Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that he learned everything he needed to know to be a success from bodybuilding,and though it might just sound like a nice sentiment, but actually there’s more logic there than you probably think. Now don’t worry; the purpose of this article is not to convince you to get into the gym, but rather it’s to show how more general fitness training is actually very similar to SEO and working online. Hopefully this article will help you to look at what you do in a different way, even if it doesn’t quite get you to hit the gym…
Dedication
Of course the main thing that Arnie was talking about in his famous quote, was the fact that bodybuilding teaches you hardiness. And not just physical hardiness, but the kind of mental discipline that’s needed to work towards a goal until you see it through, and to work even when you don’t feel like it.
And the exact same thing applies to SEO of course. While you might like working online for a living – it has clear perks – sometimes SEO can feel like a bit of a slog to say the least and it can take quite a lot of willpower to stick at it. Just as you might sometimes feel like saying no to your next workout, so you will often feel like giving up before you’ve written that last article. Success is in that moment when you decide to carry on anyway.
Tip: When going to the gym and motivating myself to get out the door, I often break down what I need to do into the smallest possible steps to make it seem less daunting. Do the smallest thing you can – even if that’s just loading up your computer – and before you know it you’ll have written more articles.
Research
People think of gym-rats as meat heads a lot of the time, but actually this isn’t really fair – at least not for the ones who really take it seriously. To be a success in the gym you see, you actually need to do a lot of reading and research into the science behind muscle building and weightloss.
And the same of course goes for SEO. If you have been blindly posting links and articles for the last five years without reading up on any of the latest news in optimisation, then by now you’ll probably have run your site into the ground. Don’t just slog then, but slog smart and make sure you have the advantage of knowledge on your side.
Goal Setting
A lot of fitness is about goal setting, and your ability to set goals well will greatly impact on your ability to achieve them. The same is true of SEO, so use the method that lots of athletes use: instead of focussing on one overarching goal, instead just focus on lots of smaller daily goals. If you set your target at being at the top of the SERPs for ‘Make Money Online’ in a year’s time, then you’ll likely get disappointed and may even forget all about it as it’s so far away (just like planning to lose ‘2stone in a year’). Instead then, think about how you get to that point and write daily goals to this end. Your goal then might be to generate two links and write two articles every day. This goal is directly under your control, and if you manage to stick to it, you’ll find that the larger successes come with time too. As with fitness, writing a detailed plan can help a great deal too – then success simply becomes a matter of following a road map.
Reward
And finally, as in fitness, if you stick to your goals and your training plans, you’ll find that you eventually get the rewards that you’re looking for. While bodybuilding will get you jealous stares from members of the same sex and make you feel powerful and confident, having a successful website will likewise make you feel that great sense of accomplishment and give you the freedom to spend your time how you want to more in future. With SEO, as with fitness, it’s all worth at the end once you reach that goal…
