I think I’m going to try to take six months this year and go part-time with the youth ministry that I work with. My frustration since 2003 comes from the fact that my personal projects add up to a full time job. For better or for worse, I already have a full time job, and there’s no time at the end of they day to get any of my own stuff done. This hasn’t been too much of a problem because lifeteen.com has had a bright future. But now that I’ve created a great website and my staff is still tiny, it’s time to expand my other websites.

The plan would go like this. I would find a couple interns to do half of the work I do everyday. That half of my job includes updating the website and getting back to phone calls and emails. My part-time hours will be dedicated to planning, designing, and implementing projects. My hope is that my absence will prove to the organization that we are better off when someone else does the routine updates on a website and I am doing what I do best: creating the vision.

I hate that I have to even play games like this. I’m 27 now, and it seems ridiculous to have to campaign so hard just to get the organization to open their eyes to the potential of the Internet. I mean, come one, it’s the year 2006. At the end of my six months of going part-time, I’ll have to make the decision whether or not I want to keep working for the organization. I love what we do, but I cannot put myself in a place where I feel fenced in.

What matters most to me right now is that the time off will give me a chance to get the rest of my websites together. My big scheme is to develop several great websites. Some will do better than others, and I’ll know that those deserve more time and attention. The idealist in my wants to believe that these good-hearted websites won’t always remain an expensive hobby, but they will actually make a difference in people’s lives.

If the websites don’t make it big, that’s okay too. I’m up for a new career that encourages entrepreneurs to be bold and ambitious. Because at work, people think my ambition is nice, but nothing changes internally when I do something awesome. I’m just sent back to my office.