In The Medici Effect (here is my review), there’s a term I’m interested in: the Intersection. It’s a place where ideas and experiences from different fields meet and form new ideas. It’s a fascinating place to be because excitement from different fields come together at one place. Even more, you can get a lot of fresh ideas that make your and other people’s lives better.

Living in the Intersection has always been a dream of mine. The question, of course, is how. One good way to answer it is by learning from those who are already there. Specifically, there is a certain kind of people with Intersection experience I want to discuss here. They are the polymaths.

Polymaths are people who are extraordinarily intelligent in multiple fields. They live and thrive in the Intersection. Perhaps the most famous one is Leonardo da Vinci but there are still many others. Two examples of modern polymaths are Nathan Myhrvold and Jared Diamond.

I’m not saying that we should be polymaths but I believe we can learn from them about how to live in the Intersection. Here are several lessons I learn:

1. Be curious

Curiosity is perhaps the most obvious characteristic of a polymath. It’s their deep curiosity that fuels them to explore many different fields. They want to know about the world from different perspectives. They want to experience new adventures.

So build your curiosity. Don’t take things for granted. Keep an open mind and be on the lookout of interesting things.

2. Be enthusiastic

One thing I notice when watching polymaths speak is their level of energy and enthusiasm. Often their energy and enthusiasm are so contagious you can feel a fire ignited within you. They don’t do something because they have to. They do something because they love it.

So find things that make you excited. Find things you are passionate about and follow them.

3. Focus on one field before moving to a new one

I especially notice this with modern polymaths. Nathan Myhrvold got his doctoral degree in quantum physics and worked on cosmology. Later he moved to information technology until he became Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer. Jared Diamond, whose book Guns, Germs and Steel requires deep understanding of multiple disciplines to write, has similar story:

After graduating from Cambridge, he returned to Harvard as a Junior Fellow until 1965, and, in 1968, became Professor of Physiology at UCLA Medical School. While in his twenties, he also developed a second, parallel, career in the ornithology of New Guinea, and has since undertaken numerous research projects in New Guinea and nearby islands. In his fifties, Diamond gradually developed a third career in environmental history, and become a Professor of Geography at UCLA, his current position.

A polymath is like a serial entrepreneur who focuses on one business and makes it successful before creating a new business. By doing it this way, he doesn’t spread his effort too thin. He has the focus necessary to gain deep understanding of the field.

So dig deep into a field before moving to a new one. This will later help you connect the different fields better.

4. Connect different fields

This a big advantage the polymaths have over many other people. While specialists usually just see from the perspective of their field, polymaths can connect one field with another. When they approach a field, they bring their knowledge and experiences in other fields with them. This enables them to see things with fresh eyes. They can see things that other people can’t.

You should do the same. When you are dealing with a field, bring your experiences and ideas in other fields with you and find connections. This is how you get fresh ideas.

Photo by OliBac

Note: This is a guest post from Jonathan Beebe of Develop Minds

You may know all the reasons why you should keep a journal, but if you’ve never written in a journal before, or have limited experience with it, you may not exactly know how to get started. You’ve got your notebook out, and a blank page staring back at you… now what?

Of course, there’s no set rules to writing in a journal. You can write in it however you like and it’s effective either way; however, if you need just a little guidance to get you started on the right foot, I’ll show you an effective journal “template” that you can use day-to-day, and modify as you wish to suit your needs.

Remember, none of the “sections” listed below are required to be long. They can be as long as a few paragraphs, or as short as one sentence… it’s all up to you, after all, it’s your journal :-)

Gratitude

A good way to start any journal entry is to begin listing a few of the things you’re grateful for. If you do this on routine, it helps to write a few words as to why you’re grateful for each particular item, so you really feel grateful, rather than just writing from memorization.

Even if you only name one thing you’re truly grateful for, what this will do is help bring you into a positive mindset for not only your journal writing session, but for your entire day. Gratitude is one of the best ways to ignite positivity… and we all have something to be grateful for.

Personal Reflection

I then begin writing about where I’m at with the current goals that I’m working on, or touch on some of the things I mentioned in my previous entry (if applicable). For example, if I had planned on posting an article to my blog and also taking my wife and daughter to the park today, I’ll write whether or not I ended up following through and how it went (or why I didn’t end up doing it). If I see somewhere I need to improve as far as my goals go, I’ll recognize that as well.

This section of the journal entry is for making a “status check” of yourself to see where you’re at, evaluate your strengths, and assess your weaknesses. I recommend you also use this section to write down how you feel about certain things, and express your emotions.

