Chase What Matters
December 24th, 2009 | by Mitchell Allen |
Photo by cliff1066™
Change is inevitable. As I review my online activities, I continually revise what I think is important.
Three years ago, I paid lip service to focusing on a niche.
The Box, the Barrel and the CircleI spent too many years in a box known as “the family approves”. Within this huge box, I lived in a barrel with a bunch of crabby co-workers. And like the proverbial crabs in the barrel, these miserable folks would claw me back down whenever I sought the top of the barrel. Fortunately, somebody threw a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad into the barrel. While the other crabs were crawling around, pulling each other down, I clawed my way through this phenomenal book. Then I read all of his other books. One of the most important things he wrote was: if you want to change your situation, you have to change your circle of friends. It took a while, but I navigated through all of these psychological polygons. I have plotted a path to purpose and prosperity. |
- From Empire of the Niche
I recently registered for Michelle MacPhearson’s 31 Day Internet Marketing Makeover. This free project helps me assess my online activities. One of the biggest challenges was recognizing the emotional attachment I had to several time-wasting projects.
Two projects were feeble attempts to get my Google AdSense account to the $100 payout. Ever since Google sharply devalued AdSense for content, I haven’t had any luck. For example, I created an account at InfoBarrel.com, where, to date, I have made 24¢ 92¢.
So, in about a week or two, I’m removing all my content and reposting it on this blog. There are several articles that will fit nicely in the Information Overload category. These articles attempt to deal with information overload by ignoring it, offering ideas for simplification along the way. They are meatier than most of the essays I’ve written and the writing process satisfies the need to express my philosophy.
Ironically, this is a 180° change in perspective from something I wrote in early 2008:
| Declining to write a series of Simplification Posts frees my readers from having to slog through excruciating minutiae that seem more like reference manuals than inspiration. |
- From Deprogramming the Difficult
Thus proving, once again, that the inexorable march of changing priorities is not to be denied.
The decision to abandon Info Barrel was easy. However, my third project is pulling me apart. In September of this year, I decided to promote a couple of membership sites. I created a website and an e-book, which I was going to give away in exchange for email addresses. I’ve always wanted to do one of these e-books and I put a lot of energy and research into it.
However, I didn’t know what to offer beyond the e-book! What was the website going to provide? Did I want to keep writing educational pieces to inform potential customers about the pros and cons of hosted membership sites? Arrgh!
Because of the strong emotional attachment I have to this project, I will likely mothball it, rather than killing it. Who knows? Someone may read this post and contact me about it.
So, here I am. Chasing what matters. And what matters is developing software. What matters is recognizing that writing is just a hobby, and should not interfere with my real work.
Finally, what matters is that none of this is important.
