One thing I know right now about the world of work is this: it’s stressful.

No matter who you are or what you’re doing, I’m sure you can relate. There are certainly signs of hope in the economy, but reality is, not one of us is standing on completely solid ground.

And it’s hard in the face of uncertainty, change, and more uncertainty to focus anyway and keep pressing on, every day. Day in, day out.

But more and more, integrity at work boils down to just that. To keep pressing on. In the midst of everything. Anything.

Because change is nothing new.

Uncertainty is a promise we accept at the dawn of every day. It’s a bargain we strike each minute. No one ever said that was anything, fair or unfair.

It just is.

In a Social World

Sometimes, I think about this world I’m a part of. Not the great, blue planet we inhabit, though I think about that too, but this world. This one, right here, where I’m running like so many threads through so many others, a big, important tapestry of energy, ideas, passion. This vibrant, insightful community of thinkers and doers and learners and mentors and peers. Sometimes, because it’s easier to explain it this way, I call this “social media.”

Whatever we call it, I love this place, because of what it teaches me about things that are important to me. Work. Life. Leadership. Innovation. Collaboration. Integrity. Creativity. Dreams.

I love the ability to communicate and connect with every reader, Twitter friend, and connection I have in real life. I love how the lines of my thoughts and relationships blur against those of others. I love the challenge of new ideas, and the race to understand them, share them, build on them, put them into action and set them out into the world, a working, living thing.

I think about integrity and what that means in this space, too. About things like how important it is to be the true version of yourself everywhere, whether Google reads it or not.

Because integrity is one small, solid little word. But unpacking it is hard. Sure, what you do when no one’s looking is really important. But what you do when people are looking matters, too.

In an Evolving Reality

Here is something else I know about work right now. For me, at least, and maybe for you, the lines are blurring. Like it or not, work is no longer one, solid, concrete concept across the board. That space between work and life? Between personal and professional? Between my time and theirs? Between who I am and what I do?

It’s changing.

The most effective professionals have already accepted this as fact and are figuring out how to lead boldly into this new reality, where a business contact may also see the photos from your weekend (even if all you did was try out a new recipe).

Which is why integrity, today, matters everywhere, more than ever before.

In Every Moment, Every Day

This is not as daunting as it may seem.

Really, it’s a gift, if you choose to see it that way, of focus.

What should you post, omit, disclose? What should you say? What should you do?

Your integrity is there, holding up its shining answer.

The question is, what will you do with that answer? Wherever you are, and no matter who isn’t, or is, looking?

What’s your take? Does integrity matter? Should your professional “persona” be consistent with your personal self? Or do you draw a clear line between “work” and “life”? Come chat in the comments section or bring the conversation to Twitter.

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“Yeah. So what?” I say, realizing, in the back of my mind how harsh that probably sounds, since we’re only talking about his childhood dream here.

But I have my game face on with him, now. Reality is, we are on the same page with this struggle. He is an incredibly talented artist. Opportunities are aligning already for him. I’m impressed with not just his efforts but the skill and insight and success he’s already achieved just a few years out of college.

Being married to a creative person when you work, live, and dream in that world yourself is not without its challenges. Honestly, it’s hard enough dealing with my own crazy dreams and expectations sometimes. Knowing he deals with the same types of hopes and aspirations for himself can be overwhelming. All the energy, ideas, and drive pouring through our house means even on our days and hours off work, we’re still on duty. Building, dreaming, making.

It’s no wonder our dog has developed a chewing problem. Like right now. He’s chewing up his new bed because I’m sitting here, writing this post. [Oh, wait. Update. He's now destroyed a wooden meat tenderizer. Great.]

Luckily, Rob and I balance well. Whether it’s pure coincidence, sheer effort, or pure adoration, his creative good days tend to balance my not-so-great ones, and vice versa. And it helps to have your best friend get exactly where you’re coming from. Even if you have a hard time grasping it yourself sometimes.

But regardless, it’s still there, haunting us both and every day of our creative lives. The love affair our culture has for the youthful success story. Each day that passes adds to a year more of our lives, of our time, spent waiting. Watching. Working.

What are we waiting for?

Impatience overwhelms us. Not just Rob and I, but an entire generation of idealistic, educated, aspiring people. We worry that we’re wasting away. We move and make and create and go. And still, potential is everywhere. Brooding, waiting, restless.

It’s a healthy dose of impatience. It’s constructive, not destructive. And yet, here we are. And the questions remain.

Like, what, exactly, is the deal with paying dues?

