If you wake up one morning and suddenly you don’t have the vision, energy or reason to get out of bed, you might just be suffering from burnout! It is estimated that burnout has gone up 500% in the past ten years!

Burnout is a phenomenon that has been increasing everywhere, creeping into every corner of our modern life. Burnout is growing like a virus. Burnout is poisoning the increasingly alienated, disillusioned, even angry relationship people today have with the world of work – and more often, with their personal lives ~ Professor Christina Maslach

As more and more of my friends and colleagues suffer burnout, I decided to look into it a bit deeper. Here is what I found…

BURNOUT IS LOST ENERGY. You are constantly overwhelmed, stressed, and exhausted. You rarely have a good nights sleep and even if you do, you don’t feel well rested.

BURNOUT IS LOST ENTHUSIASM. Your original passion has faded and has been replaced by a negative cynicism. Your job or life’s work now irritates you and has become a heavy burden. You no longer feel creative, ideas fail and your sensitivity is gone.

BURNOUT IS LOST CONFIDENCE. Without energy and active involvement in your work, it’s hard to find a reason to keep going. The less effective you feel, the more you will have nagging doubts about your self-worth.
Burnout is not the same as stress
What’s worse, if you don’t get some help, your physical and mental health are likely to deteriorate and you are more likely to get sick or depressed. This all spills over into your relationships with family and friends.

Burnout In Ministry

Academic research testifies to the enormous increase in corporate stress and burnout statistics, with one newspaper even referring to workplace stress as reaching “epidemic proportions”. The bottom line is that this is very costly for companies and organizations, especially as burnout tends to target those who are highly dedicated and enthusiastic – just the ones who are needed!

According to the New York Times (August 1, 2010), 45% of pastors suffer from burnout. Even in 2008 CNN quoted CareerBuilder.com saying one-half of workers in the USA reported they felt high levels of stress on the job which can often lead to burnout.

Negative Physical and Psychological Factors

Burnt-out people become disillusioned, frustrated, resentful and aggressive. They may “give-up” and their work performance may shift from “impressive” to “barely adequate”. A range of negative physical and psychological factors can also occur – at an extreme including alcoholism, drug taking, suicidal tendencies, and coronary heart disease.

Causes of burnout

“There are many causes of burnout. In many cases, burnout stems from the job. But anyone who feels overworked and undervalued is at risk for burnout – from the hardworking office worker who hasn’t had a vacation or a raise in two years to the frazzled stay-at-home mom struggling with the heavy responsibility of taking care of three kids, the housework, and her aging father.

But burnout is not caused solely by stressful work or too many responsibilities. Other factors contribute to burnout, including your lifestyle and certain personality traits. What you do in your own time and how you look at the world can play just as big of a role in causing burnout as work or home demands.”

Work-related causes of burnout

• Feeling like you have little or no control over your work
• Lack of recognition or rewards for good work
• Unclear or overly demanding job expectations
• Doing work that is monotonous or non-challenging
• Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment

Lifestyle causes of burnout

• Working too much, without enough time for relaxing and socializing
• Being expected to be too many things to too many people
• Taking on too many responsibilities, without enough help from others
• Not getting enough sleep
• Lack of close, supportive relationships

Personality traits can contribute to burnout

• Perfectionistic tendencies; nothing is ever good enough
• Pessimistic view of yourself and the world
• The need to be in control; reluctance to delegate to others
• High-achieving, Type A personality
  ~ Harvard Health Publications

What The Experts Say About Burnout

Technically, burnout is long-term exhaustion and diminished interest. Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity. A key aspect of the burnout syndrome is 1) increased feelings of emotional exhaustion — as emotional resources are depleted, people feel they are no longer able to give of themselves at a helpful, meaningful level. 2) Another aspect of the burnout syndrome is the development of depersonalization, that is, negative, cynical attitudes and feelings about those around them. 3) A third aspect of the burnout syndrome, reduced personal accomplishment, refers to the tendency to evaluate oneself negatively, particularly with regard to one’s work with others. Workers may feel unhappy about themselves and dissatisfied with their accomplishments on the job.

