How I Stay Motivated as a Blogger: 3 Ways I Find Play

For bloggers, entrepreneurs, and content creators, staying motivated is a constant challenge. We all face moments when it’s hard to find the drive to keep going.

Whether you’re just starting out on your blogging journey, or you’ve been navigating the content creation world for years, the challenge of staying motivated as a creator remains universally relatable. My own experience is a testament to the fact that what keeps me ticking today differs greatly from what motivated me a decade ago.

The secret to my (more) sustained motivation in my businesses? It’s shockingly simple, yet subtly profound: infusing play into my blogging & creative process.

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Let me walk you through this approach that’s kept my blogging flame burning over the years.

1. Finding Play in My Creative Process

The main reason I keep blogging, even after more than twelve years, is simple: I enjoy it and love finding creative ways to express myself.

For me, it’s about more than having fun. Every part of blogging, from writing posts to recording podcasts and making videos, feels like a creative space where I can test new ideas and keep learning.

Take for example, when Andy (my co-founder here at RightBlogger) & I started recording videos together once a week. It gave us both a much-needed creative spark, and it was a breath of fresh air to mix up the ways we connect with other creators, like you. Creating together makes our business more fun.

Why is it important to find play in your work?

The answer lies in the nature of creativity itself: creative expression (play) is the fuel that powers the engine of creating enjoyable, original content, in the first place. If you’re not having fun and enjoying the process, you’re setting yourself up for eventual failure.

I’m sure you’ve seen videos where the creator is obviously disengaged, or just showing up because they need to, for one reason or another. You can feel it, because it’s impossible to hide disinterest.

Keeping creative expression and play close to the surface in your work, will sustain your fulfilling connection to why you’re still running your business.

I say this, knowing what the opposite feels like. I went through a period of years where I was largely unfulfilled in my blog business. But when I stopped viewing blogging as a set of tasks I needed to do, and started seeing it as an opportunity to play, everything changed.

I found joy in experimenting with new formats, tackling topics from unconventional angles, and letting my unique voice shine through.

This approach not only kept me engaged but also resonated with my audience, creating a more vibrant, engaged community around my content, which fuels my motivation in an entirely different, beautiful way.

Actionable: Add More Play to Your Process

If blogging feels heavy or repetitive, change the conditions instead of pushing harder.

Try this this week:

• Choose one post where performance does not matter
• Keep the topic the same, change only the format
• Examples: turn a guide into a Q&A, an opinion piece, or a short video
• Publish it without optimizing for perfection

This works because it gives you more say in how you do the work. If you want to go deeper, Self-Determination Theory, which has generated thousands of publications over a quarter century, names autonomy (feeling that you’re choosing what you do) as one of three basic needs behind self-motivation, along with competence and relatedness.

2. Allowing My Business to Change with Me

As my blogging journey has unfolded, my interests and priorities in life have inevitably shifted quite a lot over the past decade and change.

Topics that once captivated me now lack the excitement, and the challenge of keeping my-changing-self interested in the businesses I’ve built, has only grown.

Embracing the (inevitable) changes within, and allowing those shifts to be ok inside my business, has signaled a big shift in my motivation to continue with my blog. Staying true to my passions and continually seeking out new ones, has become a good thing, with the potential to positively impact the growth of my business, rather than a distraction to either avoid or silo off from my work.

This more dynamic approach to keeping my genuine interests close to the surface within my work, keeps my content fresh and my enthusiasm high.

Plus, as I explore new topics and experiment with different content formats, I not only expand my own skills & interests, but also offer my audience a richer, more diverse experience.

Staying curious, learning continuously, and embracing change have been key decisions I’ve made in the pursuit of staying engaged with my blogging business.

Actionable: Let Your Blog Change With You

When your interests shift, treat that as useful information and test it.

Use this simple rule:

• Add one “curiosity post” per month
• Publish it alongside your core content
• Watch what readers respond to, not what you assume will work

Signs it’s time to test something new:

• You delay writing planned posts
• You research topics you never publish
• Your curiosity lives outside your current niche

This also fits Dr. Carol Dweck’s research on the growth mindset, the belief that your abilities can keep developing with effort.

3. Staying Connected with Real People

Perhaps the most significant source of motivation for me lately, has been the deep connection I share with my readers, viewers, and listeners.

Reading and responding to emails, comments, and questions from the real people who come across my content, helps me provide direct value in a way that feels so special & rewarding. And when I can hop on a call with my peeps, or meet up in-person, it’s even more special.

Take for example, the half hour I spent chatting with RightBlogger customer Mark G, something I do with any of our customers that wanna chat with me about blogging, AI, or hey, even just life.

Each interaction like this is a reminder of the impact my work can have on others, fueling my drive to keep creating and sharing as I go. This sense of community is what makes blogging so uniquely fulfilling to me.

Engaging with my audience has not only kept me motivated but has also shaped the direction of my content. Listening to their feedback, understanding their challenges, and responding to their needs has allowed me to create more meaningful and impactful content.

This is the kind of win-win symbiotic relationship that enriches both my blogging experience and the value I provide to the peeps that resonate with me.

Actionable: Stay Motivated Through Real Connection

Motivation grows when your work feels useful to someone specific.

Adopt this weekly habit:

• Personally reply to 3 emails or comments
• Ask one follow-up question in each reply
• Save repeated questions as future post ideas

This creates a feedback loop where:

• Connection fuels motivation
• Motivation fuels publishing
• Publishing attracts more connection

This is the relatedness part of Self-Determination Theory (mentioned above): people tend to be more self-motivated when they feel connected to others.

Motivation vs Consistency (and Why You Need Both)

One reframe helps here: you can’t rely on motivation every day, but you can rely on consistency.

Motivation comes and goes. Energy and curiosity rise and fall, too, and that’s normal. What keeps you publishing through low-energy seasons is a set of simple systems that carry you forward when you don’t feel like showing up.

This is where play and structure work best together: play makes the work enjoyable, and structure makes it sustainable.

In practice, that can mean a clear publishing rhythm, a backlog of ideas, and workflows that reduce friction. When motivation is high, experiment and create freely. When it’s low, lean on those systems and keep moving anyway.

Waiting to “feel motivated” is one of the easiest ways to stall your progress as a creator. Instead of trying to feel inspired every day, design your work so you can keep publishing on the days you don’t.

That balance is what turns short bursts of motivation into long-term momentum.

Final Thoughts on Staying Motivated

The journey to stay motivated in blogging (and in business) is both challenging and incredibly rewarding for me.

The key in my world, has been to find play in the workflow, embrace the creative process, and connect with my audience in meaningful ways. This approach has transformed my blogging work into an exciting adventure that I look forward to every day.

I encourage you, my friend, to explore what makes you tick, infuse creativity into your work, and really thoughtfully maintain a genuine connection with your customers, clients, or audience.

By keeping your focus on these fulfilling aspects of why you chose to start a business in the first place, you’ll not only sustain your motivation for longer periods of time, but also enrich your community with your unique voice and perspective.

Keep your fire burning bright, one post, video, and podcast at a time. And of course, embrace periods of rest, relaxation, and reflection, as much as you can ☺️