Paying dues seems submissive to broken structures.

Dealing with hierarchies, working within silos, it all seems so silly, so outmoded, so non-productive. It’s difficult, sometimes, for my generation to see the point in dealing with it all. In fact, an incredible number in Generation Y want to avoid the corporate life altogether and be their own boss. But, wait. I’ve learned a few things on my days on the corporate side. You can actually pay your dues while still stirring the pot. In fact, maybe the best way to create change in hierarchies still governed by more mature generations is to work well within the structures that exist. And through that, to earn the trust you can use to innovate. After all, blowing things up isn’t the only way to change a landscape.

Paying dues takes time.

But so does other important stuff. Getting an education. Finding a mate to marry. Buying a house. So what’s all the fuss about how long it takes you to get to your dream? Why does it matter how much time you spend paying your dues, as long as you’re learning and growing along the way? After all, experience is still important. And as far as I can tell, it’s still one of those things that only comes through time. The problem, it seems to me, is when you start “paying dues” for dues’ sake. For the ladder. For the climb.

Paying dues doesn’t always pay off.

This is by far the most difficult reality I’ve had to face in my career. It’s perhaps the most difficult thing most people face. But going through the experience personally, I know one thing for sure. Paying your dues doesn’t have to actually be about going anywhere - whether up or out.

Instead, if you choose, paying your dues can be all about getting you ready for the journey. Wherever that leads. That, after all, is something you can control yourself.

So what?

Worrying about whether or not you should pay dues at work, or as you work toward your goals, is a waste of time. Because, chances are, you’re going to have to pay them at some point in time. Instead, figure out how to make your dues work for you, too. Whether or not it gets you a promotion, there’s a lot of value that you can gain:

• Practice building patience while you can still afford to make mistakes
• Better relationships with upwardly mobile people
• Access to other people who have opportunities you need
• Access to mentoring and allies
• Realistic growth, the kind you can handle

In the end, paying your dues at work, or anything, is rarely about paying something that’s undue.

Instead, it’s about investing. Your time. Your talent. Your potential. Not just into some company or job or goal. But into yourself. So, give yourself the time you need to do and learn and grow into what you desperately want to be.

It will make the ride that much funner - and faster - if you slow down and experience the journey.

Don’t worry. You’re getting there.

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The other night, I came across a group of my Twitter peers debating the relevance and authenticity of personal branding, particularly within the social media landscape. Is it just shameless self-promotion? What happens when you don’t put yourself out there? No one else will get publicity for you. Or will they? Can’t it be useful for promoting more than just you? How far is too far when it comes to self-promotion? What’s the point of it all, anyway?

The critique of the personal branding model is not new. I’ve questioned it myself hundreds of times. After all, if branding is a marketing function, and the goal of marketing is sales, then what does that say about applying the process to you as a person, employee, or expert? It seems to imply that the ultimate goal is sales – whether through acquiring employment, building a business, or selling your consulting services.

And that seemingly self-centered emphasis means that the concept of personal branding could have a bit of a problem. Especially in what appears to be an increasingly social, community-oriented media landscape. To many, it seems just a bit too narcissistic.

An Image Problem

A while back, a friend gave me a similarly thoughtful critique of the name of this blog. It’s nothing new, but, ironic as it may sound, PR has an image problem.

What does that mean for the term “Personal PR” at first glance? My friend and I debated. Personal, for one, sounds selfish. And PR typically brings to mind spin, at worst, and publicity, at best. Which both seem at face value to be self-centered concepts – especially when you’re making it “personal.”

Defining Evolving Terms

But really, the issue here is semantics. Fair enough. Personal Branding began as a metaphor in the nomenclature of careers, business and entrepreneurship, after all.

Now the concept has taken off in a world where competition for jobs is increasingly difficult, even for the most experienced workers – or arguably, especially for them – and as increasingly saturated new media landscape has converged to create a perfect storm for personal participation in the great branding race.

So, to better understand the underlying metaphor of personal branding and Personal PR, it’s important to examine the evolving definitions of both branding and PR.

Branding - At #Brandchat this week [a live special interest Twitter chat], we had a great discussion about what a brand actually is, who defines it, and whether – or how – a brand can evolve. A brand is more than simply a name and image – it’s not just a logo or a type of product. That is the face of a brand, but a brand is also a promise an organization makes to its audiences. And there’s a lot more to building a brand than simply slapping a pretty package on something and calling it go. Consumers equate the actual quality of your product with their measure of your brand. Your brand equity matters when people make purchasing decisions, yes, but a brand is not exclusively useful for the process of sales. In today’s world, the concept of a brand has arguably evolved.

