Before I proceed I must warn you that this post will be without a doubt the most narcissistic I have ever published. Consider yourself warned. Here goes…
Sometimes I like to search myself.
I actually love searching myself.
I hope that doesn’t sound too dirty or creepy, but of course I’m talking about my blog.
Sometimes an issue comes up in my mind and I ask myself, “I wonder if I have a thought on that topic?” Then I search my blog using the search box on the right and I can find out what I think about it – if I have posts related to that topic in my archives somewhere.
One of the great benefits to blogging over time is that you end up generating enough material to provide a good reservoir of content of your thoughts, opinions, and insights on a variety of topics. I do not remember quickly 90% of what I’ve written or argued or represented in this blog in the past and every once in a while I need to search myself to trace my streams of thought on an issue over time. I can get refreshed on different insights or applications or I can take a more bird’s eye view of an issue as I’ve thought about it before.
Searching yourself provides an element of reflection similar to what some experience as they read through an old journal. You look back on thoughts and opinions and sometimes, with hindsight or a broader perspective, those thoughts change or evolve or spark new thoughts for future reflection. The longer you blog, the longer of a record you have of how you’ve processed through the things that are typically most important to you.
Sometimes I just get inspired. Who better to fire yourself up than…yourself 🙂 (read narcissism here) A better way of putting it is that over time the one person who is going to consistently write things that are going to connect with your interests, passions, and life journey is you. I post things because I find them interesting or motivating or significant. I don’t retain all those things all the time in my mind so in a way I’m generating a resource of things that connect to what I find most important in life and leadership. It’s one of the perfect places to find material that I find interesting because I can’t remember half of what’s there and I originally generated those posts for a reason.
So there it is..my confession…I like to search myself.
Sometimes I like to search other people too and I would consider it an honor if someone else wanted to search me too. I don’t expect people to search me though. But if no one searches me, that’s ok because….
I search myself.
