I’m currently on day three of a new adventure. I’m cycling from Rotorua to Waikanae (in New Zealand), which will take five days if the weather plays ball.
This is a pretty epic trip. Not many people will cycle 400+ kilometres on a trip in their lifetime. My friends who know about the trip think it’s cool too.
The ride is stunning.
But I’m not sharing this trip on social media.
Well not yet, a few friends have asked if I would be.
In theory, this trip is a story people would have liked. And not just seeing me do something I perceive as cool. If I had thought this through in advance, they could easily have played a role.
I would use the story framework from Donald Miller’s book, Building a StoryBrand. In short:
A character has a problem, meets a guide, who gives them a plan and calls them to action, that helps avoid failure and ends in success.
I’m the character in the story with the problem of wanting to try something new and bike from Rotorua to Wellington. I could use the social media audience as my guide to help come up with a good plan with buying a bike, and gear, along with places to stay.
A classic NZ symbol
They’ll call me to action with encouragement. Inevitably I’ll make mistakes, want to give up, and debate a bunch of things but ultimately get the treats (reaching Waikanae) in the end.
This would be pretty easy to record the clips for. It’s almost documenting the process with just a little bit of extra leg work in sharing their tips and interacting. Heck, it might even bring an increase in the audience.
But I really can’t be bothered with social media. If anything it’d distract me from the journey.
Not that I’m on a journey to find myself or anything. It’s just a challenge I want to complete and figure it out on my own. We don’t have to share anything. I’ll be making my own notes from the ride etc.
Which takes me to my next point.
That’s the importance of having a personal knowledge management system that collates everything. At the moments I use Roam Research. I’m sure there’ll be situations where this trip comes up in the future and with my personal notes, I’ll be able to refer to them to give valid advice.
If I share on social media, it might inspire someone but no one needs more motivation. They need to make a decision and then when they come to me for advice, I can give them some real material benefits.
I guess what it comes down to is why are you sharing on social media?
