LinkedIn

LinkedIn-Logo

Everyone knows that Social Media is huge, but it seems like the bulk of the active users are on Twitter and Fa

cebook. There’s Instagram (which Facebook owns), Foursquare, Vine, etc. etc. etc. I once counted as part of a survey and my answer was 16+ different programs.

What I think is interesting is how I see different people use the separate networks. When we go to a Catalyst conference, for Pastors and Ministry workers, it’s all about twitter. Here, in Fresno, we’re stuck on Facebook. Whenever I post an Instagram photo, I link it to several networks and the most “replies” or “likes” I get are from Facebook, even more than Instagram. That just baffles me.

So now we have LinkedIn. It’s the professionals Facebook right? Are people using it to actually do any work or are we just trying to build the Connections list? Not sure. I’ve been working on mine a lot lately, so we’ll see what kind of fruits come from all my labor…

So, what’s your favorite social network?

 

Are people still reading blogs?

Blog-Reading

I’m curious. I wonder if people are still reading blogs today? I still read a couple of them, but it seems as though most of the attention is going to faster, shorter social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Where are you spending the bulk of your online time? Are you still reading blogs or do you stick to more of the “social” media sites?

Don’t Quit Your Day Job… Yet

jon-acuffI started “reading” Jon Acuff’s book Quitter this week. I say “reading” with quotes because I’m listening to the audiobook while getting ready in the morning and during my morning commute. I don’t really count this as reading a book by the way, like some people. You’ll hear them say, “I’ve read 42 books this year” and you know… they listened to them. They didn’t really “read” them. Slackers.

Quitter-jon-acuffWell, I slack off too once in awhile and like to listen to the books, especially when the author reads them. Tina Fey and Bossypants, hilarious. Jon Acuff reads this himself and the guy just cracks me up. We grew up on opposite ends of these United States, but I can tell we are from the same era. It’s like 25 years ago we were both sitting down on the family couch for TGIF watching Full House and Family Matters, just 3000 miles apart. He has another book called “Stuff Christians Like” that is all satire and good comic relief.

I’m only two chapters in, so I don’t have a ton of knowledge to share with you yet, but a couple nuggets I gleaned so far is that you need to discover what your dream job really is. In college, I thought I was supposed to be a pastor and so I went to Fresno Pacific and majored in Biblical and Religious Studies. Then, inbetween pastors, I lead our church’s college group of 150 so students for several months. All it took were those couple months and I knew full time ministry was not my calling. I then thought I wanted to be an Ironman triathlete and then realized I weighed 240 pounds and don’t particularly enjoy the running part. Jon Acuff had a similar experience. I absolutely love what I do now and can’t imagine doing anything else.

Instead of starting with the “WHAT” you want to do, look at “WHY” you want to do something. This was a great thing to consider for me. I thought about it for awhile and figured out why I do what I do. I am a Dad.

I love taking care of people and feel very protective over them even after knowing them for just a short while. I enjoying taking the stress out of my client’s lives by helping them dial in certain areas of their life or taking the responsibility completely off of them.

Another question he asked that was fun to think about was, “what would you do if you didn’t even get paid to do it”. For him, it was to be a writer. He claimed that he wrote a blog for 2 years without making any money, it was just the joy of it. I would honestly do what I do, maybe it would look a little different, but here are some thought provoking questions for you:

What would you do even if you didn’t get paid?

What are you naturally gifted at?

Do people compliment you for something that you do, but you discount it and say it’s nothing? Maybe it’s not.

Or another fun one: What would you do if you won the lottery? Not what would you buy (that’s fun too), but what would you then do with your time?

Thanks for reading!