5 Habits Every Blogger Needs to Build a Successful Blog

This article may contain affiliate / compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.

Let me lay it out for you plain and simple: to succeed in blogging, you need to build healthy blogging habits.

In the most basic terms, habits are the things we do and decisions we make every day. It is a routine or behavior that is repeated consistently to a point where it occurs subconsciously.

Habits can be good or bad, and can apply to any area of our lives…Blogging included. 

The habits you form around blogging have the power to make or break your success. This makes it so important to cultivate healthy habits that will allow you to be more productive, focused, goal oriented and driven when it comes to building your blog. 

Although some blogging habits may seem small and minute, consistently working on these actions will allow you to start doing them instinctively and drive your blog to greater heights… without even thinking about it!

We believe so much in the power of habits and have seen first hand how effective they can be when applied to blogging. 

By developing healthy blogging habits, my partner Tom and I were able to grow our hobby blog into one of the top 25 travel blogs in the world! Our habits have enabled us to become more intentional bloggers, maintain productive mindsets and always work towards the big picture.

If you’re curious about which habits led to our blogging success, keep reading to find out!

5 Habits Every Blogger Should Have

While there are dozens of habits that will make a huge difference in your blogging life, these are the five we believe are essential to success.

With these five habits, you stand a chance at building (or growing) a successful blog with practices that can be carried over into your personal life as well. These habits are absolutely necessary for every blogger, but prove to have great personal benefits, too.

1. Intentionally Make Time to Work on Your Blog

For any blogger, one of the best habits you can have is actually making the time to work on your blog.

The thing is, while you may want a successful blog more than anything, if you don’t intentionally carve out time to work on and develop it, that successful blog is never going to be a reality.

Your blog isn’t going to build itself! You actually need time to develop blogging skills, create your pages, write and publish articles, market your blog and grow it. 

If you can intentionally carve out time to work on your blog instead viewing it as a side project to fiddle with when you’re bored, you’ll get into the habit of blogging more and more until working on it comes naturally.

And when working on your blog comes naturally, so do the benefits of the habit like producing valuable content, increased skill and lots of potential for growth. 

Making time to work on your blog doesn’t have to be hard. I know with a busy schedule, the last thing you want is to add something else into the mix, but if you can find a way to work on your blog for even one hour every day, you’ll reap the benefits time and time again.

The key to making time to work on your blog is to manage your time well. It doesn’t matter if you’re building a blog on the side while working a 9-5 job or blogging full-time… managing your time well is the key to actually getting things done.

Time Blocking

My partner Tom and I both have pretty hectic work schedules and have plenty of things in our personal life to keep us occupied as well.

To stay on track, we use the Time Blocking method, which is basically scheduling out everything in our day. Whether it’s eating, sleeping, exercising, date nights, or anything else you may cram into 24 hours, putting this into a calendar and actually seeing it blocked visually out lets you know where your free time lies.

This method works super well even if you’re working full-time and blogging on the side. See, you can create one big time block for your job, showing that you’re unavailable from 9-5 Monday through Friday. 

When you put your work schedule in there (along with dinner time, tucking kids into bed and any other obligations you may have in the evening) you may notice that once your day is done, you actually have a good amount of time you can spend blogging before hitting the hay.

Simultaneously, if you see that you’re week is full to the brim, consider waking up a few hours earlier or allotting time during your weekends to get blogging work done.

Remember, like any other business, in the early stages, if you want to see success, you have to be willing to sacrifice a bit. I personally love this quote which says:

“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

-Anonymous

Time blocking allows you to lay everything out in front of you and then take a step back and see where you may be wasting hours on Netflix when you could be working on your blog.

You’ll be able to see that you’ve intentionally carved out an hour every day to hit the gym and five hours a week to catch up with your friends. Chances are, you can find another hour in your day to get some work done on your blog.