Goal Focus

This is where you can make plans to fix the areas you’re weaker at, set goals for the next day, etc. The previous section was used for evaluating and assessing, and this section is for planning and thinking about the “next” step.

For example, let’s say my goal is to lose 25lbs and I took a nice walk the previous day to work towards my goal. In the “Personal Reflection” section, I can recognize the fact that I took some time to work on my fitness, but also take note that I should have probably ate less snacks during the day. Then, in the “Goal Focus” section, I could state that because the walk wasn’t very challenging, that I plan to go further the next day and cut back on my daily snacking.

What the above journaling template will do for you is:

• Get you started on the right track, with a mindset of gratitude.
• Allow you to assess your feelings, your strengths, and areas you could improve (whether it be goals or general personal growth areas).
• Ensure you are taking at least baby steps towards your goals each day.
• Allow you to have a clear “action plan” as to what you’re planning on doing next (whether it be later on that day, the next day, etc).

As I mentioned earlier, there is no “right” way to write in your journal, but if you’re unsure how to get started, following the above template will definitely give you an effective head start!

Jonathan Beebe is the author and creator of Develop Minds, a personal development blog dedicated to providing free content aimed at helping you improve you life by increasing your consciousness, intelligence, and teaching you to fully develop your mind in a positive way.

Photo by dailylifeofmojo

Note: This is a guest post by Amber Hensley of Online College

While you might already be ahead of the game if you are studying at all, you might as well make the most of the time you spend preparing for class and ensure that all those hours you put into reviewing notes and reading chapters actually pay off. Here are some tips that can help you learn to study better and get more out of what you’re studying so you can spend less time pouring over books and more time enjoying life at school.

1. Find some peace and quiet. Studies have shown that just 20 minutes of highly focused, quiet time can help you learn and remember more than hours of working with distractions and while multi-tasking. So, to get the most out of your study time retreat to a place where you won’t be bothered by loud music or talking and can just focus in on your work.

2. Get organized. If your papers and materials are all over, you’ll spend just as much time looking for what you need as actually reading through and absorbing material which doesn’t make for a very productive use of your time. Keep one notebook just for notes for a class and ensure that all your papers are in a place you can actually locate them. It might take more planning up front but it will pay off in the long run.

3. Take breaks. Studying intensely can really take a toll on your brain and eventually make it hard for you to think clearly at all. That isn’t much of a help when you’re trying to understand difficult concepts or learn new things. Take short breaks during your study time so you can rest your eyes and mind and come back refreshed and ready to learn.

4. Have a schedule. The problem with the way that many students study is that they wait until the last minute and begin cramming the day before a big test. This really isn’t the most effective way to learn or remember new information. While it might not be fun, spending time in the weeks leading up to a test reviewing the material will be much more beneficial and might actually help you remember the material after the test as well.

5. Consider the subject. Each subject has a particular way in which it will be easiest to learn and remember. Subjects that require memorization may be more easy to learn with flashcards and timelines while subjects like math that require problem solving might be better served with doing the practice problems in your book. Spend some time figuring out just how you learn each subject best and then use that knowledge to maximize what you get out of your study sessions.

6. Study more frequently. It isn’t the duration of your study sessions that really makes a difference, it’s the frequency. You’ll learn a lot more through repetition, so break up your study time into shorter sessions every day rather than trying to cram it all in at the last minute.

7. Write it down. For most people, writing things down helps big time when it comes time to recall things on a test or even just during study time. Take notes in class and use methods that require you to do something to actively participate in learning the material– not just reading it over and over.

8. Be realistic. You’re not going to be able to memorize an entire month’s worth of material in only one night of intense studying. You likely won’t remember a good chunk of it. Be realistic in how you break up your study sessions and tackle only the amount of material that you’ll actually be able to benefit from studying– not the whole book at once.

This post was contributed by Amber Hensley, who writes about the accredited online college. She welcomes your feedback at AmberHensley1980@ yahoo.com.

Photo by flgr

If you want to grow, one important thing you should do is keeping a journal. It may seem simple, but it can make a big difference in your life.

I myself have been journaling for years. Writing all the lessons I learn and all the ideas I get has become a habit for me. And to be honest, it’s difficult to imagine how my life would be without it.

Here are some benefits you will get by keeping a journal:

1. It trains you to be observant. Once you make journaling a habit, you will develop the habit of being observant in all your experiences. You will get way more ideas and lessons this way. Instead of paying attention to the negative side of things, you pay attention to the positive side to extract lessons from it. Instead of taking things for granted, you look for new ideas that you can implement.

