I recently read an amazing post by Hiro Boga called What I Learned About Life and Business from Crossing the Road in Bombay. Wow, if you’ve not had the opportunity to cross a road in Bombay, reading Hiro’s post will give you that chance. She so completely captures the memory that if you close your eyes, you too will be navigating that street crossing. You’ll hear the sounds, see the apparent chaos, smell the dung and garbage and coconut in the air, and feel the exhilaration when you actually make it to the other side.
So What’s the Connection between Bombay and Social Media?
Well, there are times — like this morning — when I go to my computer and feel like I’m on that curbside in Bombay. So many connections, so much movement and activity that I’m not sure which way to go.
Now, please understand, I absolutely love social media and all the amazing connections that can happen. Like:
- Finding Deborah Donndelinger through her YouTube videos, which has completely changed my life for the better!
- Discovering Heart of Business, which has completely changed my relationship to business and money.
- Facebook groups that allow me to connect and share with other web designers and that helped me find Agency Trailblazer — a community of design & web agency owners working together to build businesses we love.
So the overwhelm is not from the quality of connections that social media facilitates. Exactly the opposite! I see so many gifted, creative, deeply spiritual folks who have such amazing gifts to offer that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all the available options.
I mean, how do you decide which advice or strategy to follow when it’s all good? By sorting and sifting and applying some time-tested principles.
Know who and where you are
From the cycle of the moon to the tides in the sea, the universe is regulated by cycles, and so are our lives and businesses. And we need to know where we are before we can get to where we want to be.
For example, if you know that your business is lacking in a specific area, you can connect with others who offer sound advice in that specific business area. If you’re selective and build connections based on your current life and business cycle, you will have the support and advice you need to move forward.
It also works the other way. If you know your own gifts and skills and who you are best able to currently serve, you can create online connections that will be mutually beneficial.
So be aware of your life and business cycles and let them influence and shape your social media activity.
Stay present
No matter how awesome the advice or strategy is, it’s only valuable if it’s relevant to you right now. If you’re just learning to walk, you need walk training, not marathon training. The marathon training may be useful for you in the future, but it’s a distraction when you are learning to walk.
Honor where you are now — both in giving and receiving — by being honest and transparent about your present state.
Stay focused
There are hundreds of really great business and personal development models out there. Which one is right for you? If you don’t answer that question, you may drown in a sea of information and still not find the tools you need. Instead, find a path and follow it:
Pick the teaching that picks you and go deep with it — one is quite enough if you see it all the way through. (Adyashanti)
Focus. It’s critical in all areas of learning and development and it’s even more critical with the advent of social media. So, in summary:
- Do the geography — where are you? where is your business? Then build relationships based on your current cycle;
- Stay present — honor your current cycle and build healthy, supportive connections;
- Stay focused — find a model that works for you or your business and follow it through.
And remember to enjoy and appreciate our interconnectedness and the social media venues that allow us to so easily connect with each other.