The Twitter Life Track

So... months after the lists feature was enabled in Twitter, I finally put everyone I'm following into a list. While doing this I discovered a really interesting pattern. Because the people I'm following are arranged chronologically, I could actually track where I was "mentally" at a given point in time based on the type of people I chose to follow. It was like a Twitter Life Timeline -- even more revealing than my tweets.

I started off with my sister who taught me how to actually use twitter (especially since my friends and contacts weren't tweeting yet). At first I focused primarily on environmentalism and green posts (probably because that was my area of expertise at work). Then post-layoff, my recovery phase, my focus shifted to positive thinking, life coaching and spirituality. Once I recovered (or at least recovered enough to move on) I switched to online marketing, business and finance -- apparently it was time to think about making some money. There was also a stint when I was trying to get my book finished and I added a lot of writers & publishers. And finally, there was a focus on following local people, progressives, and non-profits.

Now, it's a bit more random -- whenever someone of interest follows me, I reciprocate, but it has been interesting to follow my Twitter life track. I'm about 1 1/2 years old in Twitter age. Wonder what I'll discover next year.

Reducing the Intrusiveness of Phone Calls

There is something about consuming media on my own terms that is extremely attractive. As a baby boomer, I am very much a phone person. It takes so much less time for me to say something than to type it out --not to mention the fact that it seems to be a better way to build relationships, however, there is so much about the intrusiveness of the phone that I simply don't like. I feel the same way about all the junk mail that is constantly stuffed into my mail box. It bothers me that I have to walk down to the mailbox to pick up trash. On the other hand, there is so much about chat, e-mails, social media and texting that I do like -- I can consume them on my terms.

Today I am debating whether I will do even more phone calls for health care reform. There is a part of me that hates this calling, while the other side feels a bit guilty if I don't do it. So why do I hate it? Well it's not because the people on the other end of the lines are unreceptive. When they find out who I am and why I am calling, they are usually very receptive and great to talk to. As such, the question becomes, why do I dislike making these calls?

I think the crux of it is the intrusiveness of phone calls. I know there are a bunch of people out there who love it when the phone rings, but for many, it can be an intrusion. Of course, one can always choose not to answer, but there is that part of us that doesn't want to "miss" something or doesn't want to ignore a friend -- after all, it may be something important. Don't recognize a number.... well what if it's something of interest? Ultimately caller ID is not enough. We should have a subject notification that shows up also, where people type in or announce what they are calling for. Then all of a sudden screening becomes effective. We do this with messages & answering machines all the time. Why not make it real time?

Okay all you high tech gurus out there, we need a combo phone/texting/announcement mechanism. The phone rings. I don't recognize the caller so I press the button that requests that they text in or announce the subject. Then if I want to talk about that subject I pick up! Otherwise I can text back, no interest or call me later. Oh, and another thing. I need this by tonight.

The Real World

Life is all about lessons. This week, I learned a lesson about the real world. I learned that even though I'm not willing to give up, I have to accept that I can't always make things happen when others give up. And, that if I'm not in a leadership position, I may not even have a say.

Pre-lay-off, I operated a lot in the corporate world and the over-achiever world. Now, I'm out of those insulated environments, and I'm operating in the real world.

When I first came out of grad school, took my first jobs in marketing, and was given an assignment, failure just wasn't an option. Not in the sense that the program couldn't fail, but certainly in the sense that there wasn't a deadline I didn't meet, there wasn't a thing I felt I couldn't make happen. Of course, I couldn't guarantee success, but I could make sure the opportunity for success happened. I gave everything I had to everything I did, and I could be counted on to make it happen.

Now, as I venture into new worlds, I realize that making it happen, is sometimes outside of my sphere of influence. I learned this lesson early on with my children, and now, I am learning it from the projects I undertake.

This week, I learned just how prevalent "giving up" is. After giving everything I had to two projects which consumed as much time as a full time job, the people I was working with threw in the towel -- before we achieved the objective. This to me was inconceivable. Now it isn't.

And, what did I learn? I'm not sure. Is the answer always to operate from a leadership position? Is it to choose carefully which organizations you choose to work for? Or is it just to keep getting up and starting over?

I think, what I'll take away is to keep getting up and starting over.