After some discussion with some friends, I have decided to start the process of shifting the focus of my blog.
At its inception, my blog was about my life…engaged then married…in university then starting work…no kids…then kids. My wife’s blog (which is not getting more daily hit then mine b/c she’s smarter, prettier and just generally better than me) focuses on our family, our life and everything in between.
In years past, I’ve walked the line between full-time ministry (still hate that term) and working in the corporate world. That said, after much consideration, I have decided to change the focus of this blog. What am I going to talk about? Well…there’s not way I could possibly answer that now, as I am sure a year from now I’d be way off! BUT, I can say this: the blog is going to focus on my life, but more in what I am learning and the stuff that I deal with on a regular basis. Some of the topics I really want to dive into include: “Being Young.” I get asked to often about what it’s like to Be so young and: Married, Have a Kid, Own a Business, etc. My first response is always “Not easily,” giving God the glory for what He has done and continues to do in my life. Pride is a tough thing when your young. The world says “conquer me…then brag about it,” but God’s world says “die to self, live for eternity.” WOW, is that not contradictory! That said, I’m going to kick off the “new focus” with a series called “Being Young” in which I’m going to dive into different areas that I have experienced and what I have learned as a result (both the easy and hard way).
I hope that this new focus will better help me to get into words the lessons I learn daily, and hit the world of blogging from the perspective of a young entrepreneur that also loves Christ.
Social Media is a funny thing. From Tom @ Myspace to Evan @ Twitter…social media has come a long way. I remember when myspace was cool. It started off with teenage girls, then moved to bands and eventually the hoochies got a hold of it…and it became suck.
Then facebook. I remember facebook. You know, that social networking site for college students. I used to have facebook. Then my grandma and her friends got it. And I left.
I jumped straight over to twitter. About a year and a half ago, when it was still “some dumb micro blogging thing.” Then CNN, Oprah…and you guessed it a few to many geriatrics jumped on board. Well, I still haven’t abandoned ship, but am definitely on the ‘prowl‘ for what’s next. Could it be THIS…maybe THIS….or even THIS?
I read a post today by Seth Godin on his blog. I own pretty much every book he’s written, and believe, as an author he does a great job of mixing whit and humor with solid business principles.
In post discuss’ how things (inspite of what we try to tell ourselves) don’t always end up “okay.” The line “change, by definition, changes things” for sure resounded with me, especially in the context of working through a job change and such. The fact is, I/we try to tell ourselves that change is okay..change is good..and although both those things are true, the fact that change is difficult and/or sometimes makes you feel like crap gets tossed to the sidelines.
While I’m on the “Seth Godin Topic,” I found his take on the concept of invention/medium evolution to be very interesting. Although not original, the phrasing sheds new light on an aged old concept. Here’s how Seth said it:
1. Technicians who invented it, run it
2. Technicians with taste, leverage it
3. Artists take over from the technicians
4. MBAs take over from the artists
5. Bureaucrats drive the medium to banality
I’ve heard the “early innovators rarely get paid” before, but to stage-out the process of business/concept evolution like this helped me in framing the illustration and ideas of the concept itself.
I’m home. Got it last night around 7pm. The Jet Lag..it killer. Apparently today and tomorrow will be the worst of it, but I am trusting the Lord for strength as “down time” is not something that I have the luxury of right now. To compare this season in the Toy Business to something I’ve written about before SEE HERE. It is go-go-go until the end of February, so I’m buckling down and get’n-er’-dun!
It is DEFINITELY good to be home with my two ladies! Expect to see an update and highlights psot very soon.
The answer…Hong Kong! I am here for the annual Hong Kong Toy Fair. After a 15 hour flight, I have arrived. The time change is 13 hours difference (so 8am in Toronto is 9pm in Hong Kong).
So as I write this blog, my friends and family are preparing to get their Monday morning going and I am going to bed…Monday night. Just for fun, I checked to see if Monday Night Football was one and unfortunately even MNF is bound by timezones…
I am excited for the stuff I’ll learn and new experiences I will have but DEFINATELY miss my wife and daughter. It’s a weird feeling being this far away. For sure one that forces me to remind myself that I am not in control and that God is soverign.
Pray for me as I adjust to the time change and struggle with missing life in Toronto..
My time in Dallas was different than I expected. I left knowing that I would struggle with being away (missing Hailey and Stella, etc.), but expected that with the craziness of work, I would be able to keep busy enough to get through….well….it was tougher than I thought. I found every spare moment my heart would travel home and would then leave me distracted.
I’m sure that “leaving” becomes more manageable as you do it more, but never (hopefully) becomes easier.
All that said, my time in Dallas was great. Here’s a couple pics from my time there…
The “Old” Texas Stadium from the freeway
And last but not least…1 of 4 Delorean’s used in Back the Future…it was…SWEEET!
It was a great trip. Met a lot of great people, ate a lot of great food…Go Cowboys!
This weekend we launched our new website for our business. For those of you that don’t know…I work @ my dad’s accounting and wealth management business. I worked long and hard with our design-guy Tyler on getting the right pieces together, and I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Clean and Professional…it’s what we needed.