Although I don’t think of either as my career, I have some experience with both. I’ve run a few blogs, including this one. I also spent two years as a full-time volunteer missionary and lay minister in Washington/Oregon (I didn’t run a congregation, but I had many other religious responsiblilities).

So here are the top ten ways that being a blogger is like being a preacher:

10 - You need new content every week–probably even more often.

9 – Your subject stays the same, but you still must come up with new ways to say it.

8 - Every great experience makes you wonder, “How I could incorporate this into a sermon/post?”

7 - Comments of appreciation mean the world to you.

6  - Your community is surprisingly willing to support you.

5 - Your best work motivates people.

4 - You occasionally get told off for saying what you believe.

3 - If you go on too long, people stop listening.

2 - Since not everyone can become one of the “big guys,” you really have to do it out of love. Ideally, you’d do it no matter how many followers you have.

1 - You still really want more followers.

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Like it? Tweet it! The top ten ways that being a blogger is like being a preacher: http://djgpr.com/preach

(Creative Commons photo by flickr user  bsabarnowl)

I know that not everyone has that same gift, but we can each choose what kind of person we will be and how we’ll treat the children in our lives.

Here’s a great example of another father who, despite his challenges, shows us what it means to be a man and a father. Here’s to trying to live up to the standard set by my dad and by this guy:

(Creative Commons photo by flickr user apdk)

Of course I’m biased, but there’s a lesson in creativity here. Jacob took a familiar product and a familiar format, then combined them in an unfamiliar way. It works because they don’t go together. It’s a way of thinking outside the box.

How can we challenge conventions to communicate more creatively?

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Don’t forget to subscribe or come back tomorrow, because I’m posting new content every day this month.

I choose where to walk, what to see, and who to be.

I choose a life of service,
I choose a walk of faith,
I choose the way I follow,
I choose the path I take.

I choose my faith, my friends, and my future.

I choose right over wrong,
faith over fear,
good over evil,
and joy over tears.

I choose
to speak up!
to step forward!
to stay accountable!

I choose to smile, to act politely, and to treat others with kindness.

I choose tolerance.
I choose respect.
I choose optimism.

I do not choose my name, but I do choose what I make it.
I do not choose my race, but I do choose how it affects me.
I do not choose my gender, but I do choose how it defines me.
I do not choose my family, but I do choose how I treat them.

I can no longer choose my history, but I can choose where I go from here.

My fate is my own.

Your power to choose is one of your greatest abilities. Use it wisely and seize the strength it provides.

Two hikers encounter a violent, man-eating bear in the woods. The first kneels down and proceeds to lace up her shoes. ”Why are you bothering with that?” the second asks. “You’ll never outrun the bear.”

“Oh, I know,” replies the first. “But I don’t have to outrun the bear–I just have to outrun you!”

PR, multimedia, technology and life are all like that: there’s so much to learn that sometimes it seems like we’ll never “outrun the bear.” But we don’t have to. Said another way, you don’t have to know everything; you just have to stay ahead of your personal responsibilities.

By focusing on “the bear,” it’s likely that you’re missing your opportunity to stay ahead of the most important things. Instead, redefine your focus to stay well ahead of the things that matter most, and worry less about the things that don’t.

To be the technology or new media expert at work, you don’t have to know everything. That would be trying to outrun the bear. You do need to know how to do what needs done, preferrably before it is needed. That’s one of the key reasons I run my own website(s): practice.

When I know that an upcoming work project might require a knowledge of CSS, I go home and play with stylesheets on my blog. If we’re going to start podcasting, I experiment with the technology at home. When we start the project at work, I’m ready. I don’t know everything, but the boss doesn’t have to realize that, because I know everything we need. Make sense?

This applies to most overwhelming subjects:

• Getting an “A” is less about knowing the entire subject than about having the right answers for the test.
• Being a great parent is not about having the right response for every possible challenge as much as it is about having the right response for this challenge.

As long as you stay ahead of the situation, outrunning the bear is irrelevant.

So what are you doing to outpace expectations? And what do you think might be a misguided attempt to outrun the bear?

CC photo credit: jitze