The Consequences of Burnout

The consequences of burnout are potentially very serious for workers, their clients, and the larger institutions in which they interact. ~ From the Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual

A Fuller Institute study found that of the 1,050 pastors they surveyed, every one of them had a close associate or seminary friend who had left the ministry because of burnout, conflict in their church, or from a moral failure. The result is that some 49% of pastors or those in ministry leave their call within 10 years.  ~ Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development

In Canada, one worker out of four has mental health problems due to stress or burnout. According to a Statistics Canada study, there were 3,400,000 Canadian workers suffering from burnout and 35% of the labor force said they were stressed by overly-heavy workloads or by having to work too many hours. The costs on the healthcare system are enormous!

How often do the following statements describe the way you feel?

• I deal very effectively with the problems I’m faced with:
• I feel I treat people as if they were impersonal objects:
• I feel emotionally drained from my work:
• I’m tired in the morning and don’t want to face the day:
• I’ve become more callous towards people since I took this job:
• I feel I’m positively influencing other people’s lives through my work:
• Working with people all day is really a strain for me:
• I don’t really care what happens to some people:
• I feel exhilarated after working closely with others:

~ Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

Source : Symptômes du burnout [Symptoms of Burnout] – Comité sur la santé psychologique du personnel – Université Laval

The Twelve Phases of Burnout

Psychologists Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North have theorized that the burnout process can be divided into 12 phases. (Not necessarily in this order of occurrence)

(1) The Compulsion to Prove Oneself – Perfectionism

Often found at the beginning is excessive ambition which turns into a compulsion – impossible to achieve of course.

(2) Working Harder

Because they have to prove themselves, the person begins to focus only on the work which will prove themselves better.

(3) Neglecting Their Needs

Since they have devoted everything to work, they now have no time and energy for anything else.

(4) Displacement of Conflicts

Now, the person has become aware that what they are doing is not right, but they are unable to see the source of the problem, leading to personal crisis. This is when the first physical symptoms tend to show up.

(5) Revision of Values

At this stage, people isolate themselves from others, they avoid conflicts, and fall into a state of denial towards their basic physical needs while their perceptions change. They also change their value systems. The work consumes all energy they have left, leaving no energy and time for friends and hobbies. Their new value system is their job and they start to be emotionally blunt.

(6) Denial of Emerging Problems

The person begins to become intolerant. They do not like being social. Social contact becomes unbearable. Aggression and sarcasm are usually strong at this stage.

(7) Withdrawal

Their social contact is now at a minimum, soon turning into isolation, a wall. Alcohol or drugs may be sought out for a release since they are obsessively working “by the book”. They often have feelings of being without hope or direction.

(8) Obvious Behavioral Changes

Coworkers, family, friends, and so on can now see visible signs of change.

(9) Depersonalization

Losing contact with themselves, it’s possible that they no longer see themselves or others as valuable. Life becomes a series of mechanical functions.

(10) Inner Emptiness

They feel empty inside and to overcome this, they might look for escape via overeating, alcohol or drugs. These activities are often exaggerated.

(11) Depression

Burnout may include depression. In that case, the person is exhausted, hopeless, indifferent, and believe that there is nothing for them in the future. To them, there is no meaning of life. Typical depression symptoms arise.

(12) Burnout Syndrome

They collapse physically and emotionally and should seek immediate medical attention. In extreme cases, usually only when depression is involved, suicidal inclinations may occur.

Twelve Ways to Reduce Burnout…

• Learn you aren’t superhuman, but you are very valuable, more so if you are fit.
• Learn to say no – without feeling guilty.
• Learn to set limits and respect them.
• Schedule time for yourself and make it as important as time scheduled for others.
• Learn relaxation techniques and practice them daily.
• Learn to be satisfied with your life right now by being thankful.
• Create a positive social-support network.
• Invest in yourself – take up a hobby and focus on healthy relationships.
• Eliminate negative self-talk and catastrophic thinking.
• Engage in some vigorous physical activity and exercise regularly.
• Learn to identify the difference between things you can control and things you can’t.
• Don’t wait to ask for help, whether from friends or from a professional.

Bottom Line

If you think you might be burned out or close to it, slow down, get help and re-evaluate. You need to start by getting out of your situation, either by taking a holiday or changing your environment. But it is important at this stage that you also seek appropriate counseling and help. Come to terms with the situation, then re-evaluate your goals and think about what you want to achieve with your life.

Watching my friends and colleagues go through burnout has not been fun. I certainly hope you don’t get so stressed you burnout, it’s a bigger problem then you think!

