Not a Camouflaged Soul

Category: iBlog

  • Why Being Easy to Find Online Is So Important

    The day I drafted this post, I was driving to my new favorite work spot outside the house. I was listening to talk radio in my car, and a guy called in. He was running for school board representative. The talk host asked him where people could find out about his campaign. He told them to search for his name on Facebook, and that his web address is dubya-dubya-dubya dot smith the number four A B P S D O E dot web dot com (I changed the school district and the guy’s name).

    No joke.

    Who’s going to remember that?

    With an iPhone in my pocket and Google synced everywhere in my world, I don’t even memorize phone numbers anymore. Am I going to remember a long, difficult to recall web address that will only be valid through the election cycle? Even now, I’m not sure I got it right as I documented it above.

    It is SO important to think through online properties and how people will find you. That is why on this blog I simply went with my name. The title for the blog is Not a Camouflaged Soul, but as long as people know who I am, they can find me online. My Twitter handle is the same way (@jonwellman), and my new Facebook page is similar (facebook.com/jonwellmandotcom).

    Michael Hyatt weighed in on this subject in the first episode of his new podcast here. Check out what he said.

    Thoughts?

  • A Few Thoughts on CEOs

    CEO.
    Christmas and Easter only.
    Folks that only show up at church twice a year.
    Some in Church World like to make fun of them.
    Mock them.
    I’ve done it.
    When you work at the church, it’s not hard to get caught up in that.
    Just one problem.
    They showed up.
    Does Jesus want them there?
    Even if it’s only twice a year?
    Should we love them less just because they fail in a discipline that we don’t?
    Or should we take the opportunity as one or two out of fifty-two to show them who Jesus is?
    What He did for us?
    How He loves us?
    How He wants a relationship with us?
    And maybe…
    just maybe…
    they’ll make next week a priority…
    not to be missed..,
    because love was freely shown to them…
    and they want more.

  • The Notion of Completion – Do I Really Gotta Finish?

    “I have 567 blog posts in my RSS feed, so I’d better settle in for a while.”

    “My Twitter feed is missing the past four hours of tweets. Better refresh and read through them.”

    “I picked up this book based on the recommendation of a friend, but it doesn’t speak to me the way it did to them. Oh well. Only 150 pages left. I can finish.”

    Anybody else feel compelled to complete artificial goals like that? Do arbitrary timelines abound?

    Chances are that there is nothing life changing to read in my Google Reader. My Twitter feed may be lacking a few hours worth of tweets, but there are plenty more to replace them. And a book that does not contain anything I need to read is a waste of my time.

    I’m not suggesting we should give up on tasks because they become boring. I shouldn’t stop reading the book because a section is difficult to read. But I should honestly evaluate it for its usefulness and intrinsic worth as a source of knowledge – will I go through something in life that this book will better equip me to process?

    We live in a data-soaked culture. There is more information available than is possible to consume. There is nothing wrong with being picky.

    Do you find yourself in the same internal struggle? What do you do?