“Lifestyle” has been the buzzword among health and fitness professionals for decades. It originally appeared in the English language in the Merck Manual, page 830. The word was first introduced by Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler in his 1930 book, The Case of Miss R. with the word “ystem” to indicate a mental process rather than a physical process. In more recent years, however, the focus of this term has turned more to describing a set of behaviors and beliefs that characterize a specific lifestyle.
The lifestyle blog can be considered to be a sub-type of lifestyle. A lifestyle blogger may write about her “lifestyle” in the third person and refer to this as her “ifestyle.” On the other hand, a lifestyle blog will tend to describe things about a person or a lifestyle that she considers to be typical or standard. For example, a lifestyle blog could describe a married, mommy blogging woman’s daily lives as compared to those of a single stay at home mom blogger.
The two “flip sides” of lifestyle are summarized by the terms “luxurious” and “conventional.” When bloggers speak of their “luxury” lifestyle, what they really mean is that they prefer things like wine and fine food over things like jeans and shorts. On the other hand, when bloggers speak of their “conventional” lifestyle, what they really mean is that they don’t smoke cigarettes or own a pet. That doesn’t necessarily mean that these lifestyle choices are superior to others — it just means that they are not radically opposed to the way that other people live.
There are some lifestyle bloggers who use the word lifestyle to describe something that is not remotely connected to being a blogger: social activities. For example, someone who is into travel might describe her lifestyle as being “adventurous” or “social” in nature. However, this does not mean that the person who has written about her travels is a lifestyle blogger. This can lead to some confusion. For instance, someone who loves to ski can be called a lifestyle blogger, but she would not be described as a travel writer.
What is clear is that lifestyle blogs generally tend to refer to a specific type of blogger — one who is not primarily tied to any one place, industry, or trend. This makes sense, because no two people are alike. A married couple could be termed “bloggers,” while a mom who loves to blog about her children could be called a lifestyle blogger. Therefore, we can categorize bloggers according to the place they love to blog. This might seem odd, but it makes life a lot easier.
It is also important to remember that people have different interests and tastes. While some people may read posts about kitchen gadgets, others may only read posts about home decor. This is why it can sometimes be difficult to know what type of lifestyle blog you should start with. However, once you decide on a specific location or niche, you should go after it like a laser beam.
The lifestyle you choose should focus on your unique interests. However, it should not be your entire focus. After all, if you are a vegan lifestyle blogger, you are also a passionate exerciser, while also advocating vegetarianism. Therefore, you should not only be a vegan, but also take up yoga or meditation, for example.
One final note: You do not want to fall into the trap of labeling everything you write a “lifestyle blog.” This will, more often than not, result in you being unable to write a competent article. Instead, think of your lifestyle content as being the opinion of a self-styled “experienced” individual. If done correctly, you can craft an excellent level of online social media content, but it will be much better if you leave the labels of “blog” and “social media” behind.