Tackling reality once a month
New year, new opportunities. Cliche’, but so very true.
There’s a lot I want to do for 2021. There is most likely a lot less that will actually happen. The delta between the two is likely attributable to the finite resources of time, energy, and will power. As I think about something that I can actually do to move forward, capturing my thoughts here once a month seems like a very realistic and achievable goal.
So, what do you say when you post on Medium? I know Joe Maruschak combines his experiences and insights around startups to make me and others smarter. Rick Turoczy leads a community from his social media outposts. Mitch Daugherty keeps the Built Oregon community informed and inspired. These are my Oregon people. But isn’t there more? I mean I follow Seth Godin and M.G. Siegler, and Marcelo Calbucci and a few more people much more ‘interesting’ than I. How do you add value to the bigger conversation in the world? I don’t know, but you can’t add anything if you don’t write.
I’m going to talk about life and career, happiness and challenges, family and sport. We’re all multi-faceted people with much more to our lives than a Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile, or Instagram story (If I knew how to do those). Sometimes getting a little deep, reaching for connections, and trying to make sense of disparate realities is what we need. My ideas might not entertain all, but I’ll feel better putting my thoughts down here every little while. We’re each our own unique mix of experiences, interests, and knowledge. I’m pretty confident that my unique perspectives and experiences offer some value to someone out there. It may take a while to get the hang of it, but you can make progress if you don’t start.
The desired outcome here is that my ideas spark something for someone who reads them. If my words set off a small but important chain reaction, that’s a win. If I’ve learned anything from my time teaching, it’s that planting the seed of an idea is all we can really do for others. Often ideas and concepts we learn don’t get applied until well into the future. The germination and growth of that idea occur on every individual's own terms. The things we learn today seem unimportant until we need to know a term or concept, process, or skill.
So there we have it. January 2021 in the books and my thoughts expressed for all to read. After 25 years of the internet, it’s about time to plant a flag and see who stops by. Thanks for reading.
