What Does All This Accomplish?

As a content creator, I try to deliver a decent product 7-days-a-week to my readers. I want there to be value in exchange for the time people spend reading what’s posted. Here are some questions I must ask myself…

1. Is it informative?

My opinions leach out all over this blog, but hopefully I also provide raw information, spot new trends, help readers make connections to other resources, and even educate my readership about things they didn’t know.

2. Is it helpful?

The passing on of information by itself doesn’t really guarantee that reading said articles will make any difference in the life of readers. My goal should be to communicate for life change; to write in the hope that the day’s topics and focus is not only interesting but practical and beneficial.

3. Am I authentic?

People create all types of false personas on social media. I don’t want people to meet me in the real world and find me to be anything less than what my online trail would indicate. That includes the possibility of me deceiving myself into thinking that by virtue of this blog — and its numeric success — that I’m something I am not.

4. Is it positive?

In the last few weeks I’ve been getting messages from one reader who feels that the type of things posted in the Wednesday column each week simply aren’t encouraging. I did an analysis of last week’s and found it to be a rather mix of basic links but also containing some cautionary tales. I am to celebrate the good that God is doing, but we can’t bury our heads in the sand, either.

5. Is it fruitful?

The first four questions were probably sufficient, and I could have left it there, but one of the things I long for on a personal level is to see the fruit of the various endeavors that occupy my time. It’s not a matter of looking for validation as much as simply wanting to experience that organic moment when the seed takes root in the lives of people both individually and collectively.

I think these are questions we need to ask of anything we’re involved in.