Resources to Help You Manage Your Time

You can use any sort of calendar for time blocking, whether it’s the desktop iCal, your phone calendar or Google Calendar (our personal preference). It’s convenient once it’s set up, while still allowing variation if you’re one to roll with the punches.

If you’re looking for something else, check out this list of 5 of the best time blocking apps. 

2. Become Goal-Oriented

In any area of life, having goals is important, but it’s an especially crucial habit for bloggers to follow. If you can get into the habit of setting blogging goals, you’ll be able to stay focused and work on things that really matter.

When you set goals, you always know what you’re working towards. You’ll always have a direction to follow instead of working on your blog aimlessly and hoping for results.

Goals help you align your vision with reality and give you an open road to achieve them.

As a blogger, it’s pretty safe to assume that your long term goal is to… well, build a successful blog. But it’s important to have smaller goals that can help you get there.

Besides the giant overarching goal of success, it’s important to get into the habit of setting more bite sized, actionable targets that will continuously get you one step closer to your dream end result.

If you ever feel like you’re lost or deviating from the place you want to be, ask yourself, “is what I’m working on now helping me achieve my long term goals?” If the answer is yes, you’ll know that you’re on the right track. But if the answer is no, you’re giving yourself the chance to recalibrate, change course and put in the work that actually matters.

When it comes to getting into the habit of setting goals, the most important thing you can do is write them down! 

Take an hour or two to sit down and determine goals for:

• Long term: What is your long term goal for your blog? How much do you want to be earning? How many readers do you want every month? Really take the time to envision your dream blogging business.
• Yearly: What do you hope to accomplish this year with your blog?
• Quarterly: What projects can you work on in three months to bring you closer to your long term goals?
• Monthly: What can you do this month to get to your quarterly goals?
• Weekly: What can you work on this week to get closer to your goal for the month?
• And finally, Daily: What can you do today to achieve your goals for the week?

As you can see, goal setting is a long train, but one with a clear engine at the front that keeps on pulling you to success, so you stay on the tracks.

After defining your goals, be sure to track them! Every time you get closer to a goal, you should make a note of it, showing that you’re making progress and motivate yourself to keep on moving forward.

If you track your goals, you’ll also be able to see what may not be working the way you hoped, giving you the chance to change your plan of attack and get back on the road to success. 

Making a habit out of setting blogging goals and becoming a goal-oriented person not only gives you something to strive towards, but paves the path to an overall successful person.

By having a long term goal and creating actionable plans on the way, you’re able to stay focused, understand what you’re working towards and clearly know how to get there. 

Having clear goals for us and what we are working on also allows us to create a great work-life balance as we know exactly what we are working towards!

Resources to Become More Goal-Oriented

There are hundreds of goal setting worksheets available online and plenty of planners that help you track your goals, too.

Out of all of them, I’m a particular fan of this SMART Goals worksheet that helps you get your thoughts on paper and craft goals surrounding success.

The 100-Day Goal Journal is also a lovely resource that allows you to define, track and reflect on your goals. The prompts are quick but meaningful, allowing you to really think about what you hope to accomplish with your blog and how you’ll get there.

3. Practice Consistency

While you can do anything for your blog one time, being consistent with the work you put in is one of the most important habits you can have.

The truth is, doing something once won’t really have any effect on your blog. You can write one article, insert one affiliate link, or make one Pinterest image but that won’t do much when it comes to building a successful blog.

The real power comes from doing it consistently, over and over again. Consistency drives results.

You may have all these end goals and dreams in mind, but you’ll need a system to achieve them and that’s where consistency comes in. By practicing the methods you’re using and applying them to your blog over and over again, you’re putting yourself in a much better position to achieve your goals.

Besides building out your blog, consistency is key if you want to become a better blogger in general.

To develop any kind of skill (blogging skills included), you’ll need to practice them consistently until they’re almost like second nature.

If you want to become a better writer, you’ll need to constantly produce content and hone in on your writing skills.

If you want to be a better marketer, you’ll need to frequently promote your content and use different techniques to drive people to your blog.