Further Reading Resources / Sources:

Preventing Burnout – helpguide.org
Four Stages of Burnout – stressdoc.com
Job Burnout – about.com
Taking Action – mayoclinic.com

Video: Tip Against Burnout

This compilation of scripture passages will help you to understand and remember what and who you are in Christ. Read them and speak them over your life and pray these verses for those you love. Just reading through these quickly is a huge faith-builder. Why? Because it is God’s word to YOU!

I am overtaken with blessing — Deuteronomy 28:2 (please read the verses)

I am loved with an everlasting love — Jeremiah 31:3

I am Salt and Light in this world — Matthew 5:13-14

I have power over the enemy and nothing shall harm me — Luke 10:19

I have everlasting life — John 6:47

I hear and know the voice of God — John 10:27

I believe in Christ Jesus and therefore will do His works — John 14:12

I receive what I pray for — John 14:13

I am loved of God and I am a saint — Romans 1:7

I am dead to sin — Romans 6:2

I am not condemned since I’m in Christ Jesus — Romans 8:1

I am an overcomer in Christ — Romans 8:37

I am established unto the end — 1 Corinthians 1:8

I have God’s spirit, not the spirit of this world — 1 Corinthians 2:12

I have the mind of Christ — 1 Corinthians 2:16 / Isaiah 40:13

I am the temple of the Holy Spirit — 1 Corinthians 6:19

I am washed, sanctified and justified through Christ — 1 Corinthians 6:11

I am led in triumph in Christ — 2 Corinthians 2:14

I am a sweet fragrance to God — 2 Corinthians 2:15

I am a new creation — 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am reconciled and have the ministry of reconciliation — 2 Corinthians 5:18

I am an ambassador for Christ — 2 Corinthians 5:20

I am the righteousness of God through Christ — 2 Corinthians 5:21

I am crucified with Christ and He lives in me — Galatians 2:20

I am redeemed from the curse of the law — Galatians 3:13 /Deuteronomy 21:23

I am blessed with every spiritual blessing — Ephesians 1:3

I am chosen, even before the foundation of the world — Ephesians 1:4

I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise — Ephesians 1:13, 14

I am alive in Christ — Ephesians 2:5

I am God’s handiwork for good works — Ephesians 2:10

I am built upon a solid foundation — Ephesians 2:20

I am strong in Him — Ephesians 6:10

I press towards the goal for the prize — Philippians 3:14

I have the peace of God — Philippians 4:7

I can do all things — Philippians 4:13

I have all my needs — Philippians 4:19

I am a partaker in God’s inheritance — Colossians 1:12

I am delivered — Colossians 1:13

I am redeemed and forgiven — Colossians 1:14

I have Christ in me — Colossians 1:27

I am complete in Him — Colossians 2:10

I am the elect of God — Colossians 3:12

I am healed through His wounds — 1 Peter 2:24

I have His divine nature — 2 Peter 1:4

I am a child of God — 1 John 3:1

I am an overcomer — 1 John 4:4

I am untouched by the evil one — 1 John 5:18

I am a king and priest of God — Revelations 1:6

Surely only goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord (and His presence) shall be my dwelling place. Psalm 23:6

Speak these promises of God often and boldly and out load. God’s word does not come back empty!

So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth; it shall not return to Me void (without producing any effect, useless), but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

Video: Leslie Ludy – Three Questions

It’s not a matter of talent — you’ve written great stuff in the past. But lately, when you go back to the well for a fresh idea, it’s coming up dry.

This happens to the best of us … and out of that came the following


Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Embed this infographic on your own site

Copy this embed code into your blog post or web page, follow the Copyblogger links above!

Pretty awesome Infographic don’t you think? Let me know …

Let your conversation (character) be without covetousness (including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions); and be content with such things as you have (including your circumstances): for He has said, “I will never leave you, (fail you nor give up on you) nor forsake you (relax My hold on you).” Hebrews 13:5

· Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, (and on every occasion) even unto the end of the world. Amen Matthew 28:20

· For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake; because it has pleased the Lord to make you his people. 1 Samuel 12:22

· Do not fear, for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness (rightness and justice). Isaiah 41:10

· I will not leave you comfortless (orphaned, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless): I will come to you. John 14:18

· Let your heart not be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1

· The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before you; and shall say, Destroy them. Deuteronomy 33:27

· He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds (cures the pains and sorrows). Psalm 147:3

· Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
For it is written, for Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
For in all these things we are more than conquerers through him that loves us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39

· (For the Lord your God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. Deuteronomy 4:31

· Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them: for the Lord your God, he it is that goes with you, he will not fail you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

· When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up (adopt me as his own). Psalm 27:10

· For the mountains will depart, and the hills will be removed; but my kindness (and love) will not depart (leave) from you, nor shall the covenant of my peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion and mercy on you. Isaiah 54:10

· Cast all your care (anxieties, worries, concerns) on him; for he cares for you (affectionately and watchfully). 1 Peter 5:7

· God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

How To Deal with Loneliness

Be reconciled to God – And although you were once alienated from him and were hostile toward him, now Christ has reconciled you to God in the body of his flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in his (the Father’s) presence. Colossians 1:21-22

Confess your sins – If we (freely) admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9

Participate in the fellowship and community of fellow believers – Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together (as believers), as is the habit of some, but admonishing one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

Video: Scriptures for Encouragement

When Jesus left this earth He said this, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” How glad I am that someone had the vision and the insight and the courage and preached the Gospel to me. They kept preaching it until I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. God wants everyone to know the truth and to set them free. God loved the whole world so much He gave His only Son so that no one should perish. But God has chosen to reach the lost of our generation by using us. It’s our job to tell the truth, it’s our job to open the eyes of the blind, it’s our job to share the love and power of Christ crucified, risen again and soon returning. The Lord said, “the harvest is the end of the age” (see Matthew 13:39). Pray for workers.

“The Gospel is only Good News if it gets there in time.” Carl F.H. Henry

This has always been God’s way. All down through the ages God called men and women to listen to His heartbeat and they went into one nation after another ready to make disciples of all nations. And one heard here and ten heard there and sometimes hundreds of thousands heard. And because one courageous man and women after another rose up to give their lives and lay it down, the Gospel has reached to almost all the world. I thank God this Gospel was being preached back some 27 years ago when someone walked up to me and said, “I want to tell you about Jesus”. And someone kept the Gospel going until it came to you and now you know about it. And if the Lord doesn’t come in our generation then there’s going to be another generation and they’ve got to know about it. I don’t care if there are Arab Springs or Sharia Walls or political divisions or whatever it is, this Gospel must be preached, and we must make disciples of all nations.
1.6 BILLION people didn’t reject the Gospel, they simply never heard it!

Listen, when I bring the message of Jesus Christ to a Muslim man or women, he doesn’t ask me first what my doctrinal position is on the last days, she doesn’t ask me what my doctrinal position is on eternal security, he doesn’t ask me what my doctrinal position is on baptism, she doesn’t ask me what my doctrinal position is on healing of the sick, that poor man or women is simply there sick and weary and tired and worn and crying out and I say, “Friend, do you know there is someone who loves you, His name is Jesus.” He simply wants to hear about love, she simply wants to hear about a new life, he simply wants to hear about a new way of living, she simply needs to hear an answer to the problems of her existence.

God’s Move Today Is To Raise Up An Army

I believe that the Word of God teaches that this age that we are living in is God’s last offer to man. Now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation, this age we are living in is God’s climatic, final, ultimate offer. But back of it is His purpose, He will not fail. God’s move of today is to raise up an army. You have no time to build for yourself a haven on earth. You’ll never have a heaven on earth brother and sister, you’ve either got heaven inside or you’ll never have heaven at all. Too many people are hoping to build for themselves a haven on earth, we are hoping once again to build beautiful church buildings or beautiful organizations or a fine ministry around ourselves. Brother, sister, hear me today, it is God’s will and God’s purpose that the thing He willed right from the beginning, that “This Gospel, this Good News, should be preached in all the earth as a witness and then shall the end come.” I’m not interested anymore in building for myself a ministry or building for myself a church. We’ll never build a kingdom, Jesus has to bring the Kingdom. And I want to do what He told us to do so He can bring it to this earth, hallelujah. “Preach the Gospel,” He said, “in all the world for a witness and then the end will come.” I want to hurry back the return of the King, hallelujah.
The power of the gospel of the kingdom is greater than any other message

The practical part of this is you start where you are. You get together with other believers and you start praying. God hasn’t given up on this world, we have. It’s the Christians who have given up. Commit yourself to what the Bible says to commit yourself to. Commit yourself to what’s important to God. The Lord said, “the harvest is the end of the age” (see Matthew 13:39). Pray for workers.

