Everything is connected – End of the Day for August 25, 2014

When you look at my home page at DouglasEWelch.com, you might first think that it is a miss-mash of so many different topics, concepts and ideas. It doesn’t seem to have any focus — until you look a bit deeper. Everything that I do — from Careers to Gardening to New Media to Technology has an underpinning of education. I am at my best when I am helping and teaching others and all of those subject areas benefit from that underlying, if hidden, agenda. What’s more, as time has gone on, I have seen merging and crossover between many of these individual elements.

While my interest in gardening stands alone for the most part, each day I find that my work in careers, technology and new media blend together more and more. One of my keep precepts in my career writing is that you need to be telling people “what you do and how well you do it” as an integral part of your career buildings and work life. For me, new media seems to be one of the best ways to constantly and consistently deliver this message to those around you, both literally and figuratively. Then, of course, if you are going to be using New Media to accomplish this, you will need to know at least a little about technology and how technology tools can facilitate both your career and your sharing.

I gave a talk last Friday on “Smartphones, Technology and Your Career” last Friday and I think it illustrates this crossover in a major way. I showed off a series of apps for the smartphones that nearly everyone in the audience carried. These apps not only help them accomplish their work in better and faster ways, but could also be used to share the message about their work. In this one talk, I was able to talk about 3 of the topics I cared most about (and I snuck in a littler gardening talk, too.)

I never really expected to see such crossover in my work. I was simply following those things that interested me most. That said, I enjoy this natural combination of topics. It allows me to have more effect, in a wider area, with a wider group of people, than I might have otherwise. I also think each one helps to better illustrate and convey the message of the others with the sum total being much more than simply a combination of the individual parts.

What connections can you find between the seemingly disparate parts of your life and work? Look for ways in which you can combine, as I have. I think you will pleasantly surprised at what you find at the point where they all intersect.

Previously on End of the Day: