Nothing emphasizes gaps in knowledge and inadequacies in workflow quite like stepping into someone else’s business world for a brief moment.

For the next two weeks, I’m filling in at a local sign shop while their designer is away on his honeymoon. This is forcing me to step outside of the comfort zone that I have created in my own business. I have to answer phones, stay on top of projects and print jobs, communicate more, be willing to make mistakes, but also fix those mistakes in real-time.

While I do work hard with my own business, this experience has helped me to realize that I have been operating inefficiently. I will definitely be applying what I have learned, and will be learning over the next two weeks, to my business practices and look forward to executing some new ideas and moving forward into the realm of telling stories that matter.

I like the idea and practice of innovation. Yes, I realize that innovate is the buzzword of the century, but there is something intriguing about growing, learning, finding new ways and products, with the intent to make money, spread a message and hopefully change the world.

Recently, I came across a new book by Stephen M. Shapiro called Best Practices Are Stupid, in which Shapiro presents 40 ways to “out-innovate the competition.” As I have been reading each tip, I have been thinking about how I can apply the information to my business and my life.

Today’s tip, “The difference between a pipeline and a sewer is what flows through it,” is about diversity, specifically four different types of innovation challenges: “Incremental Innovation, Adaptive Innovation, Technical Innovation and Radical Innovation.” Shapiro writes that it is important to ”manage your innovation pipeline the way you manage your personal investment portfolio” through diversification. Incremental Innovations are safe and yield returns. Adaptive Innovations may not be needed in the market, but are easy to create. Technical Innovations address known needs, but are difficult to fashion. Radical Innovations are the most risky in that there is an unknown need in the market and technically difficult to produce.

These four categories are great filters to apply to my life and my business, enabling me to get the pulse of where I am at, where I am going and where I want to be.

Incremental (Safe and Easy)

The safe and habitual practices that yield returns for my life have to do with friendships and relationships that have an absence of drama and are easy to maintain with limited to varied contact. Often those friendships are built around common interests and are easily picked up and set down when necessary. They yield results for myself as well as my friends.

I’m naturally drawn to reading about art and creativity, murder mystery and horror novels, and business books. With movies, I like comedies and dramas. Music, I’m partial to classic rock, metal and jazz. With these areas of my life, the results are purely quantitative. The more I consume, the more I say that I have accomplished. I don’t necessarily apply the knowledge attained in this category, but it is about entertainment, not enlightenment (although that can and will happen at times).

When it comes to business, my reputation for the work that I have created is a safe and reliable method of generating more work. It often involves me working through my current list, waiting for the emails and phone calls that do come with new projects and ideas. It is relying solely on the abilities, skills and equipment to produce work that I know that I can do without any reasonable doubt. This involves tasks like designing business cards and identity packages, website design and development, and product photography. Things that I have done for over a decade.

However, putting all my eggs into this basket would create a fairly shallow and empty life. That’s where the other categories come in, to systematically shake up my existence.

Adaptive (Risky and Easy)

I would say that my blog is adaptive. For the most part, daily writing comes easy, but is my blog really needed in the world? Probably not, but it is an expression of my individuality as well as my attempt to make sense of my life and the world that I share with others. I have been told by a select few that they enjoy reading my blog and in some ways, that keeps me pushing forward.

Another adaptive innovation is my Innovators of Vancouver video series. Not necessarily needed, but I enjoy producing the episodes, further learning the trade of short-form documentary filmmaking. I meet great people doing exciting things and it enriches my life.

In my life, I continue trying to find new and interesting things to read and watch that will enrich my life. It is risky to spend time reading a book or watching a movie, but it is easy, and there are things that could potentially be obtained that I otherwise wouldn’t have.

Technical (Safe and Complicated)

When it comes to the technical nature of running my business, I play it safe. I generally wait too long to update to new equipment and computers. I spend more time on the development of the content and the structure of the work, instead of the technical aspects regarding lighting, sound, editing, drawing, cinematography, symbolism, wordplay and marketing. The same with my life. I play it safe. I settle for less instead of working hard for more. I procrastinate. I avoid the complicated until I have to deal with it. That is safe.

I need more technical innovation in my life and my business because it involves taking time and energy to really look at the systems and processes of what I do and who I am, analyzing the results and experimenting to find new and better methods.

That could mean reaching out to people that I don’t know, but want to know and not worrying if they don’t reciprocate. It could mean applying the work that I do for others to my business in order to develop a better marketing strategy. It could mean taking more time to be experimental with lighting, cinematography, sound design, animation and drawing. It could even mean reading a challenging book on leadership or watching a documentary movie on economics.

Radical (Risky and Complicated)

Am I doing anything that is risky and complicated? This category is the toughest to apply to life and business because it involves stepping outside of your preconceived notions into a world that is daily changing. I would say that running a business by myself is risky and complicated, but is it radical? Same with marriage, is it a radical innovation for my life? How about graduate school in order to learn better business practices? Getting over my fears, specifically putting myself out on a limb and risking more than I have in the past? All of these are risky and radical, for me.

Of all the categories of innovation, radical innovation is the most subjective. It is 100% tied together with your individual and corporate identity, and that is the way it should be.

Radical innovation is finally learning who I want to work with and marketing to them. It is looking into funding new equipment to make better products. Continuing my education in a structure that would force me out of the introverted box that I put myself in the past few years. Staying devoted to my wife each day. Serving my friends. Volunteering. All of these are radical because they are messy, yet essential to bringing balance to the multi-faceted layers of reality that compose our lives.

How diverse is your life and the work that you do? Are you able to learn from a variety of sources or do you go to the same place, at the same time, to see that same things, hoping for different results? Apply these four filters to your life and see what happens. You might just out-innovate the competition and do something amazing with your life and business.

As I have been in the process of editing hours of interview footage, I have come across a very potent and powerful idea regarding two differing types of authority:

• Conversational Authority
• Informational Authority

With conversational authority, story is paramount to an acceptance of a particular message. Specifically, how a person tells their story, how they communicate the triumphs and challenges (authenticity and transparency), the tone they use (humility versus arrogance) and the role of others in their life. These three areas of storytelling all speak to the level of authority that person potentially has with others.

Conversely, informational authority is built around knowledge and a belief that information, facts and statistics is what people want or need. The attitude that typically comes across with informational authority is that I have something you don’t and I’m going to tell you the raw data so that you can process and analyze it yourself. Or in a much shorter description, unintentional arrogance.

While there are places in speaking and storytelling for both areas of authority, I think that most people are more receptive when it comes to hearing about the impact of transformational stories.

I’m going to keep looking at these two ideas of authority, but for now, I’m going to pursue a very open and conversational level of authority, because in my mind, that has the greatest potential for empowering and leading people to change.

Change is in the air, it is so thick you can smell it. It even sounds a lot like Bob Dylan singing about The Times They Are a-Changin’. Who’s Bob Dylan? He introduced electric guitar to the music scene in the mid-1960s. He was a man who lived in the moment of change. Much like each of us today.

As humans, we dislike change. We prefer stability and security, often accepting stagnation over change because change is hard work. So is learning new skills, exercising our bodies, developing self-control and willpower, and even believing that change is possible and worth pursuing.

Opposing the views of the collective that define them, systems and organizations thrive on change. It is inevitable and necessary in order to stay competitive in a fast-paced world. It also has to do with the fact that human beings are fickle and constantly change their allegiance to systems and organizations that embrace and provide the best stability and security. This is often viewed in the long run as the collapse of systems and organizations that don’t change with the times and end up in one of the following scenarios:

• An inability to compete with technological advancements.
• A lack of desire to change.
• Changing too often.
• Not changing enough.

There is a certain amount of irony in change, yet it is essential to be stable and secure in these rapidly-evolving times we live in. Speaking of change, here are a few current examples of change erupting throughout various social networks and news stations.

Facebook User Interface Updates

Facebook changes their design and functionality a lot. So much and so often, that the people using their system to keep up with friends, family members and other acquaintances are constantly having to re-learn how to use Facebook. This has resulted in a lot of people being really pissed about the changes. There is a consistent cry to revert to the original design and functionality. But isn’t all of this change a good thing?

Speculation on the net is that Facebook is changing in response to the competition from Google+. Change in the face of competition is a very good thing. It means that you can’t be lazy and operating under false assumptions. In addition to competition, Facebook is designed and developed to work flawlessly and consistently for millions of simultaneous connections across multiple devices. That is a very difficult and impressive task. It takes an army of infinitely intelligent people working behind the scenes to do what Facebook is doing. I for one am in awe of Facebook continuing to redefine what it means to be social. It is a giant experiment and we are all along for the ride, whether we accept the changes or not.

Netflix and Qwikster

I recently received an email explaining that Netflix was splitting their company into two separate entities: Netflix will be focused on streaming video and Qwikster will be delivering DVDs. Weeks before this announcement, Netflix also revealed a 60% increase for customers that have the streaming and DVD plan. The outcry has been pretty amazing as people feel cheated and not valued by the company, and are calling for their demise.

Four years ago, a friend foresaw this moment. He said that one day Netflix will charge separately for both services because they are on the frontlines of digital service. Because of this conversation, I was subconsciously prepared for this moment. I am not shocked. I am not surprised. And most importantly, I remain a Netflix and Qwikster customer. Why?

I pay less than $20 per month for one DVD at a time and unlimited streaming. I get about two DVDs per week, mainly obscure TV shows and movies that are not available via streaming, in Redbox, or at Blockbuster. In addition, I have the ability to stream a lot of documentaries. Pretty amazing considering I pay considerably more, in fact a hell of lot more, for digital cable, which has a far less return for me. Less than $20 for that much use is an amazing ROI! That is why I will still do both, streaming for the instantaneous impulse of watching a movie and DVD for the obscure films and TV shows that I want to watch.

United States Postal Service

The USPS is close to bankruptcy. In fact, doing a Google search for “how much is the usps in debt” yielded an intriguing trend: $2.8 billion in debt in 2008, $10 billion in debt in 2010, and $19.3 billion in debt after this month. If I was that much in debt, I’d kick my own ass, get drunk, and wonder if I’m doing something wrong.

So, what’s the problem with the USPS? This topic is way over my head, but the easy explanation that makes sense to me: Rising fuel costs, horrible customer service, not changing with the times, not competing, and not realizing that more and more people are either using bill pay services or paying their bills online.

Is there hope for the Postal Service? Unfortunately, I don’t think there is. Does this make me sad? Yes, it does. I love checking the mail. There is still sense of surprise and mystery when I open the mailbox. What will be in there?

Why Panic?

With all of this change comes an unprecedented amount of fear and panic. Why are people panicking? Is our way of life being lessened and threatened by technology? I think it is because we are having to learn how to be stable and secure in a rapidly-evolving, technologically-connected world. It is also because our world is transforming from one built around tangible products that we can touch and possess to intangible digital services that we conceptually own and store in a cloud of servers and digital brains. There is an informal, impersonal feeling that comes with digital products. They don’t seem real, yet we embrace them more and more as they began to replace what we deem as real. Which leads us to the nostalgia for times past.

We hold onto the past. We don’t want to let it go. It is a blanket of comfort. But before we get smothered by our blanket, it’s time that we learn from the past, then let it go. Once you let go of the past and learn what is essential, only then can you look forward to technological advancements that will fix the problems created by past technological advancements (think of the problems created by oil, rail and air travel, transportation and energy production).

It is incredibly important to realize that the technology we create today will undoubtedly create new and unforeseen problems in our imminent future. It may not be environmentally or even physically, but it could very well be emotionally, spiritually, culturally and socially. Does culture become irrelevant in the face of technology or does it become that much more important?

Should what may happen deter us from progress? Should we become Luddites and destroy the machine like Kurt Russell in Escape from LA? No, we need to continue changing and evolving. We must embrace technology. We must learn to stabilize and secure our own individual and collective lives. Fundamentally, we must realize that stability and security only come with change, which comes from the need to be secure and stable. And that is the paradox that we find ourselves in.

As I sit in the stifling heat waiting for the house to cool down, I can’t help but think: what do I really want to do with my life? I remember the days when I would do things out of pure curiosity and intrigue, but those days are long replaced with the “ought” and “have” to tasks. Does that mean that I will no longer do things for the sole reason of trying them? Is there value in attempting something, regardless of the outcome? As I work my way through Drive by Daniel Pink, I think about these very questions, along with “what do I want to learn or try before I die?”

Here are five thoughts that I have. I’m sure I’ll think of others, but for now, these will do:

• Learn French so that I can converse with friends that are moving to France. I would also love to watch Amélie without subtitles, that would be AWESOME! Plus, foreign languages are pretty sexy. Maybe not in my own voice, but hey, I can dream, right?
• Make a feature-length documentary about the Christian subculture’s obsession with cover songs as offerings to God. With all the talk about giving our best, why don’t more churches equip and enable artists and musicians to do anything original?
• Write a book about idealism clashing with reality and the need for both to be present in our lives.
• Go to every continent. I’ve been to Asia (Israel & Jordan), Africa (The Gambia), and obviously North America. I would love to visit Europe, more countries throughout Asia and Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Australia.
• Speak at a TED conference about vision, passion and action.

While I may never do a single thing on the list, it feels good to dream. Attaining to something far beyond anything I can imagine helps to define and bring a sense of purpose and meaning to my life. It helps to give me a little more of that “work-in-progress” feeling that is essential to looking at life as a gift as opposed to a curse.

I’ve been immersed in a few video projects throughout the summer, two that have weaved their stories and characters together in ways that I never imagined possible, changing my perceptions of how video production, art, story and community could impact others.

Yesterday, as I listened to the collective wisdom of marketers, social media experts, gurus, emergency managers, pastors, artists, realtors and writers, it struck me: I’m sitting on a wealth of information. In fact, I’m sitting on a gold mine of wisdom, knowledge and life-altering story. Now what?

There is a description for what I am immersed in, Qualitative Analysis, and it is simply mining the words, recollections and stories of others in order to tell a larger story. All of these stories are telling me something, but what could it possibly be?

Driving home this morning after taking my wife to work, I realized that the gold mine that I was sitting on was this: All of this analysis leads back to my friendship and mentorship of one person. My life is changing today because of a relationship I began ten years ago and have fostered over the decade.

A young man, eager to be a filmmaker, created epic stop-motion animated feature-length films. I admired his desire to learn, his dedication to story and cinematography. I have tried to help him over the years in any ways that I could, and to see him become an amazing filmmaker today makes me joyful. His story would continue intersecting with my own as he eventually married the daughter of a client. That client would occasionally receive building construction loans through the credit union that my mom works for. Weaving threads of lives, creating a rich tapestry of colors and lives.

But it continued, my friend was presented with an opportunity to make a promotional video for a church planting organization in Vancouver, WA, but seeing as he lives in Los Angeles, he suggested me instead (thank you by the way). The contract was written, the scope of the project envisioned, and I set out on what would become a life-altering journey of story and community told through the eyes of diverse characters and larger-than-life personalities.

I traveled to Puyallup, Salem, Sherwood, Downtown Portland, throughout Vancouver, and I witnessed life after life gripped in epic struggles of faith, love, failure, cancer, sickness, sin, healing, forgiveness. I saw people rise above it all for the sake of building something greater than their individual selves. They were building community, one day at a time.

Reflecting upon the first shoot, I could easily say that it was trivial and not important, but it is the foundation for how my life would be interrupted: Four pastors and a mentor discussing the diagnosis of cancer that one of them received. I saw a small band of people rally together to pray for him, and that was just the start.

Weeks later, I noticed that individual’s name on Facebook in the form of a fundraising event at Pop Culture. The community was rallying around him to support his family as he went through the expensive and soul-wrenching process of chemotherapy and radiation. Over 150 people gathered to celebrate and support him. Faith didn’t matter. It wasn’t about religion. It was about love. It was about community. Sacrifice. Celebration. Yet, this was still the story of the church planting organization, and it just got a lot bigger and expansive. How was I going to tell this story in 5-10 minutes?

On top of this, I found out who the person that organized the fundraiser and determined to tell her story for Innovators of Vancouver. This one project for a church planting organization morphed into two projects all about the same thing: the love and development of communities.

It is all about community.

Diverse, smelly, messy and loving community.

That is the gold mine I am sitting on.

So, now that I know what the gold mine is, I need to tell the story of community in each project, but more importantly, I need to tell the story of community in my own life.

What gold mine are you sitting on? What relationships do you have that are potentially life-changing? Are you going to let people in? Take the time to learn about them? Lower your defenses in order to share who you are deep down inside?

These are the questions I not only ask you, but myself as I tell the story of my life in the midst of community.

I had a great chat with a fellow documentary filmmaker yesterday at Breken Kitchen (my new favorite place in NW Portland). We talked about many things, but the topic that really got me thinking was about the word: Interactive. What does it mean to be approaching and defining interactive experiences in a world that is addicted to providing interactivity, from cradle to the grave?

Simply defined as “a continuous two-way transfer of information between a user and the central point of a communication system, such as a computer or television,” interactivity has morphed from a passive system where there is one active participant getting information from a single system, to an active system where there are multiple users constantly receiving media-rich content from multiple systems, utilizing multiple devices on several networks, all simultaneously connected.

Today, interactive experiences are in abundance. We are heavily interactive because of social media and mobile technology, which provide instant access to more people and more information. But just because we have commoditized our access to others, our identities, and our information sources, does this change the underlying and philosophical nature of being interactive with other people or systems of information?

While listening to my friend talk about interactivity, I was thinking and processing everything above, remembering when interactive web design and multimedia production was the rage, when he threw the curve ball, striking me out: “Interaction is reaction to a story.”