If you want to be better at creating Pins, you’ll need to make them until design feels like second nature.

The saying: practice makes perfect really rings true, especially when it comes to blogging because when you do things consistently, your skill will continue to improve and the more likely it is to have a powerful impact on your blog.

So…how exactly do you go about consistently doing things? Our top recommendation is Habit Stacking!

Habit Stacking

Another great way to practice consistency is to get in the habit of performing one action and immediately following it with another. 

Doing this easily introduces new habits into the mix by adding them onto habits that you already regularly perform.

This is the concept of Habit Stacking, introduced by James Clear in his book, Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results. 

He tells us that if you pair your habits so that you always perform a specific action before or after another one, it will become second nature to do both of these things.

Clear also created a formula to demonstrate this: 

After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]. 

Sounds a bit confusing, but let’s put it into blogging terms.

• Before I write a new article, I will do my keyword research.
• Before I publish a post, I will run it through a grammar check and thoroughly proofread and edit it.
• After I publish an article, I will file the photos on my computer.
• After I finish eating dinner, I will work on my blog for one hour. 

When you tack a new action (keyword research, proofreading, filing photos) onto a habit you’re already programmed to perform (writing articles, publishing posts, eating dinner), you’re creating two habits in one. 

This ensures that the small but important tasks that get brushed to the wayside are performed consistently. 

This can make all the difference when it comes to building a successful blog! Not only are you developing good habits, but you’re doing them over and over again, giving them the chance to actually compound and take effect. 

To give yourself motivation to be consistent, create a habit tracker where you can write down the things you want to accomplish and tick them off every day that you do them.

Not only will it give you great satisfaction getting to fill in that little box or put a checkmark next to the habit, but it will show you the progress you’re making, one day at a time.

Resources to Develop Consistency

4. Adapt a Growth Mindset

Another one of the best habits a blogger can have is to always always strive to grow your knowledge. 

Whether this is by learning valuable skills or simply brushing up on your theory, expanding your knowledge is a great habit to have when it comes to building a successful blog.

If you’re not familiar with this word, a growth mindset is the belief that learning and practice drive success.

With the growth mindset, you acknowledge that you’re not born an amazing blogger (writer, photographer, etc…), but realize that you can utilize resources and continuously expand your knowledge so you can develop the skills to get you there. 

This means that anyone can succeed in blogging so long as you commit to always striving to learn more. 

You can grow your knowledge in dozens of different ways… resources are practically limitless!

Books are an invaluable resource as they are chalk full of in-depth information on a particular subject, giving readers the chance to dive deep into something they want to learn more about. 

Other blogs are also a great starting point for gaining helpful advice and reading about what worked for other people. 

There are also an enormous amount of courses online that you can take to boost your knowledge in areas like SEO, content creation, marketing, sales, and so much more.

Getting in the habit of consistently seeking out new skills and knowledge is KEY to building a successful blog. Over the years, even though we have grown our travel blog into a level we are happy with, we are still constantly seeking out new knowledge and skills to help us grow it even more!

To date, Tom and I have taken numerous courses that we can attribute our success to- all because we know that skill acquisition and knowledge building are two of the most important things when building a business.

Resources to Develop a Growth Mindset

Check out our hand-picked list of 25 of the best blogging books that will expand your knowledge on creating a blog, mindset and motivation, productivity and other topics that will help you succeed. 

These are the same books that we swear transformed our business!

To improve some of your skills like design, creative writing, etc. head over to Skillshare to find online courses in just about every subject under the sun. Check them out here and get two months of free access!

Lastly, be sure to check out our free online training, where Tom and I walk you through key ways to build a successful blog and grow it into a business.  This training is where we share ALL the tips that we did that helped us build a six-figure blog.

5. Practice Positivity

I know this sounds a little corny, but every single blogger out there should get into the habit of practicing positivity.

