Fine Line
Photo I put on Quora.
I recently answer what I thought was a fairly innocuous question on Quora and I put up this exterior photo of the house for context. I had no idea the answer would draw that much discussion or that large of an viewership. It will probably set a personal record for me with the most views. While I have others that have gone over a million views, I think this will go much further. I can’t keep up with the comments.
I receive lots of requests to put up more pictures and I’m reluctant to do so. Even the photos I have put up on this personal site paint a slightly different picture than the reality over the years. Snapshots can make things look better than they are. I don’t want to paint my life as glamorous by any stretch. Picture this photo with me inside doing nothing but working. That’s more accurate.
I was merely answering that I found a cool house after a lot of looking and it’s a rural environment, and I love it here. That sums up the story. I don’t know what else to tell people, but yet they want more.
This is the fine line between answering questions and engaging others in a discussion and giving up a sense of self and security. I’ve always loved to share ideas and experiences, which is why I’m on Quora. It’s why I have this website. I don’t care about traffic or becoming popular as much as I care about quality and accurate content. I care about good writing and my personal improvement, in parallel to refining my work as an advisor. I do this while remaining up to date with the latest management ideas.
I can never learn enough so I’m happy in my world of solving problems, writing about them and hunting for solutions.. I’d love to be popular for the quality of my work rather be like so many men and women who work to draw attention to themselves without substance. I’d rather find the right words to draw the reader into an experience than put up a picture of me doing something exciting. I look terrible in a Speedo.
So, I apologize for not sharing more, but I hope you’ll stick around and read.