What’s in it for me

I’m thrilled with the initial response to “Use Your Inside Voice.” I’ve heard from so many people — family, friends, colleagues, and even some new acquaintances — who have reached out to thank me for starting the blog. If you are wondering why I’ve signed up to spend a significant amount of time each week writing articles, responding to comments and emails, and promoting my blog to grow readership, let me explain.

First of all, I am passionate about leveraging the skills we learn as leaders and parents at both home and work, and I want to make a difference to a lot of people. While I have shared my two cents with my staff and people I’ve mentored individually over the years, I now want to have a wider reach.

I’d also like to earn an income by writing this blog. I recently read an article on how the top travel bloggers make a living, and I was drawn to one in particular: Chris Guillebeau. Not only is he a travel blogger who has a personal goal of visiting every country in the world, he also has an interesting philosophy about non-conventional careers and how to change the world by achieving significant, personal goals while helping others at the same time. His blog is called The Art of Non-Conformity.

In one of his articles, Chris challenges his readers to answer the two most important questions in the universe:

#1: What do you really want to get out of life?
#2: What can you offer the world that no one else can?

Well, here are my answers:

#1: What do you really want to get out of life? At this phase in my life, I want to have a flexible job that allows me to be the kind of mom and wife that I want to be, to not be in a rush all the time, to exercise often, and to have time to pursue creative hobbies. At the same time, I want to help others and be known for something.

#2: What can you offer the world that no one else can? I think I have a unique, down-to-earth perspective on leveraging leadership and parenting skills. Understandably, most of us complain about work-life balance, yet we rarely talk about work-life efficiency. I want to change the discussion from concerns about the lack of balance to how to become more competent at both home and work by utilizing overlapping best practices. I want to celebrate the intersection of leadership and parenting.

By answering Chris’ questions, I hope I’ve given you some insight into why I’m writing this blog. If you find yourself thinking about how you would answer his questions, be sure to share. I look forward to hearing from you!

–Karen

p.s. A big thanks to Chris Guillebeau for his inspiring articles!

2 thoughts on “What’s in it for me”

Hi Karen, I admire your answers to Chris’ questions, and I’m impressed with your goals for your blog. I think it’s a unique concept. If I had to answer Chris’, I would say that above all I hope to achieve a kind of sublime acceptance of life and to have faith in the possibility of redemption, but on a more day-to-day level, from a position of contentment and financial security, I hope to give back through teaching. As for what I can uniquely offer? A certain kind of focused dedication, caring presence and playful sense of humor :).