The Top 5 Blogs From my First Year of Blogging

The first week of June marks one year of blogging for me. On June 1 2015, I launched my website from Laguna Beach, Southern California. It was with some trepidation but a lot of excitement. Every week for the past twelve months, I’ve published a new blog. This special post recaps the Top 5 most popular blogs, as decided by the number of page views each blog received. 

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Eliminate Your Fear of Calling for the Ball 

Eliminate your fear of calling for the ball was a surprisingly popular post. The reason being, it was picked up by a former student of mine and now mate, Jackson Clark. Jackson is a sports writer and the man behind the highly popular Facebook page, NT Football Scores and News by Jackson Clark. 

I decided to write the post on this topic at the start of the 2015/16 AFLNT season when I noticed some players lacked confidence in calling for the ball. This seemed to be for a variety of reasons ranging from fatigue due to lack of conditioning, to being afraid of making a mistake and looking bad in front of teammates, the coach and the crowd. In this blog, I gave my six ideas for how to start the process of developing confidence on a football field. These six strategies can be extrapolated to all sports and other facets of life. 

What Does Sugar do to Your Body?

What sugar does to your body was not surprisingly in the top five. I didn’t think it would be so high up though. I believe what sugar does to your body resonated with so many people because it’s so topical at the moment. There are lots of people talking about how bad sugar is for you and I believe people still want to know more about that. 

I decided to write this post after watching, and being completely moved, by ‘That Sugar Film’ by Damon Gameau. The story on Mai Wiru resonated me as I live in the Northern Territory and see the impact of sugar on Indigenous people on a daily basis. In this blog, I list eight of the most common problems sugar creates in the body. 

Get Ripped in 7 Days

I wasn’t surprised this blog made the top 5 and top 3 sounds about right. I discovered this heading by downloading Michael Hyatt’s Ultimate Blog Headline Swipe File. That file is a collection of the most useful blog headlines Michael and others have used engage readers. Michael is a very successful blogger with a huge following. I’ve used a lot of his resources and advice to give my blogs the engagement they receive. 

I decided to choose this headline because it’s something I know a lot about. I knew it would be easy for me to write, although it took a long time with the detail I went into. This blog is obviously about getting ripped but it’s also about getting the fittest you could ever be for any sport. Get ripped in seven days consists of four strength workouts (two upper body and two lower body), two cardio workouts and one rest day. Remember, rest and recovery is the most important component of anything in life. 

The Life Lessons I Learned From the 52 Week Money Challenge

Initially I didn’t expect anything different from this blog, but after writing a few blogs on my personal experiences with debt and managing money, it comes at no surprise this blog made the top five. I think the reason people engage with my blogs around money is that I talk about them from a personal experience. I’m no financial adviser and I can’t offer advice but I’m open and honest about my struggles with money and I think many people can relate with my story. 

I decided to write this post after seeing amazing results from my own experiences of following this savings strategy. What I love about it are there are three ways you can follow it, to suit personal preferences and circumstances, and you can easily alter the goal to match your income. In this blog, I explain the challenge and give my tips for what I learned from this challenge, which can be extrapolated to other areas of life. 

How I Dragged Myself out of a Financial Hole

After seeing the engagement of other financial topic blogs, I’m not surprised this one made the top five either. Again, this blog is about my personal experiences with money and I peel back the layers to expose my true experiences, leaving me vulnerable. I believe people appreciate that and can relate. These blogs are the most popular because people can take great insights from someone else's experiences to make a difference in their own lives. 

I decided to write this post because I wanted to help people who might be struggling in debt. I know there are a lot of people out there who find it hard to meet the day-to-day needs of living. I created a plan, which gave me hope, and with that, I was able to slowly and systematically get myself out of that hole. I still have a little bit more to go but I’m peeking out the top now. This post was inspired by the fifty-two week money challenge. 

What was your favourite blog from the past year?

Leave your answer to that question in the comments section below.