2. It prevents you from losing an idea. Have you ever gotten an idea only to lose it later because you didn’t write it down? I often experienced that myself. But then I developed the habit of writing down every idea that comes into my mind as soon as possible. If I’m away from my computer, I usually write it down on a piece of paper that I bring wherever I go. I will then transfer the idea to the journal in my computer.

3. It helps you memorize an idea. Even if you do nothing else, the act of writing helps you memorize the idea better. I often remember the things I write down without looking back at my notes.

4. It trains you to express your thoughts. I often take lessons from my experiences and write them down in my journal. Since I want to write a concise statement that summarizes the lesson, I need to think for a while to make it concise. This is a good exercise for me because over time I can express my thoughts better.

5. It helps you expand your ideas. When you try to come up with a sentence to express an idea, you are thinking actively about it. Thinking actively helps you connect your idea to another idea. At the end, you will expand your ideas.

6. It helps you review all the lessons you’ve learned. Why should you repeat the same mistakes you’ve made? By reviewing your journal, you can quickly see the lessons you’ve learned and the ideas you’ve gotten. You can do whatever necessary to avoid repeating the same mistakes. You can use the ideas to propel yourself forward.

7. It allows you to see your progress over time. After keeping a journal for years, you can look back at it and see how far you’ve gone. Things that were big problems in the past might seem small today. The raw ideas you had in the past might have been realized today. Seeing your progress motivates you to move even further ahead.

Now that you have seen the benefits of keeping a journal, what tool should you use?

You don’t need anything complicated for your journal. If your prefer to use a computer, you can use a word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. You can even use a text editor like Notepad. If you prefer not to use computer, you can use a notebook.

Just use whatever tool you feel comfortable with. The important thing is to make journaling a habit.

Photo by Crystl

Learning is something I always enjoy. I love learning because it gives me new challenges to overcome. In the past, however, I often learned just for learning’s sake. There was nothing real I got out of it. I just absorbed new knowledge without thinking about its practical value.

Recently I realized that while learning is fun, it’s even more fun if it’s related to my practical needs. The thrill of learning something that can immediately improve my life is more than just learning for learning’s sake. For that reason, now I mainly learn new skills that can improve my life and help me achieve my goals.

The best way to do that is project-based learning. With project-based learning, you create and work on a project that uses the skill you want to learn. Rather than just absorbing knowledge, you create something real.

Here are some examples of project-based learning:

• To learn a new programming language, you create a simple game using that language.
• To learn web design, you create a design for your personal web site.
• To learn to play guitar, you prepare to perform at a local event.
• To learn a new language, you write a short story in that language.

Why Project-Based Learning is Good

There are several reasons why project-based learning is a good way to learn:

1. It motivates you

Project-based learning motivates you because you can see the results of your learning. You have something to show for all the effort you put in learning.

Furthermore, you have a clear goal to achieve. It’s similar to the way having a finish line motivates a runner. If the runner just runs without a finish line, I’m sure he won’t be as motivated. Having a clear goal is motivating.

2. It pushes you to take the shortest path

Since your goal is to accomplish the project, you won’t waste your time with irrelevant things. You will spend time only on things that can help you finish your project. You will take the shortest path. This is a big benefit because otherwise you may get distracted by unimportant things.

3. It gives you feedback quickly

This is important because it speeds up your learning process. Rather than guessing if something works, you put it out there in the real world. You can then use the feedback to improve your skill. At the end, you will have a battle-tested skill under your belt.

Steps to Do Project Based Learning

Here are some steps to do project-based learning:

1. Choose a skill to learn that meets your needs

The first thing you should do is choosing a skill to learn. I recommend choosing a skill that meets your needs because that will make you more motivated to learn.

Look at your life and work. Do you have a plan to improve your life in a certain way? Do you have a plan to create a side business? Whatever it is, there must be a skill that can help you achieve your goal. That is the skill you should choose for your project-based learning.

2. Create a project around that skill

The project should have specific goals so that you know whether or not you are successful. For example, when I learned a new programming language (I have a background in computer science), I usually wrote a simple game using that language. I looked at the games that were out there and chose one of them to write. This way I had a specific goal in mind.

3. Aim to finish the initial version of the project as soon as possible

As I’ve mentioned above, getting quick feedback can speed up your learning process. So you should get your project out there as soon as possible. Don’t wait until everything is perfect before you show it to others.

