Three words for 2010

Over the holiday break I thought about where I’d like to be one year from now. As I mentioned on the last episode of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast, “Turn the page“, most of my work in using new media technologies has been highly experimental. I’ve tried things out just to see what would happen. I’ve begun a lot of projects with zeal and enthusiasm, and I’ve had to realize that I don’t approach them with the same amount of passion to make them the best that they can be. Two of the strategies for managing multiple online identities are to shelve or even trash projects/accounts/properties.

: Image via Wikipedia

In many cases I haven’t cared about what others think as much and how what I’m doing affects others. I still believe, as Miles Davis (affiliate link) said, that “an artist’s first responsibility is to himself.” I also recognize that nothing I’ve done has been in a vacuum.

I think as I approach 2010 with incurable, tough-minded optimism, that the following three words will be my guide, my mission:

BE MORE USEFUL

In everything I do in 2010, any project, task, event, blog post, podcast, update, and so forth… my mission is to be more useful. I will have this in the forefront of my mind. I will work to make the projects I work on the best that they can be, considering how what I do can be more useful to you and others. I will work to say YES as much as I can, but not necessarily all the time.

Happy New Year! Let’s begin.

Using new media to make the most of your event (trafcom.typepad.com)
New Media Vacation (evilgeniuschronicles.org)

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About Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Daniel Johnson, Jr. believes in the power of connecting others and helping tell great stories with technology. Connect with Daniel on Google+.

Tags: Miles Davis, mission

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Lessons Learned. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

mikeboehmer57

You were helpful to many people in 2009, including me. The thought of keeping the momentum going in 2010 is exciting. All the best to you!
http://twitter.com/rightclickos Sara Carbaugh

Hurray for more Dan in 2010! You are wonderful and I'm glad you're starting to see how much you really do affect the people you meet!
Lauren Weiss

How would you describe what you “do” to a new person you meet? In basic layman's terms. Let's say I have no idea what new media is.
(I'm not being difficult here. A mentor of mine stresses that this self-definition helps when making new contacts cause we can be emphatic and self-assured about what we are offering to those contacts.)
http://danieljohnsonjr.com danieljohnsonjr

Hi Lauren,

Thanks for the comment. Very good point. Chip and Dan Heath, in their
book, Made to Stick, talk about the Curse of Knowledge. Subject matter
experts spend so much time in their respective spaces that they assume
others easily understand them when they try to explain what they do.
It's like tapping out “Happy Birthday to You” on a table. It makes
perfect sense to me what I'm tapping because I'm intimately familiar
with it; to you it seems like Morse code.

The challenge for us as communicator is to communicate the core
message; i.e., what's most important and why you should care.

Sure, I have an About page on my blog that serves as a Virtual
Business Card. But I will try to recast what I do in the next series
of sentences:

You know hiw every business has a set of metrics they use to gauge the
health of their business? They need someone to identify both the
supporting data from their business sytems and understand and
communicate the stories that data can tell. That's what I do.

I also use tools like blogging, podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, and
LinkedIn to share my passions for connecting with and encouraging
others. I have been successful at building and nurturing community
through the New Media Cincinnati group. I founded the group so that
people interested and passionate about this space can move online
conversations into in-person gatherings, to make deeper connections
that can lead to more business and personal growth.

I have combined my passion for job seekers and skill with podcasting
to create the How I Got My Job series.

I am looking to take my existing work in identifying stories that data
can tell, combined with my social media and community-building
expertise, to work for a small- to medium-sized organization with a
passion for helping solve problems.

Thanks again for the comment. I hope this helps. Please let me know if
it does and any other input you might have. I sincerely appreciate it.

Make it a great day!

Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Cincinnati, Ohio
+1-513-373-4442
http://danieljohnsonjr.com/main/about

Sent from my iPod

Daniel Johnson, Jr.