Nothing to do with technology, everything to do with the message. Interaction is what we think about the stories that we are told. Interactivity is a method of processing and analyzing the information that we have mined in our digital networks. In many ways this reactionary definition of interaction and interactivity returns us to the simple definition with a twist: “The continuous two-way transfer of information between a user and a [story].”

We measure what we know to be true and false against the stories that we are told, thus shaping, morphing and evolving the way we think and feel about particular subjects. This is by no means a passive process, because the stronger the story, the bolder the message, the longer it takes to be in a continuous conversation with that story. We will be continually challenged to test our assumptions against the greater narrative and we will be immersed in an interactive process that shapes our individual worlds in ways that we didn’t know was possible.

An interesting view of interactivity and as I test what I know against this thought of interaction being a reaction to a story, it gets me excited about the power of a well-told story. Stories that endure the test of time can change the world. They can challenge assumptions, reveal prejudice and bias, and can show people new ways of thinking. But the hardest thing to do in life is to tell compelling stories that have depth, meaning and vision. That doesn’t mean that we don’t try.

I had a great conversation with my dad this morning over a cup of coffee at our friendly-neighborhood Starbucks. Among various topics, we got on the subject of how to fix the US economy, specifically looking at flat tax rates, job creation, and mentoring the next generation of business entrepreneurs. While there are many theories as to how we, as an American people, can get ourselves out of the mess we are in, I believe that the number one area of change has to do with attitude. Yes, attitude.

The Old Way: Figure It Out On Your Own

There is a certain attitude that successful people over the age of 50 have: a combination of entitlement and arrogance, mixed with a sense of arrival. They created a gigantic economy with their own blood, sweat, tears and brains, often at the expense of their families and friends. Now that they are ready to retire and live off the fruit of their labors, they sit on their wealth and knowledge continuing their mantra: “If you want it, figure it out on your own. Just like we did.”

While there is a certain amount of positive value to this mindset, it unfortunately perpetuates a very significant problem: How do you teach leadership when those that have the ability to mentor the next generation choose to sit upon and hoard the necessary knowledge that helps navigate the systems of business?

The New Way: I Will Help You Figure It Out

Instead of hoarding knowledge and charging thousands of dollars for leadership seminars and programs designed for the best and the brightest, it’s time for the leaders of the Baby Boomer Generation to create systems of sustainable leadership training for every level of business entrepreneur, ranging from the solo-preneur (like myself) to the small business that employs a few hundred people. They need to be mentoring young business owners, not only in how to develop positive cash flow, but how to be long-term visionaries. They need to start helping the next generation create a new future, instead of golfing all day long and cashing in their entitlements.

Mentor Everyone, You Might Be Surprised In What Is Found

It seems that a lot of leadership programs exist solely for those who will figure it out on their own anyway, thus creating a system that is inbred and preaching to the choir. Instead, everyone should have access to leadership development and mentorship programs, regardless of aptitude and attitude, gender and race.

By mentoring and leading a diverse group of individuals, not just the sons and daughters of the entitled, there is tremendous potential for developing leaders that otherwise would have not been created. By exposing more kids and young adults to the power and success of the established and proven, imagine what could be accomplished in this country. We could inspire people that want, and are able, to contribute to our economy.

It is time for leaders to mentor the next generation! As a solo-preneur for almost six years, I have yet to have a single successful business owner pull me aside and want to mentor me. For the most part, I have figured everything out on my own or with the help of my peers. I have sought after others, I have shown initiative, but there is a lack of reciprocity from the leaders that I admire. All that teaches me is that when I am successful, I need to make sure that I am approachable and that I seek those that are in need of leadership and mentoring.

Until then, I’m going to continue figuring it out on my own, because I can’t afford to play golf or the stock market. I’m going to get to work and focus on taking care of my family, encouraging and inspiring my fellow business owners, and continue looking in dismay at the amount of greed coming from the older generations, not in terms of economics, but in the areas of knowledge and wisdom.

We live in a constant state of proving that we are experts. What we say, how we say it, to whom we speak—all collective marketing efforts that we use to broadcast to the world about how competent we are and why you should listen to us. But, what if social change is more than a constant state of marketing, proving, and validating our claims? What if the true power of change is found in the power of listening to others, specifically their stories? How do we get out of the way of our own egos, in order to learn from and be validated by the views, opinions, and foundations of knowledge that make up the stories of those that surround us on a daily basis?