4. Use the feedback to improve your skill

Based on the feedback you get, work on the areas that need improvements and test the result to get another round of feedback. Repeat this process until you reach the level of mastery you desire.

5. Create a new project if necessary

The project you choose might hone only certain aspects of the skill you want to learn. In that case, you might want to create a new project that helps you learn other aspects of the skill. Or you may choose to learn a new skill. It’s up to you.

Photo by cogdogblog

In The Joy of Living Today, I wrote that one reason to learn history is to make you realize how good your life is so that you can be grateful for it. But there are other reasons to learn history. Learning history helps you see current and future events from a rich perspective. It helps you avoid the mistakes people made in the past. It also helps you make the right decisions in life. In short, learning history makes you wise.

But what resources should we use to learn history? Here are my favorite resources:

1. Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast

If you aren’t interested in history, Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast is a good starting point. It discusses the interesting aspects of many historical events. For example, one episode talks about whether or not Genghis Khan really killed 1,748,000 people in one hour and another episode talks about the cursed tomb of King Tut. The episodes are short (usually under 15 minutes) so they won’t take much time to listen to.

2. Wikipedia

If you want to get a good introduction to a historical topic, Wikipedia is perhaps the best place to go to. It has articles on practically every historical topic imaginable. You may start with History of the world which gives you an overview of the world history. Next, you may learn history based on time periods so that you can easily see the context of each event.

Alternatively, you may browse the history by century. The interesting thing here is it gives you significant events of not only the past, but also the future (in the form of predictions). For example, do you know that Google aims to achieve its objective to organize the world’s information by the year 2300?

3. Visual History of the World

If you are a visual person, National Geographic’s Visual History of the World (or the smaller Essential Visual History of the World) is a book that fits your need. As its title says, it gives you a visual tour through the history of the world. The book starts at around 4000 BC and continues to the present time.

4. Guns, Germs, and Steel

While the resources above are good, they only discuss the surface of history. They tell you about historical events without telling you about the patterns and causes behind them.

For that purpose, the best resource I’ve found is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. Rather than just talking about historical facts and events, the book shows you the causes that shape history. Specifically, it discusses why some civilizations are more advanced than others. Guns, Germs and Steel is my favorite history book.

***

Do you know other resources that you’d like to recommend? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Photo by Tony the Misfit

Have you ever dreamed of getting all the topics of self improvement in one place and seeing how they relate to each other? Well, your dream might have just come true. The MasterMind Matrix Chart by Adam Sicinski covers practically all self improvement topics you can think of in one huge mind map.

Looking at the chart as a whole is like seeing the map of a city. You can see roads to multiple blocks within the city. Within each block, you can see how those roads split into small streets. Following the roads in the chart makes you feel like you are traveling in the city of Self Improvement.

For example, let’s visit the Goals block. There you can explore some small streets that teach you the process of setting goals and the characteristics of good goals. After exploring this block, you may want to continue your journey to the nearby Time Management block. Here you learn how to manage your time in order to achieve your goals. The streets in this block give you some time management tips like To Do List, Set Priorities, and Outsource. Continuing your journey from here will bring you to the Staying Motivated block that shows you how to stay motivated while pursuing your goals.

Here are some of the topics covered in the chart:

• Habits / Rituals
• Character Development
• Emotional Mastery
• Overcoming Fears
• Accelerated Learning
• Beliefs
• Attitude
• Behavior Modeling
• Visualization
• Choices & Decision
• Sleep & Energy
• Health & Wellbeing

With the number of topics covered, it could be difficult to know where to start. Fortunately, the chart gives you a clear starting point labeled “Begin Here”. That’s where you start your journey. You will then be guided to the other parts of the chart.

Here are several things I like about the chart:

1. It helps me see what topics are there in the world of self improvement
   There are some topics that I’ve never heard before and there are some that I’ve forgot. The chart brings them all to my attention.
2. It shows how the topics are related
   This is a big plus because it’s often difficult to relate one topic to the other. As a result, people tend to treat each topic separately. Seeing how they relate helps you have an integrated approach to self improvement.
3. It’s fun
   The chart is not only packed with information but also visually appealing. That makes studying it fun.

Mastering the chart will take time but it’s worth it. It could be your study guide to the world of self improvement.

I just finished reading the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a well-written and thought-provoking book on the topic of success. Among many interesting ideas in the book, there is one I’d like discuss here and that is the 10,000-Hour Rule.