Public Relations – My favorite definitions of PR, and the most popular among most scholars and practitioners, focus on the process of creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their stakeholders. While used in common rhetoric to refer to the process of getting ink (whether literal, or, these days, digital,) the press component of PR is one small part of a broader picture, a practice which focuses on audiences from internal to external, relies on a variety of tools and tactics, and, most importantly, is continually evolving yet still rooted in the concept of relationships.

Which is why, as a model applied to how you communicate and share your personal “brand” online, public relations is a great metaphor for understanding exactly how that process can work.

Business Gets Personal

But, things aren’t quite that neat and tidy. When it comes to applying these concepts to your own professional image online, it’s important to also understand one other important fact: In today’s business world, the lines between marketing and PR are blurring. A thriving social media world and a struggling traditional media system are front-and-center in this evolution.

In companies and agencies everywhere, the rug is getting pulled out from under the order and structure a neatly defined media landscape provided for so long. Media, publicity, communications was handled mostly by PR. Branding was mainly a marketing strategy but by no means the only one.

Now, new media is shaking things up and threatening to topple silos. Some in social media argue that it’s a PR function, while some say it’s a marketing tactic. In reality, the answer is not perfectly clear. And maybe, it doesn’t matter who social media belongs to after all.

Because at its heart, social media means that real, two-way communication is now a real-time reality. Which means that “me” already matters much less than “we.”

Less about Me, More about We

Businesses, individuals, organizations – are all dealing with this evolution in different ways. As consumers become more savvy and interactive, professional PR and marketing practitioners have the opportunity to evolve from a Return-on-Investment model and take advantage of a Return-on-Engagement opportunity. Which may mean becomning less territorial and more collaborative. And as business deals with the intimate involvement of the customer with the definition and reputation of the precious brand asset, individuals (many of us professionals in this line of work ourselves) are undergoing an intensive questioning process ourselves.

If the definition of “brand” is changing for business, what does that mean for the operation of my personal brand for me? And as the worlds of personal and business converge with the advent of social media, how can a personal brand embrace the “we” mentality – not just as a career strategy, but as an everyday business practice?

In a brilliant article dissecting the future of the personal brand construct with the evolution of the semantic web, Valeria Maltoni asks some important questions that remain at the heart of this debate: “How can we use our skills and experience to elevate not just our own status and condition, but that of those who come in contact with us? We’re learning to build a personal brand in a Web 2.0 world. Will the idea of personal brand still be ‘in’ in the Web 3.0 or semantic Web? Is authenticity online really authentic or is it the evolution of the mechanisms that produced stars?”

In today’s world, microcelebrity is certainly possible. Is it right? Is it wrong? Is it useful? The questions remain, and the debate will continue. But conclusions will emerge, and eventually, consensus will begin to rise to the top. Conclusions and consensus you and I - and our personal brands - have the opportunity to help shape.

And that, in the end, is the most important thing we can learn from the personal branding debate. As individuals and professionals, “we” now have an unbelievable opportunity to help question, define, and refine. If we choose to.

What’s your take?

- - -

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about exactly what it is that defines things. Me, for example. I think a lot about what it is that defines me.

Is it what I do? The words I speak? The look on my face? The things I didn’t say?

Not who am I — but who am I to you?

—

Today, a friend of mine is launching a book. A book about personal branding.

I’ll tell you right now that I haven’t read the book. So if you’re looking for a review, try here instead. But I promised Dan that I’d be writing a post about his launch, so what I can tell you is that Dan knows a thing or two about how persistence, dedication, and pluck can help you create a solid personal image. And I can tell you first-hand that Dan’s pretty much proven over the last few years that, at the very least, he practices what he preaches. And he preaches about personal branding. So, you do the math.

But here’s what’s interesting about Dan, other than his extreme dedication and relentless effort: I’m not the only one who will tell you the exact same story about his hard work and expertise. Because everything Dan does is focused on defining exactly what he wants to be.

—

Sometimes, what we don’t do defines us.

I think about this a lot. About the projects I didn’t pursue. About the class I didn’t take. About the relationships I let fade away.

I’ve always been a person who has a hard time saying no. Letting go is not one of my strong suits.

But it never ceases to amaze me how important saying no and letting go can be, in the end.

The guy I didn’t marry. The job I didn’t take.

—

What you choose not to do creates the space that remains.

What will you build, in those places?

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I’m sitting here now, listening to hail tap onto concrete outside, to thunder passing into the distance, as the rain fades, wondering why that worries me.

Growing up, I used to write. Was it a passion or an obsession? I don’t remember.

I do remember that I had no audience. But I wrote to one anyway.

What did I say?

—

I had an Emily Dickinson phase. Instead of punctuation, dashes. Now I punctuate obsessively. Edit, revise, erase. When did that happen?

I remember that the dashes came first, the Emily Dickinson later. I was relieved that someone else had written that way before me, then upset that I didn’t think of it first. How unoriginal.

—

Words. I wrote words. I tested their sounds, filled sentences full of airy assonance, tacked consonants into tight parades across my screen. Snap. It was paper then. Do I remember?

Sometimes, I still put pen to paper. Test it. Wait to see what it could be.

Ideas now are my currency. And I wonder why I never stop to wonder when they became my master. When ideas became a thing to capture, instead of something that could capture me.

Is it wisdom when we stop looking at words for what they are and start molding them into what we want them to be? Or something less impressive?

—

Once, my greatest fear was that my words were written where they’d stay: tucked away in notebooks, hidden away, forgotten.

Now it’s that I worry too much about what I say. That I’ll lose the courage to say it anyway.

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So what?

Revelation

I have just realized that, for some reason, I am always having the same revelations.

About consistency. About discipline. About pushing past obstacles.

For a long time, that bothered me.

But finally, I am realizing that maybe, that’s because I keep letting the same thing stop me.

Quantitatively, I can tell this is true. For example, there are 90 unfinished posts in my drafts folder, deemed not good enough to publish. Qualitatively, I can tell it’s true from the way I feel when I sit down to blog. Fear, mostly, with a good dose of doubt. Even though I know that doesn’t make sense, objectively, since I write as a professional, for a living, and plenty of people read this blog. It also happens to be the truth.

Confession

My husband comes in to check on me, just like he has been doing every night the past few weeks. To see if I’ve finally posted. Or at least written something. This time, I tell him I’m doing okay. And finally, it’s the truth.

He says, “I’m excited about this one,” because I brainstormed the title for this post with him at lunch today. I say, well, I’m not sure it’s going to be as great as you are thinking. And he says, “Well, isn’t that the point of this post?” And then he gives me a kiss that says to me, “They won’t all be the best, but who cares. I’m still looking forward to it.”

He walks away, and I think about that.

Then, from the kitchen, he says, “One weird thing was that after lunch today, I was on StumbleUpon, and one of your posts came up randomly. The Lost one.”

And I don’t know why, but something about that was exactly what I needed in this moment to finally push past the dip.

People are reading. You are listening. Someone is sharing what I have to say.

Movement

So, this may not be the most eloquent thing I’ve ever written. It might not be the most strategic. But it’s something I need to tell myself, and maybe something you need to hear.

It’s never too late.

To write that post, to launch that site, to land that client, to develop that idea, to take that risk, to give that pitch, to write that book.

Or, maybe it’s always too late.

The trick is to stop worrying about that part and move anyway.

Enjoy this post? Want more more blogging motivation, social media tips, and career advice? Grab a free subscription to Personal PR by RSS or e-mail today. Or, follow Tiffany on Twitter to chat with her about these and other ideas.

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So if you’ve been hit by the 25 things meme on Facebook, the question you have isn’t really to share or not to share – that’s up to you. But for the sake of your safety, you should be asking yourself about what you are posting – even in places where you think your content is safe. Sure, on Facebook, you are sharing content with people you probably know - or think you know, at least. But that doesn’t mean it’s always safe. Or even private. Even one of your friends whose own Facebook profile is easy to hack can open a “private” profile up to attack. Just one loose or unknown connection who has ulterior motives who can access your content can simply copy and paste your vital information anywhere they please - to keep, or to share with others you don’t know. Others who might have some plans of their own for your identity.

So before you post, check out these 25 random things you probably shouldn’t publish online.

The Basics

The basic information an identity thief needs to steal from you varies depending on the schemes they plan to carry out, but it might surprise you just how little information they actually need. Here are some vital pieces of information they might look for.

1. Physical addresses
2. Personal phone numbers
3. Birth dates
4. Birth cities
5. Social security numbers
6. Account or credit card numbers
7. User names
8. Passwords
9. Children’s full names

The Details

Most people are savvy enough to not post basic identity-related information online intentionally (though that doesn’t always mean the information is safe). But, there are other types of information that could give an identity thief who has just one piece of basic personal information about you access to your financial accounts, your blog, social network profiles, etc.

