First prior to all the "Good" information - let me say - WOW - a How blogging changed our lives with tom.cenens3/blog, someone outside of my area of expertise. (And a different country) How much fun was that? I whole, big lot of fun! I WOULD recommend it. I loved it. Here's How has blogging changed my everyday life?.
Now on to my part of the blog:
Would you believe me if I said blogging hasn't really made a difference in my life – at least not much? OK – so I wouldn’t believe myself either. It has made a positive difference.
I start – as usual with questions. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? All valid questions and all the things I’ll try to answer from my point of view. I haven’t had a lot of time to blog lately, but sometimes I’m just driven too.
Who?
So who blogs? Many, many people. For many different reasons. BUT that’s not the purpose of this blog. So why the who? My who – is who challenged / influenced me to blog. What did they say?
Well to begin with – It was the many very good blogs that I read. I would say the people how influenced me the most where susan.keohan/blog, Jim Spath, and karin.tillotson2/blog. They all wrote informative blogs in a fun to read style. It kept my attention, and I LEARNED something.
Next it was even more bloggers that wrote everything from “how to” to “how not to”. I found I read more and more blogs. I was reading the information as quick as people could write it.
What?
So what motivated me to start? The lack of information – yes really – the lack of information was what motivated me. The information was out there , but not always in a way that I could use it. It was bits and pieces all over the place like toys left around by a child. Could the information be put together specifically for all of our uses? No probably not, so I wanted to share my stories on how I put it together.
How could I use that new technology? Was there a way? I am a customer not a consultant. I needed to find a way to make things work for me. And then push them out to others who may be struggling with the same thing. There is usually a common thread in all my first blogs. It’s all about my experiences.
Where?
Well – I only blog on SCN. I could spend my time all over blogging. BUT my time, like all of yours, is limited. So I blog in the place where I have gotten the most information.
Why?
You would think why and what would be the same thing. You would be wrong.
I blog for the fun of it! I love to share information. I love to meet all of you. I am generally a shy person. (I guess talking with others that is up for debate.) But I get to meet people via my blogs or comments, and then in person. I feel like I’ve already started to get to know them.
AND - I love that fact that YOU take the time to read my sometimes very long blogs.
So How has it changed my life?
Well – I am an SAP mentor. That is HUGE. And yes, that takes MORE than blogging.
I have met so many people and learned more things than my head can contain. I have met “you”. “You” is the person who takes the time to read my blogs and comment. I have started to develop my own network of SAP professionals. Yes, I research my own questions to find answers. But there are people that I can ask. Yes, I do ask on the forums too! You’ll see me out there.
I am MORE outgoing. It’s so much fun reading comments. I tend to comment on others blogs – I have natascha.thomson/blog to thank for that.
I have found a community that accepts me as I am. When I’m grumpy about something, I rant. And I find out that someone else has probably run into the same thing. When I have information I just can’t wait to share! I share it. Some people have already heard. Some haven’t. You’ll hear me repeat a lot – “If I reach just one person who hasn’t heard the information I have to share, well, that makes it worth it”.
It’s a wonderful feeling. Friends and family outside of work, they don’t understand SAP. So I can talk with them about it, and I do. But they sometimes get glazed eyes. People at work… Well they are not always working on the same thing I am. Usually we are on different projects. My “amazing” wonderful information – well they care, but not at this time. SO SCN, someone cares at the point in time I’m sharing. WOW. What a rush. (Well at least most of the times.)
It’s made me even happier with SAP. This has made me happier with my job. This brings more happiness to my life. If that sounds silly, take a moment and think about how many hours you spend working. It’s usually the majority of your waking hours.
Yes, I sound cheery about everything. Do I sometimes think to myself this isn’t worth it? Sometimes I think this takes too much time. Of course I think that - who hasn't? Then I think of all the positives. All the things it has done, and will continue to do for me.
And last - a big thank you! For taking the time to read this blog! It is one of the many things that drive me to continue writting them.
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