Every once in awhile I like to put my blog’s URL into a word cloud generator and see what comes up. The bigger the word, the more prominently it was used in my posts.  Last January learning and reflections were key words on my blog. In November students and coaching came up as additional key words.  This month, I was, at first, surprised to see read and book as the two most prominent words from my blog.

During 2016 I decided to capture my reading experiences in monthly blog posts (see April’s update here). I have been doing a lot more blogging about the books I’m reading. I also happen to have more time to read since finishing my doctoral studies, and recovering from the stress related to those endeavors!

Each time I look at a new word cloud, I ask myself these reflective questions:

• Do the most prominent words reflect my current work and/or beliefs?
• Have I been focused on something (like rejuvenate, my word of 2016) that I would expect to see?
• Does the word cloud show me some concerns that I wasn’t consciously aware of before?
• Am I surprised to see some key words missing (such as coaching)?
• If someone was trying to get to know me as a leader and a learner through my blog, would this word cloud accurately portray me?

Based on my reflections, I often come up with new blog post ideas to write about, wanting to make sure that my overall blog reflects me as a professional.  What other reflective questions should I consider? How do you check yourself for focus and relevancy?