7 Steps to Personal Development with the Meme Dream Team

My posting schedule has been very sporadic lately as I have had my Technical Thinking Cap on during the rebuild of the Personal Development Partners website.

However, rebuilding the site is taking longer than expected, and in the meantime, the personal development community has been very active, due in large part to Priscilla Palmer's incredible list of Personal Development Bloggers. So, I am going to take a break from the technical stuff in order to write a post that will keep this great momentum going in the personal development community!

A large part of the recent activity in the personal development arena has been with "memes," or "group writing projects," if you prefer that term. Since this practice is so popular in the blogosphere – including right here at Today is that Day – I thought I would write up a piece about how people can take effective steps to personal development by being on the Meme Dream Team!

1) Only participate in memes that are going to take you towards your goals

There are enough memes going around that you could almost give up your blog posting schedule completely and just respond to projects that you have been tagged for. However, before you go playing along with every single meme, ask yourself if participating is going to take you towards your goals.

If you have a goal of practicing personal development, and you have been tagged for a meme that will help you to improve your life in some way, then go for it. However, if the meme title is 'List the Top 5 Ways that you Prepare Toast', you need to ask yourself if participating is really going to be worth your time!

2) Only participate in memes that are going to be of value to your blogging audience

Again, if you have a blog, then that blog is part of your personal development strategy. Whether your blog is a financial venture for you, a journal for getting your thoughts down on "paper," or if your blog is part of your business model, in each case, your blog's audience is part of your growth and development.

If you alienate your audience by never putting out any content that is original and that has your own unique "flavor," then your audience will quickly find themselves wondering why they even come to your blog.

3) Dig deep down for your answers

If a group writing project is asking you for your secrets to success, then reading everyone else's answers before writing up your own post isn't going to provide much personal growth and development for you, is it?

As a race, we tend to go through life on "auto-pilot," letting our experiences be dictated by reactions, rather than planned responses. If you never stop to ask yourself about the driving forces in your life, or the habits and philosophies that power your existence, 60 years from now you will have lived your entire life on autopilot!

4) Contact people directly that you want to participate

The "tagging" part of a meme normally just consists of you putting the name or website of someone that you would like to participate into your own project entry. However, although some blog owners see every mention of their name or their website, some do not, so it is best to send them an email letting them know they have been tagged.

An added benefit to this is that you can let the person know why you tagged them, what benefit they will get out of participating, and what benefit it will be to their audience. People can ignore a "tag" in a blog post fairly easily, but if you send the site owner a one to one message, you will get a better response rate.

5) Keep track of the community that is developed around any meme that you take part in.

If a group writing project is of enough value to take part in, then doesn't it make sense to stay in touch with the people who are part of that project? A meme about personal development will attract people who are into personal development, one about weight loss will attract people with knowledge of weight loss, a project about business success will include people who have insights to share about successful business practices.

It doesn't matter what any given meme is about, all that matters is that if you feel it is worth your time, then it also turns into a good networking opportunity. It's like going to a weekend seminar for people who are all interested in a given topic, only it takes 2 hours of your time instead of 2 days, and, it's free!

6) Use your RSS or email subscription options wisely!

By taking part in a group writing project, you will be exposed to blogs that you have never seen before. As you read their heartfelt meme entries, you will be tempted to subscribe to their blogs via email or RSS so that you can keep up with their future writing.

Well, as admirable as a concept as that is, the simple fact of the matter is that you can only keep track of so many blogs. If you are considering subscribing to a new blog that you found as a result of the project, take the time to read the blogger's other posts and to check out their blog. Make an informed decision about whether or not you are going to realistically keep up with that blogger.

7) Peer pressure is for suckers

In the end, your time is valuable, yet you will invariably be tagged for memes that you simply don't want to participate in. Even if they are in alignment with your writing, personal development, or professional goals, you are just not going to want to take part in every project that you are tagged for.

When that happens, it is okay to say "No". 10 years from now, the evolution of our planet (or simply your own evolution) will not be decided by whether or not you jumped onto the latest meme bandwagon. If the concept resonates with you, and you see value in it, then participate, and do it with a gusto. However, if you just can't seem to muster up any enthusiasm for the project, then simply exercise your right to…ummm…not write!

In the end, remember that your blog is your blog, and you can do whatever you want to do with it. Deciding whether a group writing project will help you along on your path to personal growth and development is your call. Choose wisely!

p.s. – Karen, Edward, Jenny & Erin? I've got your memes on my posting schedule for next week! You know, because I choose to participate!