Stuart Mills writes the blog, Unlock The Door, and spends much of his time helping others. So relax, pull up a chair & dive into life with Stuart Mills.
Why do you blog?
I blog because it’s a medium with which I can express myself and my wisdom towards others on a mass-scale. I blog because I have a sincere desire to help others, and the best way to do that on an easily accessible large-scale platform, which is free, is by blogging.
I can’t exactly remember the very first thought that enticed me into blogging, but I remember purchasing “Cloud Living” by Glen Allsopp, and after I read it, I had a deep desire to learn more. I know that once I started looking up options, such as themes and server hosts, then I knew that this was what I was meant to be doing.
Also, I don’t think I would have gone into blogging so much if I hadn’t looked up the likes of Steve Pavlina and Leo Babauta, who have had tremendous success in the personal development niche. Seeing how well-received their sites were, I was inspired and encouraged to offer my wisdom, in the hopes that someone would listen.
How often do you blog?
This has been documented on my blog recently, but for ease of quickness I used to post about three times a week, on average. I then had a desire to increase my writing content by posting more regularly, about four times a week. However, this then affected my traffic and networking, so I have now cut my blogging down to two posts a week on my site. This is working pretty well.
What do you do for fun?
Sometimes blogging can be fun, helping to get something off my chest, but when it isn’t, then I will look elsewhere.
Spending time with my girlfriend, exercising, playing the Nintendo Wii, and reading, are all examples of fun. If I’m looking to unwind with minimal effort, then I’ll watch inspiring videos on YouTube or read inspiring articles, to keep my brain happy.
What gives you drive?
My main reason why I do ANYTHING in life is because I want to help others. I’ve only come into this form of thinking about a year ago, but I’m confident it’s my main mode of operation in life.
I can blog and help others, but even if I had no blog, that wouldn’t stop me from living to help others. Whatever vehicle I use, if I’m not helping others during a task then I would consider that a failure, and I’d take steps to change that. Really, if we aren’t on this Earth to help others, then what are we here for?
I haven’t quite reached the point of total selfless service yet, but it’s my life-time goal and I plan on getting there.
In what ways do you find blogging difficult?
Sometimes I can find it difficult to come up with new content. I can sit in front of my laptop, and nothing will come for a long time, so I have to get up and do something else until the creativity comes. Other times I can write freely, but I can’t guarantee this, so I have to deal with whatever happens once I sit down.
Another problem that I frequently encounter is the technical aspect of blogging, particularly SEO practices. I don’t have much patience for tweaking the keywords in my blogs, so I try and spend only as much time towards SEO as necessary. Site maintenance, site design, and server issues are also time-consuming, but I appreciate that they have to be done.
What’s your favorite movie, and why?
It would have to be the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Purely because I love a good adventure movie, and the idea of the ultimate journey through strange lands, meeting countless people, and fending off danger at every turn, really does inspire me. You can really let your imagination loose and invent a thousand opportunities for yourself from watching movies like the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
How do people “unlock the door?”
The reason why I invented the phrase was from watching “The Matrix”. There’s a scene where Morpheus and Neo are standing in front of the door, about to visit The Oracle, and Morpheus says “I can only show you the door, you must walk through it”. That scene inspired me to be a Morpheus-character of sorts and help others, like Neo, to locate the doors in their minds, unlock them, and walk through them.
And what is a ‘door’? A door is a closed opportunity, a closed portal towards knowledge and power that you must unlock yourself to access what lies behind. I can show you the doors by revealing new insights that will awaken a new understanding, but you must be the one who unlocks and walks through the door. I can’t force you.
How can social media improve this coming year?
I think the main aspect it can improve on now is to focus on business. Facebook still has a reputation for being full of mindless drivel, which puts a few businesses off. But if Facebook took the initiative and introduced more access for businesses to advertise and promote themselves, then everyone can benefit there.
Similar with Twitter, it’s less full of useless chat, but the potential is there for businesses to promote themselves and reach a whole new audience. Big-name companies are already doing it, and more businesses can do so too.
What advice could you give to a new blogger?
In three small tips: be patient, be passionate, be persistent. Remember these three ‘p’s, and you’ll go far.