Early in Bill Moyers’ political career in the Johnson administration, he is given a pearl of wisdom from Lady Bird Johnson regarding how he should compose himself in the presence of powerful politicians:  “Don’t worry. If you are unsure of what to say, just ask questions, and I promise you that when they leave, they will think you were the smartest one in the room, just for listening to them.” Does this advice run counter-culture today, when we are taught that the loudest expressed opinion should be taken as the gospel, regardless of whether it is true or not? It takes a person secure in their views of self to be quiet and listen to others. However, I argue that it takes an even stronger person to be willing to ask questions that go beyond surface level, seeking to draw out glimpses of the truth that are buried deep in the tough soil of the soul.

If you are interested in finding a way to impart positive social change in your life and in the lives of others, adopt a listening ear. Don’t seek to qualify the views of others through your own filter of understanding; although, that is my biggest struggle when listening, I want to validate others through my own experience, which only speaks to my arrogance thinking that I have the authority to do such. Perhaps it is allowing uninterrupted time and unfiltered space to freely express oneself that enables understanding.

The stories of people throughout the world need to be heard; nothing holds more power than a well-told story. But as long as we need to be right, directing the story of others through a spoken word and not a listening ear, we will never personally or socially change. Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From, speaks beautifully about where being right will lead:  “Being right keeps you in place. Being wrong forces you to explore.”

I am tired of being in the same place, it’s time for me to listen deeper to others, allowing their stories to guide and direct my life through a desire to explore new ideas. If that means I need to be wrong, or risk not being right, then so be it, because isn’t perfection in the eye of the beholder anyway?

I was perusing Facebook this morning and I came across my dad’s latest comment from Ireland: “My Uncle told me my blog was getting stale, so here is a new one.” This got me thinking about how often I ask myself:  Is this getting stale? Am I forcing the writing? Am I enjoying what I write about? Or is it just pointless pontifications of nothingness? Like the advice that I gave my dad and will reproduce further down, asking questions is great, but providing a path to obtaining answers is even better.

To answer my question that I start with, no, it’s not stale, to me anyway. But there are moments where I fight the feeling, “I just don’t have it today.” That is when I write anyway, or send a rough draft to a friend for honest feedback. I also do a quite a few other things in order to challenge my status quo of staleness.

Status Quo Challenge #1: Question My Assumptions

I make assumptions about a lot of things, particularly about subjects and topics that have become second-nature. In order to grow in writing and the pursuit of knowledge, I need to question my assumptions by examining not only at what has changed since I originally acquired information regarding a subject or topic, but also at what I can learn if I set my assumptions aside.

Status Quo Challenge #2: Ask Questions

I have never had a problem asking questions, but are they the right questions? That is the question.

Status Quo Challenge #3: Give Answers

I struggle with giving answers to questions I ask. I fear answers because I don’t want to be wrong or arrogant. But there is a difference between giving answers arrogantly, unshakeable in your response, and giving an initial thought about what could be, allowing discussion and discourse to shape an answer to a question.

Status Quo Challenge #4: Know Your Audience

Do you know who you write for? I write this blog as a means to inspire and motivate myself. A little narcissistic—okay, a lot of narcissism there—but it’s more affordable than weekly therapy sessions, plus there are times when my readers get something out of my thoughts. This post is written for my dad and for others that want to fight the staleness of daily blog writing.

Status Quo Challenge #5: Forget Your Audience

Now that you know your audience, forget about them, because then you will want your writing to be liked. Wanting to be liked or approved of changes the way you write, what you say, and how you communicate your thoughts. Be wary of writing for your audience because of this very reason.

Status Quo Challenge #6: Be Entertaining And Educating

Don’t need to say much to this challenge other than if you are striving to be educational, do it with dramatic flair. If you are attempting to be funny, try to be serious or even academic. Writing with an opposing style or viewpoint than you normally do will help you to come at a topic in a unique way.

Status Quo Challenge #7: Have An Opinion…It’s A Blog After All!

Don’t hold back out of a desire to be academic or objective. Save that for academic journals, newspapers, and magazine articles. If I’m reading your blog, I want your opinion. I want your solutions. I want your questions and your answers. After all, I’m your audience, you’re writing for me.

If you take my advice and challenge the status quo of staleness, I’ll still be reading and sharing, because that is the whole point of daily blog writing: communicating thoughts and ideas with other people. Once the Publish button is pressed, everything you typed joins the digital cacophony of what other people think, swirling and pressing together into a collective of ideas that have the power to change the world.