There’s a lot of…pressure these days.
Post to Twitter! And Facebook! And Instagram! And Vine! And Pinterest! And AREN’T YOU PERISCOPING YET, YOU CURMUDGEON?
Speaking of self-important broadcasts, have you started your podcast yet? Are you #1 on iTunes? DON’T YOU HAVE PLANS TO START A PODCAST?!
I’m continually fascinated by the flock’s constant need to do shiny. Everyone’s so goddamn afraid they’re going to get left behind; that they’re going to miss the next best thing. It’s like you can literally see their brain cells scrambling to keep up. (Which I totally picture as an entire mob of angry emus racing across the Golden Gate bridge.)
I’ve even talked to business owners who are about to start doing video, even though they HATE doing video, they're scared to death of video, and they want nothing to do with video.
I can’t help but think this is a horrible idea.
You’re shooting yourself in the foot, the armpit (owww) and the wallet.
Just because a medium exists, does not mean you need to exploit it. And in fact, in some cases you absolutely shouldn’t. When might one of those cases be? Well, when you’re detracting from your credibility and your focus, for one.
If you stink at video—the medium can’t help you.
If you stink at podcasting—the medium can’t help you.
If you stink at writing—the medium can’t help you.
We’re all looking to the newest medium as the lifejacket that’s going to keep us afloat, when really, we need to be focusing on the medium we naturally float in.
Elizabeth Gilbert didn’t become a best-selling author by spending half her time figuring out how the fuck to YouTube.
Miss Forleo didn’t build her web show by also trying to become a writer.
I didn’t get signed by the literary agency of my dreams because I was spending all of my time recording podcasts.
In an age when new opportunities show up on your doorstep every single minute, waving their ta-tas, offering you a lap dance…
…sometimes it’s worth remembering that you can’t chase everything at once—or you may have nothing forever.
It's called “focus,” and with all the amazing thing that technology gives to us, focus is the one thing?
It can also take away.