This is more unique personal information about your relationships, history, preferences, and life in general. Exactly the type of information you’ve probably given as the answer to some security questions when creating password measures for online profiles. The kind of information people use in passwords - words, dates, and ideas that are personally memorable.

10. Your anniversary date
11. The name of your teacher in any grade.
12. Your children’s birthdays.
13. The make and model of your first car.
14. Your first pet’s name.
15. Your high school mascot.
16. Your favorite word.
17. Your best friend’s name.
18. The maiden names of relatives.
19. Your favorite color.
20. Your favorite movie.
21. The color of your first car.
22. The name of your elementary school.
23. Your favorite food.
24. The name of your first kiss.
25. Your favorite place to eat.

This short list can’t capture them all. But what it should do is capture your attention.

Because these are the kinds of details people are sharing on MySpace and Facebook and Twitter every day.

So, stop for a second and ask yourself if you are also relying on the same information to keep your online identities secure.

When you’re publishing information about yourself online, you probably mean well. But it’s like my mom always said when I started driving – “It’s not you I’m worried about; it’s all the other people [or in this case, bots or hackers or scammers] out there.”

Next Steps

If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, act immediately.

If you have already published these types of facts about yourself online and have also used the same facts in passwords or security questions, it’s not too late to take preventative measures. Create new passwords and security answers immediately as a first precaution. There are lots of great password creation tips you can use, so make it a priority. You can also pay for identity theft protection from a company like LifeLock to help prevent problems if any of your basics have been compromised.

But, the truth is, no system can fully protect you if you are sharing too much information online.

You never know what people will do with the information that’s connected to your personal identity. So make sure you aren’t ever publishing any information about yourself that could give yourself - or your security online - away.

Because social media is real life, too.

How do you decide what personal information to post online and what to keep under wraps? Have you posted 25 Things or another meme and had weird things happen with your info? What are your thoughts about social media and personal security? Come chat with me in the comments section.

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But don’t stop reading if you’re not a Lost fan. Because whether or not you’ve ever watched a single episode of the show, you can learn something about writing a better blog by the way this game-changing TV show operates. (And if you don’t have time to read this entire post, skim the subeads and then actually read point five. And then leave me a comment about that point. I’m dying to talk to some people about this idea.)

1) Pull out all the stops on day one.

When Lost premiered, it was the most expensive pilot ever produced. It was crazy. Instead of waiting to build up to a grand finale, the producers pulled out all the stops on day one. They put everything into the first episode, because in TV, you never know what the future holds. And with a show like Lost, when it premiered, the idea was to go big or go home. They went big. And the rest is TV history.

If you’re starting a blog, this is an important lesson to learn. Don’t save your great posts for later on. Don’t save your big ideas to do once you have more readers. The way to get more readers is to have great ideas and build great relationships. And it’s easier to build new relationships if you lead with great ideas.

If you aren’t starting a new blog, don’t worry, there’s a lesson for you here, too, and here’s what it is: Today is Day One. It’s up to you to choose when and how you will put your best work out there. So if you’re not doing your big-budget worthy things already, start now.

2) Have the courage to tell new stories.

And start telling old stories in new ways. If Lost had stopped telling new stories in the first season, I wouldn’t be writing this post right now. Because I didn’t get into the show until I saw a random episode in the second season – and I got hooked.

I rented the whole series and watched the first season in one week. And then I watched again with my boyfriend once he finally caught on a few months later. The rate at which new stories were added and new mysteries unfolded was addictive and slightly infuriating. It was so much to take in.

But that’s what made it what it is. And then, it changed. At the end of season three, the the directors went from the storytelling style of flashbacks to flashforwards. It was a risk that shocked everyone. And the show has never been better or more loved.

So, what does that mean for your blog? Well, Lost is probably what I would call a niche show. Which helps it a lot to create a large, devoted following of fervent, addicted fans. People know what to expect with the show, and at the same time, every episode is a chance for their expectations to change. And for that reason people love it. No, they crave it.

When it comes to blogging, a niche can be really useful in creating a specific, devoted community of readers and participants. But there’s also a curse of blogging in a niche, and I will kindly refer to it as burn out. Some call it the lazysphere or an echo chamber. But what everyone is talking about is how hard it is to write about one niche while keeping it fresh and saying something new.