The rule says that you need approximately 10,000 hours of practice to become a world-class expert in a field. Outliers shows that the rule applies even to geniuses like Mozart and Bill Gates. There is no other way: if you want to be a world-class expert in your field, you must do your 10,000 hours of practice.

When I was thinking about it, a question came into my mind:

Where should I invest my 10,000 hours of practice?

This question is important because 10,000 hours is a lot of time. If you consistently practice 4 hours a day for 6 days a week, you will still need 8 years to get 10,000 hours. So answering this question is essential. If you need to invest such a huge amount of time, you’d better do it right. You’d better find your niche.

To find your niche, I find the three questions below helpful. Answer them and you will have an idea of where you should go. Here they are:

1. Where have you invested your time?

One way to know where to invest your time is simply to look at where you have invested your time. For example, in the last few years you might have learned how to play music for one or two hours a day. Or you might have blogged about a certain topic. Or you might have spent a lot of time on gardening.

Those are good signs of where you should invest your 10,000 hours. You already invest part of that 10,000 hours so you only need to invest the rest. The difference is now you do it consciously and deliberately. You will be more effective that way.

2. What are your passions?

Again, 10,000 hours is a huge amount of time. It’s difficult to find the motivation to spend that much time on one thing. In fact, that’s one reason why 10,000 hours is a magic number to become a world-class expert: almost everyone else fails before reaching that point. Only a few people can reach the 10,000 hours mark and that’s why they become world class.

To help you reach the 10,000 hours mark, doing something you love is really helpful. It will help you go through difficult times. It will help you overcome boredom. Without it, the 10,000 hours will feel like a painful journey. It’s highly unlikely that you will ever reach the 10,000 hours mark that way.

3. What opportunities does the age give you?

Outliers shows that your birth date has significant influence on your success. For example, the book shows that being born in mid 1950s is great if you want to be a computer entrepreneur. Why? Because in mid 1970s when personal computer was born, you would be in good position to take advantage of it. You were not too old that you already had an established job with older generations of computer. Neither were you too young to have the necessary skills to take advantage of the opportunity.

So ask yourself: what opportunities does your birth date give you? What opportunities does the history give you at this point in time? Or, to put it another way, what window of opportunity is currently open for you?

Answering these questions is not easy because it’s difficult to see whether or not something will be hot. When Bill Gates did his 10,000 hours of practice to learn programming, he might not know that it would eventually put him in a perfect position to be a software mogul. You need to have faith in something and believe that the dots will eventually connect. In Steve Jobs’ words:

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

***

It may take weeks to answer these questions but they will help you find your niche. You will know where to invest your precious 10,000 hours.

Photo by dizznbonn

Improving my mind has always been one of my interests. That’s because I believe that the quality of the mind has significant influence on success. But of course, improving the mind can’t be separated from knowing how the brain works. You need to know how the brain works in order to use your mind effectively.

That’s why the book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina is interesting to me. It aims to introduce you to the latest discoveries in brain science while giving you practical ways to apply them. In the author’s words:

Most of us have no idea how our brain works… Unless you have the Journal of Neuroscience sitting on your coffee table, you’re out of the loop.

This book is meant to get you into the loop.

Let’s look inside the book.

Inside Brain Rules

Brain Rules covers 12 principles of how the brain works that are called the “brain rules”. Accordingly, the book is divided into twelve chapters.

1. Exercise

Rule #1: Exercise boosts brain power.

Exercise can improve your cognitive performance. The exact amount of exercise you need is different from person to person, but a good rule of thumb is doing aerobic exercise two or three times a week for 30 minutes each time. If possible, integrate exercise into your workday. Take regular breaks and fill them with exercise.

2. Survival

Rule #2: The human brain evolved, too.

Human brain evolved through the ages. There are three parts of the brain: “lizard brain” that keeps you breathing, “mammalian brain” that helps you survive (by allowing you to feel fear, for instance), and “human brain” (the cortex) that gives you abilities like vision, memory, and speech.

3. Wiring

Rule #3: Every brain is wired differently.

Your brain is unique and because of that you should ensure that you are doing what your brain is wired to do.  In education, it’s good to have smaller class size because the teacher can then track everybody in the class. In business, there should be “mass customization” to treat every employee as an individual.

4. Attention

Rule #4: We don’t pay attention to boring things.

Better attention means better learning. So it’s important to grab the attention of your audience early and keep it along the way.  It’s also important to keep your attention undivided when you are learning. Using emotions (like fear or laughter) is good to grab attention.

5. Short-term Memory

Rule #5: Repeat to remember

Memories have different life spans. To increase the life span of a memory,  focus on the meaning of the information rather than just the details. You can do this by finding real-world examples that are relevant.

