Social Networking Lessons From George Leonard

"Learning any new skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it...the upward spurts vary; the plateaus have their own dips and rises along the way...To take the master's journey, you have to practice diligently..." ~ George Leonard from Mastery

If you've never encountered this book before, I highly recommend going out and purchasing it. Everyone is focused on Mastering something. On being the best, on making sure that you are the one someone would turn to when they need advice on the subject. He talks a lot about the road to becoming a Master, and how each different person handles setbacks and plateaus. In his book, Leonard goes through the four different types of people; the Master, The Dabbler, the Excessive, and the Hacker.

A Dabbler is thrilled with the quick results of a new practice or hobby. Then, as things get harder they begin to lose interest in the subject at hand, blaming everything but themselves for why it was wrong...

The Excessive focuses everything they have on this new subject. They spend every waking hour learning, reading, and tackling whatever they need to in order to become a master. At the time that setbacks start coming, they instantly crash and burn. They've wasted all their energy on an unhealthy focus, and can't adapt.

The Hacker is much more laid back about the whole thing. After they reach a certain level in whatever they are doing, they are content on staying there. They do nothing to work hard to get to the next level.

In studio work and band work, we get a lot of very talented people who are dabblers. They are the kind of person who blows up your phone, wanting to know when we can record, when we can play show, and so on. They constantly talk about all the great ideas they have, the new sound they're working on and how ready they are to take things to the next level. After you explain to them the time, the process, and everything else involved, they quickly lose interest. They are ready to follow you along to the top, but if they have to be the ones driving they forget about it.

Don't be this person with your social media presence. Social networking is set up to completely destroy someone who doesn't maintain it with quality content. You don't have to (and shouldn't) post every single day, but always make sure you're keeping an eye on what's going on. Don't get all excited, set everything up, direct your friends there, and then give up on it. If you do that, social media will not work for you.