But Lost is great at this. It defined its own niche, and it still owns it. Heroes failed at trying to mimic it. Because the reason Lost is so great at its own niche is that it is constantly reinventing itself – as a niche, and as a show. It refuses to let itself stay the same, and that means it’s constantly relevant and almost never stale.

So, if you blog, take this lesson to heart: It’s your niche. It’s your blog. Make it new as often as you can. Be creative. Be inventive. Tell new stories. Change things up. Your readers will thank you for it. (And even if they don’t, you’ll have a lot more fun along the way).

3) Have guts. Kill off some main characters.

Lost is one show that has more guts than any other piece of TV that I’ve ever watched, and that’s because it does what most other shows don’t do: it has the guts to kill characters. Main characters. Characters people loved.How does this apply to your blog? For one, it’s important to have guts when you blog. Do things your audience doesn’t expect. Maybe do things that could piss them off. But another lesson is, don’t do things just to mix stuff up. Do it to make your blog better, just like Lost killed people to make the show better. Because when Ana Lucia and Libby got shot in the same scene (and no one believed they were dead but they really were) it proved to the audience that the creators weren’t going to apologize for their direction and that anyone, absolutely any character could be at risk. It made the stakes seem more real. And all eyes were glued to their sets. And the message boards got buzzing. And suddenly, there were all sorts of possibilities we never considered before.

So here is your blogging lesson: when you are wiling to take insane risks, your audience will forgive you, and though you might make some mistakes, you will become a better blogger.

And anyway, who wouldn’t want to write the kind of blog people have watch parties for?

4) Listen to your fans. Not too much. Don’t alienate them.

The fans of Lost are unabashedly rabid. They have crazy ideas and theories and insights. (Remember? I am one of these people.) And some are spot on and others are very wacky and out there. And the creators have done some really interesting things with red herrings and rabbits and creating hidden shout-outs to fans within the show. Heck, they even created a virtual reality online and TV-based game to give the fans something to interact with. But they also didn’t let fan feedback or disappointment or anger run them off track.

They have mastered the art of having a pulse on the fan base but having the confidence in their own story and own direction to keep it moving just the same. And they do all this without alienating their audience.

Your blog probably has fans. Your readers, your audience, are all there for a reason. And some of them want to share ideas with you. If you think about it, that’s quite an honor. So let them know you are listening. Have conversations. Use your community to improve your ideas/ Take in what will help you be better. And then, don’t worry about the rest.

5) Do the impossible. Write your endgame.

This is the absolute most difficult and awesome thing you can learn from Lost as a blogger. When Lost announced several years in advance they were going to end the show, you can’t imagine the crazy uproar that ensued if you didn’t witness it yourself. But this risky move did something beautiful to a show that was starting to get a little rusty around some corners: it gave it new life, new direction, and more importantly, more passion within the fans. So here’s what I want you to think about:

What would your blog be like if you had an endgame in mind?

What would be your grand finale? What would be the one thing you want your readers to remember? What would you want people to look back upon it and think? What posts would you want to write? What stories would you want to tell? What activities would you stop doing? 

If you decided today you only had one year left to blog, how would that change what you’re doing right now?

Now, I’m dying to talk about this last point especially, so please join me in the comments section to talk about anything in this post, or how interesting blogs are because they’re different than books, which have one main point, and end. And how blogs are tough to keep up with writing. And whether or not your plan to blog for the rest of your life. Because if you think about it, your blog probably does have an end. And I’m sure you can come up with all kinds of other interesting ideas I hadn’t thought of. So let’s chat. I’m looking forward to it.

If you really liked this post, share it on Twitter (here I am if you want to find me there). Or Stumble it. Or send me an e-mail. Or leave me two comments! And if you want to talk Lost tomorrow, I’ll be hanging out at the Pop Candy forum tonight after the show and on my lunch break tomorrow. So maybe I’ll see you there?

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What if, every day, instead of that, you asked yourself a question instead. A question like this.

If I could do only one thing today, what would it be?
 
What would I say? Who would I meet? Where would I go?

Instead, we try to choose everything, and the problem is, it never works.

So, here is the answer: stop trying to do it all. 

Today, just once, pick one thing. Focus on it. See what happens.

Here’s what I predict. You will accomplish at least one thing.

Don’t worry. Everything else will keep coming. It always does, like it or not.

But today, you can stop imagining yourself getting things done. You can enjoy the freedom and accomplishment that doing just one thing can bring.

Try it today. I dare you.

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