6. Long-term Memory

Rule #6: Remember to repeat.

To have good retrieval of a memory, you should repeat the information in timed intervals. It’s also helpful to think or talk about the information soon after you receive it.

7. Sleep

Rule #7: Sleep well, think well.

Healthy sleep can improve learning while lack of sleep can hurt learning. One good sleeping habit is napping. A NASA study showed that 26-minute nap improved pilot’s performance by more than 34 percent.

8. Stress

Rule #8: Stressed brains don’t learn the same way.

Stress adversely affects your brain and health. That’s why it’s essential to create healthy environment at home and work. The worst kind of stress is the feeling that you have no control over the problem.

9. Sensory Integration

Rule #9: Stimulate more of the senses

You can enhance learning by creating multisensory environment. Multisensory environment allows people to learn in a more elaborate fashion and therefore retain more. The two most popular senses are vision and hearing, but smell is becoming increasingly popular.

10. Vision

Rule #10: Vision trumps all other senses.

Vision is the most dominant sense that takes half of the brain’s resources. For that reason, make the information visual.

11. Gender

Rule #11: Male and female brains are different.

Men tend to remember the gist of an emotional experience while women tend to remember the details. Having both of them work together as a team will give the team complete perspective of a stressful situation.

12. Exploration

Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers.

Babies naturally explore new things and test everything in their environment. You should keep this curiosity alive. Curiosity is the fuel that keeps your intellectual engine run.

Conclusion

Brain Rules is a useful book that gives you solid understanding of how the brain works. Rather than giving you unproven myths, the book gives you scientific truth on the subject. It dispels popular myths such as “left brain is for analytical thinking” and “right brain is for creative thinking” and gives you explanation of what actually happens. In each chapter, there are ideas on how to apply the rule in business and education.

I enjoy the stories inside the book that shows the power of the brain. For example, there was a person who could read both pages of a book simultaneously (using left eye for the left page and right eye for the right page) and memorize them perfectly.

I also like the fact that many scientific explanations inside the book are explained using metaphors that make them easy to understand.

Nurturing your multiple passions is important to improve yourself. By nurturing your passions, you will be able to cross-pollinate different fields and come up with fresh ideas that put you ahead of the pack. The question is: what should we do to nurture our passions?

There are many ways to do that, but here I’d like to discuss one of them: creating multiple blogs for your passions, one blog for each passion. There are several reasons why blogging is a good way to nurture your passions:

1. It pushes you to keep learning
   You can only write something meaningful on your blogs if you keep learning. The responsibility to update your blogs will give you the pressure to learn.
2. It pushes you to digest the information and knowledge you get
   To express things in your own words, you need to digest the information and knowledge you get. This will give you better understanding of the topic.
3. It pushes you to find new ideas in that field
   Unless you just want to repeat what other people say, you need to find new ideas to write about.
4. It reminds you of the need to improve yourself
   The existence of your blog reminds you that you have a passion in that field that you need to nurture.

Here are some steps to take to nurture your passions through blogging:

1. List your passions
   What are the things that make you excited? List them all. You may end up with a lot of items in your list. At this stage, just write everything you come up with without filtering them.
2. Choose a few passions to start with
   Since you may come up with many items in your list, choose only a few of them to start with so that the number of blogs is manageable. You may choose the ones that you are most passionate about. There is no right number here; just find what works for you.
3. Create the blogs
   These days you can create new blogs in minutes. You may want to use free services like Blogger or Wordpress that can give you easy-to-use blogs in no time.
4. Build reading habit
   To write well on your blog, you should feed your mind with relevant knowledge and information. Read books, blogs, or magazines in the fields you choose.
5. Set a minimum update schedule
   If you don’t set a minimum update schedule, you could let months pass by without updating your blog. Choose a schedule that is manageable for you. As a general rule of thumb, the more you want to develop a passion, the more often you should update the blog. Of course, since the blog is just for your personal growth, you don’t have to update it too frequently.
6. Write freely
   You don’t have to polish your blogs and posts unless you choose to. Remember, the goal here is your personal growth and not creating professional blogs. You may write whatever things that come into your mind.
7. Aim to write thoughtful content
   While you may write anything you want, you will grow faster if you write thoughtful content. So aim to write better content with better ideas over time.

By starting blogs for your passions, you will have multiple outlets for your creative expression. Even better, you can combine ideas from different passions to get fresh ideas.

Photo by Per Ola Wiberg