Plus, he says that he sold the blog so that he could focus on writing instead of getting bogged down in tedious administrative stuff. Fair enough – but it seems reasonable to expect that renewed focus on writing to show in those two or three original posts per week. And so far, it really hasn’t, so much.

I’m not saying you don’t have a point – each opinion reflects some part of the truth spectrum.

But there ought to be a more, um, diplomatic way to express what we’d like to read. I can’t speak for Trent here, but if I were getting as many heated comments on my blog I’d pretty quickly lose my sparks for writing.

Maybe a good way to inspire a blogger for new topics would be to send questions to them. Or send suggestions by email?

That said, he is getting new readers who are at the beginning stages of turning their lives around, and he needs to keep doing that. But he has a lot of long-time readers, and some posts for “advanced” readers would go over well.

Posters on the forum could help by offering additional advice to newbies, as everyone is pretty good at with the questions posts.

So, I’ll start. For new readers, when you set goals, take plenty of time to really think about them and why you are choosing those particular ones. Goals can have several purposes: relationships, personal growth, giving back, or even just plain fun. Many are mixed motives.

If you aren’t reaching a particular goal, there is probably a reason. Figure out the barrier, and either accept it and move on to something else or find a way around it. As we grow and change, and our circumstances change, goals need to change as well.

Still, I agree with Tracy, Johanna and others to the extent that there is less enthusiasm than there used to be in Trent’s posts. The commentators will just have to try harder to make up for it, I guess.

Raya, of course we’re not entitled to have Trent meet our own personal demands. That’s why we’re making suggestions, not demands. And my suggestions were directed not just at Trent (although I hope he considers them) but also at small-minded people like Other Jonathan, and now David, who seem to think that it’s absolutely impossible for Trent to come up with any better ideas than he already is.

This blog ISN’T dead and Trent could really tap back into his passion for it, *if* his passion isn’t dead. I hope it isn’t dead and he’s just hit a combination of writer’s block/writing slump and not being really sure what he could add to freshen it up.

But it could be after selling the blog he really HAS checked out and all his writing energy is going to his other projects. Only time will tell.

IF that’s the case though, there’s also a great post in that (particularly if it relates to the difference of pressure between being the owner and being the contractor and how it doesn’t effect output but does effect quality.)

Hey, check it out, his desire to share and learn IS linked to the Simple Dollar. Neat, what reading can do.

Trent claims to still be learning and growing. His posts aren’t show that he is. He doesn’t OWE me better posts – but

Raya, I think Johanna and my previous suggestions show that it really *isn’t* that hard to come up with new ideas … and that’s all people are asking for. NEW ideas. It really, really isn’t that hard – do you know how many bloggers do it every day?

Some readers apperantly think they’ve personally hired Trent to write per their demands. When you’re a reader it’s easy to just want and want and want, like a kid just wants and wants stuff. But if you become a blogger you quickly see it’s not so easy, just like when you become an adult.

What do you spend your spare time on? I spend mine with my family and close friends as much as I can, and when I’m alone, I read and learn things. I bridge the two by finding ways to express what I’ve learned. This is what I enjoy doing.

Well, that is an account of how he spends his *spare* time. It is not an account of what he does at work, nor is it a guarantee that he will express to us (his “customers”, so to speak) the new things that he has learned – those he reserves for his family and close friends.

At least, that is what the paragraph actually says, nor can it closely be construed as meaning anything else. Those who assert that Trent should write more carefully are entirely correct (for sufficiently vague values of “should”). But it would at least be possible to argue that from time to time, they should also read more carefully. If Trent were to read the views of the regular commentators here, he could be forgiven for not at once admitting all of them to the circle of “family and close friends”.

Whereas regular followers of a blog of this (or any other) nature may reasonably hope that the originator will continue some kind of narrative, providing fresh material at every stage, they have no rational grounds for complaint when this does not happen. Trent started this blog as part of an attempt to turn his life around; he has done so (and is to be congratulated therefor); but it seems to me reasonable to some extent for the blog to continue to be about how he did it, not some kind of sequel to having done it (there is a reason why many more people have read “What Katie Did” than have read “What Katie Did At School”). If this involves rehashing old material – well, what do you want him to do? Go broke again in order to provide new material on how not to?

Moreover, since this blog is more closely allied to economics than physics, it is entirely to be expected that it will ask and answer the same questions from year to year. An old joke runs thus:

“Professor, these questions are exactly the same as in last year’s exam!”

“Don’t worry. This is economics, so the questions are the same but the right answers are different.”

How about sticking to a couple of things and going after them with intensity and intension? You do an awful lots of talking about all the things you’d *like* to do, but you don’t talk so often about the things you are actually doing that you enjoy today. Want to volunteer? Volunteer. Don’t just think about how wonderful it would be. Good intentions aren’t very useful.If you keep thinking about the travel goals you have in the next 10 to 15 years, you might die before you ever leave.

Why are you always pushing your ideal life into the future? What’s wrong with today? Stop planning and start doing! No one is ever 100% ready to pursue their dreams, but the ones who “get off the pot” so to speak are going to be a lot more successful than those who just keep talking.

I mean, Trent’s life is *happening* all around him, right now. How can there not be new and fresh ideas in that?
I don’t really use the “+1″ comment; but this one, +1 billion.

Wait, is it *possible* to cut down the quality?!

(Heh, I know it was just a typo but it took me a second!)

Here’s another idea – he does the Weekly Link Roundup post with only a one-line comment/though fragment per link.

Blogging can be a really interactive medium … so instead of a one-line response/summary, he could do a thoughtful reblog, with reflections on how it applies to his own life. That only works if it’s not one of the same topics he’s already hashed and rehashed again, but it’s another way to add something fresh.

For example, look at this from last week:

“‘The Habits That Crush Us’: For me, the crushing habits are ones that eat up unnecessary time. I am “crushed” when I find myself without enough time to do something I want to do with my family or with my friends.”

That was a very … uniformative and meaningless answer. I mean, what a *fantastic* opportunity for a (potentially) insightful story! What habits specifically? How did it you find yourself sucked in/losing track of time – are they stress habits or hobby habits? What activity did you miss? *How did that make you feel?* How did you/are you addressing it?

I mean, as long as the story doesn’t turn out to be: “I spent too much time browsing in a video game store looking at games I couldn’t buy so I missed Pixar Night with my Family”

Or from the week before:

“Economic Lessons from “Farmville”: For me, the real lesson of Farmville is the microtransactions. I’m amazed at how many people will pay a few bucks to get a little bit ahead at this game.”

God, how EASY would it to be to write a post on that? Particularly because microtransactions are barely mentioned in the post he links to at ALL (just how much they cost) … so there’s so much room to explore.

Or ADMIT that they are the same topics over and over.