The Quest for Awesomeness

Posted by on Mar 20, 2011 in Personal | 9 comments

The Quest for Awesomeness

They say three times a charm and I have to say, this being my third consecutive year attending SXSW Interactive, aside from a few moments, it was definitely a positive experience. Chalk it up to feeling comfortable amidst the chaos of the event or perhaps it was the fact that I was on vacation and had absolutely no agenda aside from learning and networking.

I attended some fantastic sessions around gaming and life, LBS, and content strategy. Had a lot of fun taking some #ChevySXSW 360-degree photos with friends. I made some new connections, got to know old connections even better and, more importantly, I had a chance to take a step back and evaluate my life.

At times I felt extremely insignificant while surrounded by so many people truly making a difference and other times convinced that I could conquer the world…or at least my own little world.

I don’t know about you, but I feel that there is a lot of pressure to make a difference and have something of value to say in this new social media world – something I haven’t been feeling I’ve been doing a good job of lately. I’m not crushing it. I’m not bringing the thunder. I’m really not doing much of anything.

I wonder…am I being too hard on myself?

I’m a recently divorced, single mother of two little girls (6 & 9). I work full time and commute a good 120 miles per day. By the time I get home and get ready for the next day, it’s already 10pm before I get to even sit down. Not really that much time for awesomeness, I’m afraid. Am I just making excuses? Being lazy?

In this world we live in, if you aren’t always visible, creating amazingly awesome content and saying something that is insanely mind blowing on Twitter that warrants being retweeted, you are insignificant. Forgotten.

But does that all really matter to the two most important people in my life? My kids don’t care how much I have been retweeted or tweeted to. They don’t care that I have been slacking in proving anything of value to my social media friends and followers. All they care about is that I spend time with them and love them and that is what I have been trying my best to do.

But it still doesn’t seem to make me feel any better when I see good friends I met a few years ago when they were really just starting out in social media and are now very successful – on one hand I am so happy and proud for them. On the other hand, worried that I am totally slacking.

I’m really not sure where I am going with this post, it’s just been something I have been struggling with for a while. I would love to hear from others who may be feeling the same as me and what they are doing to find balance and that awesomeness we are all striving for.

Sooooo any advice for this girl on her quest for awesomeness?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • http://www.sandrarand.com Sandra Rand

    Christine — love your honesty, and feel like you took the words right out of my mouth!

    First, let me say that you are for sure bringing it. You enable both newbies and veterans to come together as a community through the many events you organize, and given the schedule and on-going responsibilities you describe above, I don’t know how you do it (that commute! UGH!). You have made your mark in both in NH and Boston, and I know you are highly regarded by everyone that has the pleasure of meeting you. The relationships that I personally have gotten out of these gatherings (including getting to know you) are priceless. If you are “slacking”, the rest of us have no excuse!

    Having said that, the folks you think of that have conquered awesomeness have set the bar high, and it was tough not to feel a little insignificant at times this past week. For me, it’s a confidence issue. I struggle with some syndrome that combines “it’s been done before” and “what if it’s not perfect?”. I’m working on overcoming this day by day.

    In terms of feeling good about my quest for awesomeness (no matter how I define it or how long it might take me), I actually listed out all of the things I want to accomplish and broke it down into smaller, actionable items. When I cross off the little items, I know that I’ve taken one more step toward something I can be proud of. Additionally, I’m a full believer in the personal board of directors: http://bit.ly/ieIk3y. Love this concept, and this year I’m working on finding the right combination of folks whose input I couldn’t live without.

    Next time we run into each other, let’s chat about this. I’m so glad you put this out there, and maybe we can help each other reach – or redefine – the awesomeness we strive for!

  • http://twitter.com/JVocell Jeffrey Vocell

    Christine – Great post, and I really appreciate the transparency into what your thinking.

    I think Sandra said it well – you have certainly “made your mark in both NH and MA”. If it were not for the various Tweetup events that you had organized I would not have met some of the great people I know today and developed the friendships that I now have.

