X-ray Vision Requires Laser Focus
September 6th, 2010X-ray vision glasses from the back of comic books promised pre-adolescent boys their own super-human powers. Since I was reasonably sure the ads were hyperbole, I opted to spend my allowance on joy buzzers and garlic gum. Too bad I don’t follow my instincts when it comes to the web.
Photo by Tripp Shoots People
Ideas Without Action Are Worthless
Helen Keller said that. She evidently rejected the old saw about the worth of a dozen ideas. Of course, she was right: you can’t cash a day-dream at your local bank, current financial crisis notwithstanding. You have to actually do something.
I want to bring board games and paper puzzles to the world. The idea was born when I developed a program to create random printable boards. I was inspired by my dad, who created Hilagrams, Fischer Random Chess, the modular style of Dungeons and Dragons and too many sci-fi novels to mention.
Rather than day-dream, I set to work creating Morpho Board.
No website can convey the labor that goes into its creation, nor can the realization of an idea reclaim the shed husks of prototypical iterations. I may attempt to quantify the process or record the progress but, ultimately, only I know the toll.Yet, having shed blood and cried tears of agony during the virtual birth, I quickly forgot the pain and turned my fickle attention to other ideas.
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Instead of remaining focused on Morpho Board, I began a long, torturous and unprofitable journey through various money-making schemes. I shan’t recount the sordid details here. I’ll just point out that the original goal of bringing board games to the world had dropped off my radar.
Photo by hermanturnip
Ironically, blogging was the vehicle of distraction that took me from the shores of naïveté to the underbelly of the web – and back. At first, it was all about Google’s AdSense program. As that failed to produce financial freedom within a year, I turned to affiliate marketing, eBay and a host of other “ventures” that did nothing but waste my time.
Eventually, I dug myself out of the pit of senseless contradictions and pointless blathering that punctuated much of the crap I had chosen to follow. Morpho Board was back in my sights and I would have been home free but for a little blue bird.
Bird’s Eye View
Twitter. Bah! I read about this micro-blogging fad in 2007 and signed up. Having no clue about the value of telling total strangers that I had just eaten another Pop-tart®, I promptly forgot about this turkey.
Graphic by Russ Adams
Addicted as I was to the siren song of Internet riches, it wasn’t long before I “discovered” that Twitter could help me make money in my sleep. You already know the ending – and moral – to this pathetic story, so let’s just fast-forward to last night.
Laser Recalibration
I will probably always have to keep reminding myself to stay focused. Images like this may help.
Photo by Dashu Pagla
One of the ways I reaffirm my goals and methods is through sharing my story. Sometimes, the tale is spun in another universe, where I may share a Revelation.
The first in a series of 26 strangely connected posts. Peruse Alphabet Soup for more.
Frank Lee asks, “Are you Wasting Time In Social Media Marketing?”, to which I reply, “sort of. ”
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