Blogs are everywhere. Your friends have them. Celebrities have them. Companies have them. So why don’t you have one?

You don’t want to jump on the bandwagon right? Why follow the crowd? No one cares what you think so there’s really no point writing it down.

Wrong. These days, blogging has become an essential part of one’s personal and professional life. Your blog allows others to understand how you function and think. You are able to connect with an audience that reaches much farther than your network of friends and family.

Here is a list of the top 5 reasons I started blogging and why I think you should start too:

1) Blogging is a learning process

There isn’t a day of blogging where I haven’t learned something new. When you immerse yourself in a community, you are forced to put yourself in their perspective. Every blog post you make should be well researched and informative so that you provide some sort of value for your audience.

2) Blogging tests your discipline and commitment

When you have finally taken the first step in creating your blog, you have stopped thinking and started doing. From that day on, you must have the discipline to sit down periodically and write. If you can’t even start and follow through with something as simple as a blog, do you honestly think you have the commitment to follow through with anything else?

3) Blogging allows you to express yourself while influencing and helping others

I incorporated my blog with this website so that while you read the interviews and occasional articles, you can also understand my personal life and the ways I express myself. My passions have been a big part of my life because they have driven me to where I am now. I sincerely hope that by reading interviews of other people and their passions, you are inspired to find your own and do something you love.

4) Blogging will introduce you to a different community

Do not live within your shell because it is comfortable. There is a vast world out there with so many people to meet. Through blogging, you will definitely find new connections and networks that you would never find in person. New people mean new ideas and perspectives. You will have conversations with people halfway around the world who may have similar passions and interests as you do.

5) Blogging will change your life

You cannot truly understand the power of a blog and what it does for you until you start one yourself.

“There is something that happens to a person when they hit that “publish” button – you cross a threshold – you move from consumer to producer – you put your intellectual neck on the line and I really think that you aren’t the same person after that.” -Mark Oehlert