    Don’t be too hard on yourself and keep up the great work. Look forward to seeing you again at the next event in the Portsmouth area!

  • http://toddrjordan.com/thebroadbrush tojosan

    You hit the nail on the head for me. I too see so many folks that were new like me a few years ago and now are wiz banging it.

    Run into one friend, they have a book deal, another a new startup, yet the following one a great new job with company X.

    I’m not bellyaching about the job. I have a good job and it’d be hard to give up. My wife loves me. Our children and grandchildren aren’t anxious for me to change up either.

    All of that said, there’s something to be said for what you did accomplish, and me as well.

    Over the last two years since SxSW’09, I’ve hosted over 2 dozen tweetups of my own. Beyond that, I helped form Social Media Club St. Louis. Helped organize and participate in the first Interactive Festival in St. Louis. I’ve spoken, taught, and moderated. All the while keeping my day job and my family together.

    You’ve been doing the same and more. People are doing, exploring, and changing because of what you’ve done. You’re loved, appreciated, and respected, and you still have your children and good friends. Oh, and unlike me, you didn’t add on 50lbs somewhere in the middle. Ha.

    I’ll let you in on something as well. Some of those folks we know were driven to success because they had to be. They’d lost jobs, family, friends, or all three. Some it was just years of hard work finally paying off. A few, well they just got lucky.

    In all cases, we can cheer for them. Meanwhile, as Seth Godin put it, you and I, we must lean into the Dip.

    You are successful in so many ways and there is more to come.

    Do.Succeed.Repeat.
    Yours,
    Todd
    @tojosan

  • Jason

    Raising two kids to the best of your ability = success. The rest is just frosting on the cake!

    Keep up the good work.

  • http://www.christinemajor.com/ christinemajor

    Hey Sandra!

    Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my rant. And I am relieved to know that I am not alone in how I am feeling. I am also so happy that you have found the events I organize to be beneficial. I love to do them and especially love knowing they are making an impact for people.

    As I read your comment I thought about those people I mentioned as becoming successful and bet anything that if you asked them, they likely feel the same was as we do. Never being satisfied with their success is what pushes them to continue to do more. Sometimes, though, its important to take a step back and acknowledge that that the work we have done does kick some ass ;)

    I also love the idea of a personal board of directors and have officially added you as my SEO/Content marketing guru to go to ;) This is definitely something I will more consciously put in place.

    Looking forward to seeing you soon and chatting more about this!

  • http://www.christinemajor.com/ christinemajor

    Thanks so much Jason!

    you are so right. Raising 2 happy, healthy kids does equal success! Thank you for putting that into perspective for me.

    See you soon!

  • http://www.christinemajor.com/ christinemajor

    Todd!

    So kind of you to take the time to read and share your response. It was also very nice to see you in Austin last week.

    You are so right, when taking a step back and analyzing what we have done, it aint so bad ;) I had no idea you did all that too!! We should compare notes/best practices on planning events sometime.

    We are all a work in progress and sometimes we hit a few bumps in the road and have to keep on moving forward and striving to learn and do the best we can to live responsible, positive lives.

    it’s nice to know that I am not alone in my thinking and that we all have a moment of “oh my gawd” I am not doing enough.

    Thank you so much!

  • http://www.christinemajor.com/ christinemajor

    Thanks Jeffrey,

    I really do appreciate your response and so happy to know that the events I plan have been beneficial. I certainly love seeing you and the family there! Anytime you want to bring that sweet little baby around, you can!

    There will be more events in the summer in Portsmouth! Looking forward to seeing you there!

    -cmajor

  • http://bensleygram.blogspot.com/ Skip Bensley

    Christine, I try to be an awesome parent first. I care very little about how I am perceived in the social context. I am a PT Dad of a 14 year old son and a 8 year old daughter. If they think I am awesome that’s all that matters. I try and contribute and help others and if I succeed thats a bonus. I think if we worry too much about “crushing it” we lose connection with what is truly important like family and friends. Just saying.