And remember, if you can’t go, send someone who can. The bible promises you get the same reward!

Video: Hillson LIVE – Mighty To Save

Over the years I have had many people join in short and long-term missions. Some were very sure about the “call” while others were just along for the ride. All of them experienced change in their life, and that change was not always as good as you might expect.

There are many aspects to short-term missions and I’d like to talk about a couple of issues with you today. These are based on experience and relate to the most often-asked questions and concerns about mission trips.

Am I Called?

Despite the fact the Bible says “GO,” many people assume or question whether they are really called to make a missions trip. Most people assume that the “Professional Missionary” (whatever that is) is the only one “called”. People often don’t feel gifted in the area of evangelism and simply don’t see how they can do any good by going on a missions-specific trip.

Little do those who stay home realize that just going is in and of itself a powerful testimony to the world of Christ’s love for them. God “sent” His Son and sends us to. Perhaps the biggest surprise for those who go is how much fruit there is just because they packed the suitcase and joined the group. What God makes obvious to those we go to is that He cares enough about them to send them someone. It doesn’t take long before the conversation comes around to the Sending of His Son.

Are you called? Yes! Do you have to learn to be an evangelist or bible teacher or theologian or professional missionary to make an impact. Nope, just going is going to make an impact.

What Do I Have To Offer?

Related to the above, the next question people ask me is what they can possibly do, what can they offer? Short-term mission is usually a group activity. Certain mission trips are very specific with clear goals, such as: carrying bibles to local believers or renovating a school or teaching how to sow clothes or showing kids how to use the Internet. Other mission trips are more prayer oriented such as visiting an unreached peoples group and simply praying for them so that doors can open to specific, goal-oriented trips later.

Whatever the case, you have your physical abilities and your spiritual abilities to offer. If you can’t renovate a building you can do a lot of good by helping the locals carry a basket of fruit home. Since you’ll be watched by the local people, your godly lifestyle will share an aspect of the Gospel, often impacting more than any words you can say. And because you made the effort to go, the act of service and unity will show the local people the true, father-heart of God.

Do you have something to offer? Yes! I’ve seen enough people come to Christ because someone came and helped wash the toilet facilities! You don’t have to be a professor or CEO of a company or rich to make a difference in a hurting and frustrated world.

Why Go? There Are Enough Lost Right Here

While it is true that GOING can mean a days outing across the city, most people aren’t doing that either. The importance of short-term missions trips has always been the equipping of the saints just as much as bringing the gospel to an unreached peoples group. In most cases people come home from a trip transformed, empowered, engaged and excited. They have seen that God used them and their excitement and energy flows out of them to all those around them, saved or unsaved. Getting out of our daily routine and surrounding opens our eyes and expands our horizons to understand much more about God’s heart and the needs of world around us. It’s hard to picture the history of the Children of Israel or the Book of Acts when one has never traveled. It is hard to remember the power of change the Holy Spirit works in us all when we are stuck in our local church. When we get out of our surroundings we get back the perspective of God at work and that will give us the power to bring change back at home.

Why Go? Christ Jesus went. He came to this earth and the GOING remains a spiritual power source to release us to impact all of our world, both at home and abroad. GOING will change your perspective (back to what it was when you first got saved).

I Can’t Go

If you really can’t go (and of course some cannot) then help send someone who can go! Your reward, the Bible says, will be in heaven waiting for you.

End of Part One

Music Video: GO! by Take No Glory

By now, Pastor Dennis Balcombe is a legend in China, and most of you know about him. Here is a short video we hacked up about some of his legendary work.

Watched this already? Fine. Have you checked the website? Here is the link to his international organization: Revival Chinese Ministries International …?

Keep scrolling – more cool stuff below!!

60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 people from Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 person from Australia or New Zealand.

Communications

The people of the village would have considerable difficulty communicating: 14 people would speak Mandarin, 8 people would speak Hindi/Urdu, 8 English, 7 Spanish, 4 Russian, 4 Arabic. This list accounts for less than half the villagers. The others speak (in descending order of frequency) Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French, and 200 other languages.

Religions

In the village there would be: 33 Christians, 22 Moslems, 15 Hindus, 14 Nonreligious, Agnostics, or Atheists, 6 Buddhists, 10 all other religions.

