person reads your blog], don’t be upset because Oprah just gave away 500 cars. Do all that you can with the platform you have. That’s all we can ask of you.

Keep blogging. Keep living your life to make a difference. People notice. We need your influence.