I picked up the book “Never Eat Alone”, by Keith Ferrazzi a while back on a recommendation by Dwayne Melancon over at Genuine Curiosity. The book’s premise is to build a lifelong community of colleagues, contacts, friends and mentors. The author gives many examples of building relationships that can have a great impact on your job, business, and personal life. This will be a great addition to my “MBA on the Run” program over the coming months as it gives an interesting perspective on networking.
One of the sections that stood out I think can apply to many areas of life. The following excerpt is profound…
Make a list of the things you are most passionate about. Use you passions as a guide to which activities and events you should be seeking out. Use them to engage new and old contacts. If you love baseball, for example, take potential and current clients to a ballgame. It doesn’t matter what you do, only that it is something you love doing.
This is great advice and it plays especially well with blogging. I’ve met so many interesting people through blogs that share many of my own interests. The blogs often complement my own views and sometimes challenge them. I have found that when posting an article it is a great practice to link to other blogs with similar themes and ideas. This way the reader can get a broader viewpoint and find additional content that will make the subject come alive.
I would like to share a few of my favorite blogs and the subjects they cover.
Great Attitude: I think one of the keys to enjoying life and building relationships with others is to have a positive and proactive attitude. This is so important in business where the proper outlook can make all the difference. Two blogs come to mind that exemplify a great attitude. They are Phil Gerbyshak’s, “Make it Great” and Troy Worman’s, “Orbit Now“. If you are looking for a daily motivator, link up to a feed from these sites. As Troy states, “Don’t wait for permission to succeed!”
Management: Working with people on the job can be one of the greatest challenges of life. Especially if you find yourself playing a management role. The following blogs can make all the difference in helping you craft a positive and nurturing relationship with co-workers. Rosa Say and Lisa Haneburg both have exemplary blogs about the subject of management and business leadership. Rosa adds the Hawaiian Spirit of Aloha while Lisa adds High Impact to her presentations. Great stuff!
Life Administration: Are you looking for the latest tip to make your life easier? Check out Merlin Mann’s, “43 Folders“. His Getting Things Done focus is helpful and his writing style adds humor and interest. Lifehacker and Lifehack.org offer a daily assortment of tips and tricks on everything from computer maintenance to movie reviews. Always interesting and entertaining!
Sleep Hacks: I’ve been doing some personal experiments with napping and diet and have had some interesting results. I have been keeping up with Steve Pavlina and Jacob Cazzell as they write about their experiences with different sleep hacks. Steve’s polyphasic sleeping adventures have been amazing and I realize that I could never follow the routine. Jacob’s route has been interesting as he has written about what works and what doesn’t on a daily basis. Interesting stuff.
Creative Stuff: Looking for some great ideas to get you fired up for the week? Check out Genuine Curiosity and Slacker Manager. Dwayne and Bren always have new and interesting posts about a wide variety of subjects. Dwayne has a great post today about putting goals on your computer screen. I’m going to take his idea and put the habits from my 12 habits program up on the screen. Great reminders. Bren’s post today about the “Digital Hierarchy of Needs” is a must read.
There are many other sites that I visit for inspiration on a regular basis. Blogs offer a great interactive conversation without leaving the comfort of your computer chair.
Just remember..
When posting… Never Blog Alone!