Poor and Rich

In this 100-person community: 80 would live in substandard housing. 67 adults live in the village; and half of them would be illiterate. 50 would suffer from malnutrition. 33 would not have access to clean, safe drinking water. 24 people would not have any electricity. Of the 76 that do have electricity, most would use it only for light at night. In the village would be 42 radios, 24 televisions, 14 telephones, and 7 computers (some villagers own more than one of each). 7 people would own an automobile (some of them more than one). 5 people would possess 32% of the entire village’s wealth, and these would all be from the USA. The poorest one-third of the people would receive only 3% of the income of the village.

More to Ponder

If you woke up this morning healthy … you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the fear and loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pain of starvation … you are better off than 500 million people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep … you are more comfortable than 75% of the people in this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace … you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you can read this, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Copyright

This material is copyright-free. You may reproduce it. Original version by Donella H. Meadows More info at www.odt.org

I have been using Brian Gardner themes for a few years now, even before StudioPress existed. Brian puts a lot of effort into getting it right. Although WordPress has many Themes to offer, I stuck with Brian because of the extra effort he built into his works of art. Even his free themes never broke, had an excellent logic to them, were (are) easy to follow so they could be customized and even had SEO (search engine optimization) built into the back end. SEO is important because no matter how great your website is, if no one can find it …

So now I am trying the Genesis Framework. I’m not going to explain what a framework is, you can read about that on StudioPress.com or on WordPress.org.

I see that the Genesis Framework remains the same quality and standard of excellence as hoped. I read many reviews about this framework and they were all positive as far as I could see. The logic makes it easy to customize and it is amazingly fast, something I had not expected. SEO is built in and a huge plus is that the forums answer any question you might have. I was delighted to see a long support thread which really had little to do with Genesis or a child-theme, yet the people at StudioPress had taken an enormous amount of time and energy to fix the RSS feed problem. Above and beyond what should be expected from a support forum.

Observations About The Genesis Framework

Some of my observations: Responsive Design | Lifetime updates for free

Genesis as a framework is up-to-date with all the goodies WordPress has built into the back end. It is easy to add “Hooks” and “Filters” and “Shortcodes”. Of course there is a learning curve to all of these – the difference between hooks and filters for example. But that is the reality of using any technology. One tip I would give you is that if you are searching the forums for answers, make sure you are viewing an answer to do with the latest Genesis release. As upgrades are released, some older issues have been re-deployed in the newer versions. But I’m rambling here… It took me a couple of days to get my live sites set up (this is a testing site). Some simple items such as page navigation is made overly complicated since I was trying to resolve all my needs without editing any of the Genesis code. Adding all the bits and pieces to the child theme was possible, but it took some extra time. (Part of the problem is learning the terminology so as to find the correct answers in the support forums or the Genesis documentation.)

Genesis Child Themes

The Child-themes are nice and simple. They all have the style.css file, functions.php and home.php and some have landing pages or other custom pages. That makes initial setup and quick changes relatively simple. Not all the child themes look modern, but behind the scenes they too have been updated. (If you remember back to the Revolution days, you will find those themes are on the StudioPress site.)

Since I am terrible at graphics and color coordination, I rely heavily on graphic artists tastes and ideas to put together a nice looking theme. A small wish I have is that a couple more “modern” themes would be added. For example, if the last StudioPress theme had been added to the portfolio I would have taken it. I read somewhere that Brian argues too many choices don’t help. He is probably right about that but perhaps retiring some of the older-looking Revolution themes would be an idea (hiding them somewhere where people could still find them).

Conclusions

Genesis is:

• Fast
• Up-to-date (HTML5 and Responsive Design and Flexible Grid are all coming – probably done by the time you read this )

UPDATE: there are already a couple of Responsive Design themes available!!

• Customization-able
• SEO friendly
• Well supported (even the old themes I don’t use anymore are still supported!)
• Costs some money, but not much by comparison
• Reliable / trustworthy
• Has several plugins created just for Genesis
• PSD files included for custom headers

An example of some of the many Shortcodes: (within a blockquote)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 5:55 · Nitrous Theme on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress powered by WordPress

Ten years from now we will interact with the internet in completely different ways. Roger McNamee identifies six changes that are already transforming the ways we consume and create content.

Quote: The next big shift is now, and it’s not what you think: Facebook is the new Windows; Google must be sacrificed.