Monday, December 3, 2012

Please Stop, I'm Going to Hurl

"You have to manage your personal brand."

"How do you measure your influence?"

"You need to make an impact!"

"What is your career plan?"

"Which goals are you setting up for 2013?"

"Which new social networks are you active on?"

"Should I start a blog? On what? When should I post?"

"Who should I follow, friend, connect with, or add?"

Someone please make it stop...I think I'm going to be sick. Somehow the world of work seems to have morphed into a rat race against ourselves. No longer am I worried about setting myself apart from others, it now appears I'm supposed to set myself apart from...well..myself.  

So Many Messages
In the digital age we now have a non-stop stream of advice, expert opinion, and misguided messaging that has left many of us confused. There was a time when I could come to the office and focus on my work exclusively. At first glance that doesn't sound too bad, until one realizes that the entire world does not work where I do. Nor are the best and most creative ideas necessarily coming out of my organization. There is a richness that must be tapped into in order to help move my organization forward.

And there's the rub...which messages should I listen to, and which ones are just noise?

So Little Time
Not everyone is as comfortable jumping into multiple social channels, writing, taking risks at work, and generally feeding off the noise. (I admit I get a bit of a rush feeding off the noise.) For many others however I think the biggest barrier to manage the 24/7 onslaught of messages about the "right way" to go about one's work comes down to two simple points:

1 - Manage your business at the pace you are most comfortable with...as long as you are moving forward.
2- There is no right or wrong way to answer the litany of questions at the opening of this post.

How About You
Have you been been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the constant barrage of experts telling you what to do? I have too. It's important to start adapting to the changing world of work, but make sure you listen to yourself first. After all, that's the only noise that matters.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.



photo credit #1 photo credit #2

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jay

    Kudos for getting 'hurl' into a blog post title. Neat photo too - well done :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Doug...it took a bit of work, but it seemed to fit just right :)

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