While this may sound like hippie-dippie nonsense, positivity is actually one of the most powerful driving forces when it comes to cultivating a productive mindset and starting, building and growing a blog.

Mindset is seriously everything when it comes to blogging. If you believe you can accomplish something, you’ll motivate yourself to put the work in. If you believe that you can make time to work on your blog, you will find that extra hour. If you believe that you can make money with your blog, you’ll hustle to achieve it. 

It’s all about how you think about blogging, how you frame the tasks in your mind and how you can motivate yourself to work smarter (not harder) to achieve your goals and reach success.

Even the simple re-framing of “I need to work on my blog tonight” vs “I get to work on my blog tonight” makes a world of a difference in your attitude and perspective.

While blogging is generally pretty fun, it’s not always rainbows and sunshine. Without the right strategy, it can be disheartening working on something without seeing direct results.

However, we’re firm believers that if you take the time to practice positivity, it’ll turn into a productive habit that shines through in your work and your mindset.

Check out this Ted Talk by Alison Ledgerwood who shows us real evidence of the power of positive thinking!

Attitude of Gratitude

One thing that really helped me shift my mindset to a positive state is practicing gratitude. Every day, Tom and I take a couple minutes to write down the things we’re thankful for and it helps us remember that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel, even when things look bleak.

If you take the time to remind yourself that there’s still so much to be grateful for, you’ll remember why you’re on this blogging journey and what you can gain from it.

The more you practice being grateful, the easier it will become to make a habit out of it. And once it’s a habit, you’ll be able to seamlessly integrate gratitude into your daily life and let it infiltrate your mindset.

And it’s so easy to do, too!

Just grab a piece of paper or start a new journal and write down three things you’re grateful for. Do it either first thing in the morning or before you get into bed at night and see how much of a difference it makes. 

It can be things as simple as:

• I am grateful I get to work on a blog
• I am grateful for the support of my family and friends
• I am grateful for having internet connection and a laptop
• I am grateful for an outlet to pursue my passions
• I am grateful for the amazing lunch I had today!

Gratitude works wonders when it comes to building a positive mindset and gives you motivation to continue pushing on by keeping things in perspective. 

Although it is hard to see the direct correlation between gratitude and building a successful blog, adapting this small practice allows you to be more positive and willing to stick things out when the going gets tough!

Celebrate Small Wins

Since blogging isn’t a get rich quick scheme, it can be hard to see that you’re making progress… even when you are! 

With big goals like generating $10,000 from your blog, getting 50,000 monthly readers, or acquiring 1,000 emails for your list, it’s easy to miss the smaller milestones that get you closer to these goals every day.

I still remember when we made our first affiliate sale. We had been trying our hand at affiliate marketing for what felt like forever and still weren’t getting any conversions.

But finally, something we did worked and made our first $50. Although I sheepishly admit that we spent it all on drinks that night-I didn’t care.

I was so happy that I was dancing around the room, a huge smile on my face.

Now I know the amount isn’t huge…BUT reaching that first milestone and celebrating it made a world of a difference as it motivated us even more.

This win was small but celebrating it reminded me that what we were doing was actually working!

It also let me know that all of the hours we were putting in would pay off… and that $50 was just the jumping off point for what was in store.

Celebrating small victories and adapting an attitude of gratitude are great ways to fuel a positive mindset and give yourself motivation to keep on putting the work in.

Whether it’s making your first sale, hitting your first 1,000 readers or even getting your blog up and running, these wins are evidence that what you’re doing is working and reason to keep on going.

Resources to Develop Positivity

Using a combination of these five habits, you will succeed as a blogger. Qualities that most successful bloggers have are derived from these core habits. 

Take it from me! Developing these habits and practices gave me the time to work on our blog, the motivation to push forward, goals to strive towards, ever-growing knowledge and rewards for wins, no matter the size. 

While it takes time and repetition, these habits can act as a catalyst for your blog, propelling your success further and further.

Like this Article? Pin it!