Struggling for Purpose

I’ve been podcasting for a long time. There’s on podcaster who I consider to my my personal podcast hero: James Kennison. He has persevered through enormous setbacks and managed to create and maintain a successful podcast. You can find his podcasts at nlcast.com.

Note: The prompt used to generate the AI image for this post was “superhero podcasting”.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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I’m creatively burned out and stretched too thin. I’m also frustrated by people making low-effort content. Note: I’m aware of the poor audio quality in this podcast. I’ll do better next time.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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I’m slowly rebranding this podcast. You’ll hear the new tagline in this one: A personal audio journal of faith and folly. I’m still massaging the delivery. This podcast was recorded in my car.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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Sometimes life gets in the way of podcasting and that’s OK. Don’t beat yourself up over it.

My friend, Scott Roche helped me understand this after sharing a post on TikTok. I highly recommend that you follow him if you do anything creative.

Sometimes the things that prevent you from podcasting are in your control and other times they’re out of your control. Whatever, the reason, it’s OK.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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A quick check-in on how I’m doing with My 3 Words after one month. Also, some comments on checking in on our spiritual lives as well.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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Despite being a podcaster since 2005, I still feel like I’m on the outside looking in.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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I have a love/hate relationship with social media. Part of what I struggle with is which platforms I should invest in. The concept of “being everywhere” is hard to maintain when you’re a team of one.

I’m at a point where I need to simplify my approach to social media and cultivate the platforms that yield the best results.

For now, you can interact with me on the following social media platforms:

• X

• Instagram

• YouTube

• TikTok

• Threads

• Mastodon

• LinkedIn

Check out my latest podcasting project: Good News Pickleball (formerly Three Minute Bible Study).

Support the podcast when you buy me a coffee! If you’re listening in a new podcast app, hit that boost button and send me some Satoshis.

Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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My 3 Words is a yearly exercise to help people focus on three ways they can achieve their goals. For a better explanation of My 3 Words, check out Chris Brogan’s blog. He does a better job explaining it than I do.

I’m embracing all aspects of who I am. In the past, I’ve shied away from sharing that I’m a Christian in other projects besides those directly related to Christianity. This year I’m going to lean into it, when appropriate.

I have a lot of things going on in social media, podcasting, and other online ventures. This year I’m going to cultivate those things that produce the best results instead of spreading myself so thin.

Simple doesn’t equal to easy. Sometimes it’s easier to write or say more. It can be difficult to be precise. It’s easier to record a podcast and only edit obvious mistakes instead of editing for content.

By now, you should see these three words in nearly all of my social media profiles. I’m putting them there to remind me what I’m aiming for this year.

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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You may have seen me use the phrase or hashtag “Not an Influcer” in some of my social media profiles. Over the past year, however, I think I may have become a Christian influencer. I’m not sure I’m ready to embrace that moniker, even though I’ve been podcasting and using social media even longer since 2005.

As much as it pains me to admit this, I’m an influencer. I may not influence many people or even influence the right people, but, I’m an influencer. More specifically, I’m a Christian influencer.

Merriam-Webster defines an influencer as, “one who exerts influence or a person who inspires or guides the actions of others.” More specifically, it’s “a person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media.”

If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve been doing this for 18 years through podcasting and social media. Truth be told, as Christians we should be influencers. We are to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) but does that extend to convincing other Christians to buy certain products?

I don’t think it does and that’s why I’ve always felt uncomfortable calling myself an influencer, especially a Christian influencer. While capitalism has done great things for the world, it has also created a culture of greed and exploitation. I think “Christian capitalism” falls into some of the same traps.

It’s easy to get stuck in the Christian ghetto and think everything that’s labeled as “Christian” is good and valuable. I’ve done it too many times. Christian music, movies, podcasts, pickleball paddles, clothing, and more fill my timelines.

These peddlers of products reach out to me from time to time asking if I’ll join their influencer team. I was once part of an influencer network but had to bow out because it was clear that honest opinions weren’t what they were looking for.

I was never asked to change what I posted but I did notice that I was sometimes not included in some promotions after a not-so-stellar review or commentary.

Even the influencer network I’m in now sometimes sends me promotions that I don’t want to participate in because the product looks mediocre, at best.

I continue to struggle with this label of influencer but for now, I’ve decided to embrace it. And much like some musicians and writers, I’ll say I’m an influencer who is a Christian. That’s a compromise I’m happy with for now.

Support the podcast when you buy me a coffee! If you’re listening in a new podcast app, hit that boost button and send me some Satoshis.

Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Love can be difficult to define but some friends and I did our best.

Guests in this podcast:

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Music: “Loopster” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

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