Acting with Purpose

I’m constantly changing my opinion of the whole Twitter concept. I’ve become sort of disillusioned with the “social media gurus”, or as Tremendous News refers to them: social media douchebags. I constantly put myself in check to ensure that I’m doing this for the right reasons. 90% of the time, I am.

In general, I find it really odd (not to mention incredibly annoying) that people do something that they never really cared about and then trick themselves into thinking they care about it only so that other people will like them or pay attention because they care about it. It seems like a terribly empty way to go through life.

However, every once in a while, you find someone that is doing something for the right reasons. They are involved in an activity to learn or share thoughts or something else great. I recently got promoted to the director of my consulting group. It’s tough. And my mind is completely incapable of that much organization. Thus, I had a total breakdown and realized I needed some project management software. I knew that Twitter would be a good arena to get some feedback on good PM apps for Mac, so I threw it out there. Almost immediately, I was retweeted by Solving Problems (@helpmesolve). I checked out their profile, and instantly fell back in love with Twitter. Their profile states their purpose pretty explicitly:

“We retweet tweets calling for help voiced on Twitter. Feel free to follow us.”

Jackpot. No obligatory hashtags, no “visit my blog for expert twitter advice”, no “make millions by sitting on your ass”. The only thing this guy/girl/team wants is to help others. I was floored. Solving Problems is doing just that. Solving problems. They are acting with a direct purpose. And a damn good one.

I think it’s important to take the time to look at your daily activities and ask yourself why the hell you’re doing them. And don’t lie to yourself. That’s just a waste of your brainpower. How do you feel about your answer? Are you embarassed? If so, redirect whatever it is you’re doing. Act with purpose.

So kudos to you, @helpmesolve. You have a great purpose and a great platform on which to act. I’m thoroughly impressed.

As for the rest of you, make your tweets/blog posts/conversation worth my time. I feel no remorse for unfollowing.

On a side note, everyone should visit Tremendous News. He’s a really funny guy, not to mention an incredibly talented artist.