My Worlds, Revisited.

It's time to check in on some previous posts:

It's A Small World.

The last day of November I posted about my 2 year anniversary on Twitter. I mentioned tribes I joined and tribes into which I was adopted. The first tribe that adopted me was Hollis Thomases #HTArmy (I've never seen the reference without the hashtag) and being new to Twitter at the time, I have a special fondness for the first group to include me. So, I'm reading Gary Vaynerchuk's "The Thank You Economy" (my plans for 2012 include reading and reviewing a book a month and this is my first selection) last night and on page 96 Vaynerchuk gives an example of social media influencing business, involving Rachel Levy, a Boston marketing and social media professional. I know Rachel as @bostonmarketer from the #HTArmy (yup, the hashtag is a must). I haven't connected with Rachel since last Movember when she was sporting a great Movember 'stache. I thought it was cool to see Rachel in the book. It also gave my a reminder to put her blog in my reader and say, Hi Rachel.

It's A Sick World.

I have posted twice about the morass of amorality that is the Penn State football program with a third post being drafted. That third post was questioning the lack of criticism from athletic officials of other universities because Penn State was enabling child rape. I understand "Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones", but what is going on in a university glass house that stops officials from throwing stones at enablers of child rape? Sadly, I have my answer. Syracuse Univeristy has the same problem as Penn State. ESPN is also equally comfortable with abusers of children. ESPN sat on a phone call confession tape from the child abuser's wife for 9 years. As brought up by Chicago sports talkers Boers and Bernstein, ESPN is owned by Disney. My moral outrage amplifier is so far beyond eleven I can barely hear myself think.

It's A Wonderful World.

I posted in early November about social media go-getter Margie Clayman taking some time away from social media. Some really bad things had happened in Margie's SM world and the joy of SM had gone away for Margie. I haven't asked Margie, so what follows is merely conjecture: Margie appears to have found her response to the bad. Margie's posts on her blog and at 12 Most all center on the good that can be accomplished through social media. Margie seeks out the good in the world anyway, so that makes her recent series of posts double good. Take some time to read Margie's latest posts. It's time well spent.

Finally, thanks for spending a few minutes reading my little blog. Feel free to use the comment section as your personal podium. We're heading towards the winter holidays. Enjoy the beauty of the season.

ROL: Define Yourself.

ROL (return on life) is a qualitative corollary to the quantitative metric, ROI (return on investment). Just as ROI strives for incremental investment driving disproportionately large returns, ROL strives for small incremental changes that greatly increase quality of life. This week's ROL is about defining yourself.

Time Flies.

source: morgueFile

Yesterday, the incredible Bruce Sallan posted on the great 12 Most blog (If you've read Bruce or seen 12 Most, you know the adjectives are not hyperbole). Once you get beyond the whole considering my own mortality thing, Bruce's post is really uplifting. Bruce lays out in spades the most important gifts he can leave his boys.

Who Am I?

Bruce got me thinking, What do I stand for? If I can't define myself and my beliefs, how can I assist my kids or my friends? Many of life's choices are tougher than mayo or mustard, Cheddar or Swiss? If I'm not clear on who I am once life goes beyond the sandwich board I'm in trouble. Fly by the seat of my pants management is no way to approach the tough times of life and no way to set an example for my kids.

What Do I Do?

Take a look around. You don't have to go far to find someone who believes in theirself, first, last, always. Turn the other direction and you find someone dedicated to alcohol fueled infidelity. The worlds of politics, entertainment, finance and sports are full of "role models" parsing words to describe their activities until the sentences are mere gibberish.  I'm not moralizing or judging, but these examples don't work for me. Perhaps, by establishing self definition, (some of) these situations could be avoided before they begin.
One of today's must-do activities is crafting a personal mission statement. Usually a personal mission statement is part of job search. Often a personal mission statement is part of developing a personal brand. Defining oneself shouldn't be merely career oriented nor does it need to be as formalized as a personal mission statement.

Make A List.

Start with one self definition. A single sentence or a simple concept built by short sentences. Wait a day or a week and add another. Keep the list handy. Refer to the list often. Add to the list when required. Share the list when appropriate. Here's my first self definition:
Life is one-third of what happens to me, two-thirds how I respond. That one-third that happens to me can be rough. Still, two-thirds of life is via response. That means full responsibility. I am responsible for my life.
What do you think about self-definitions? Do you have a list? Will you share a self-definition?