Rick Warren recently tweeted why he doesn’t blog. He said, “…it tempts you to think everything you say is important.” (This coming from a best-selling author of books and a mammoth twitter user, but that’s a different point altogether.)

To me, blogging (and twitter/facebook) isn’t about the importance of my words, it’s primarily about putting myself “out there”. Putting my thoughts in writing helps me to 1) think through them more thoroughly, 2) test them in the waters of the larger opinion pool of my peers, and 3) be a little bit more transparent about who I really am.

So, what I say online may or may not be important to you – that’s for you to judge. But, it’s important to me. That’s why I share it. It tests my faith and confidence in my personal train of thought.

It also challenges me like few other things do. To say something half-way worthwhile, one must gain both knowledge and perspective on a meaningful matter. And that, my friend, takes great time and effort.

How about you? Are you willing to put yourself “out there”? What are you doing to test yourself, to challenge your own status quo? What moves are you making to step up your game of life? And, how are you sharing those insights for the benefit of others?

Today’s social media options are great ways to do just that. But in doing so, I would encourage you to check your motives just a little bit. It’s not about how important your words are to others. It’s more about the process that takes you to the point that you have words to share.

Get in that process. Join your own personal revolution. Then be willing to say something worth saying.

There is a burden on my shoulders today.

Really, it’s there every day. But some days it feels heavier than others. And the real kicker is…I signed up for it. Every day I get in line, take a number, and ask for it – again. “Yes, sir! Thank you, sir! Can I have another, sir?!?”

Make no mistake: Leadership is a tough business. It is a weighty matter – yes, a burden – for those that would choose it. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a t-ball team, a family, a major corporation, or even yourself; it comes complete with headaches, stomachaches, frustrations, insecurities…I could go on.

Don’t get me wrong – there are many great joys that go along with it as well. It’s just that – most days – the positive list tends to be much shorter than the negative one. This being the case, why do we do it? Why should we do it? Why would anyone sign up for it?

For starters – without leadership, nothing would get done. Absolutely nothing. Not even the laundry.

You see, leaders across all spectrums are initiators. They see something that needs to be done. They believe in that something with enough passion to overcome Inertia and make it happen.

The daily problem, the burden if you will, is that Inertia is a stalwart opponent. She believes strongly in the status quo. “Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina” is a call to our natural desire for the good old days – our comfort zone where everything is better because it never changes.

But, as any leader will likely tell you, that’s a huge myth – a lie. Things will always change. One of the great things about leadership is that it offers us a strong say in the general direction of that inevitable change.

So join me, would you? Get in line, take a number, and volunteer to be a leader every day of your life. Without you, and me, and many, many other people willing to challenge Inertia face-to-face, we’ll get nowhere.

And nowhere is not all it’s cracked up to be.

I’ve heard it said that bloggers need to be willing to write consistently to an audience of zero before the value of their efforts is acknowledged by a readership (which may never come to fruition). Why would someone do that? Is it purely narcissistic?

I sure hope not, cuz that’s what I plan to do. For a number of reasons, I believe I’m supposed to do this. So, as difficult as it is sometimes to prioritize writing a blog, I have to do it. Whether or not you respond to that effort by reading? Well…that, of course, is up to you. If you choose to do so, thank you.

So, I’m planning to jump back in. You’re even going to get two posts in one day! As the proverbial saying goes, “Come on in. The water’s fine!”