1 Conversation . . . 2 Blogs . . . 2 Directions

Filed Under 121 Conversation, Business Life, Successful Blog | 41 Comments

It started simply enough. Dawud and I talked about how to bridge our blogs with conversation. I would explain it. He would design it. Together we would work it out.

How cool is that?!!

We called it One-2-One . . . 1-2-1. It’s 1 conversation, in 2 directions.

If I was Dawud a great visual would be here. Imagine an arrow to Dawud’s blog and an arrow to you.

I write a question and send it to Dawud. The next day he posts his answer and ends with a question. . . . as he might in a conversation. That’s one direction.

While he answers, we can have our own conversation. That’s a second direction.

He’ll know my question when you do. I’ll know his answer when he posts it.
On his blog, the whole thing will work the same in reverse.

He and I won’t know beforehand – no problem. . . . it’s conversation about

• business
• strategy
• social networking
• tangents.

Conversations are unpredictable. That’s what makes them fun.
All conversation is an experiement in finding what we know. Isn’t it?

Question Question Question

Here’s my question.

When I go to your blog I get the feeling there’s a back room behind your blog where you work. What work do you do there?

Find Dawud’s response tomorrow afternoon at DawudMiracle.com by the one-2-one logo.

Meanwhile, what kind of work do you do in the backroom of your blog?

One2One is a cross-blog conversation. You can see the entire One-2-One Conversation series on the Successful Series page.

Bloggers and Hippies

Filed Under Business Life, Successful Blog | 55 Comments

A simple question . . .

Do you think bloggers are the hippies of this decade?
UPDATE: Or are we the pioneers?

Work and Blogging

Filed Under Business Life, Successful Blog | 46 Comments

A simple question . . .

Does your blogging take time away from other work you should be doing?

NFL Coaches, CEOs, and VCs Take a Lesson from Your Kids

Filed Under Business Life, Motivation/Inspiration, Strategy, Successful Blog | 6 Comments

We Learned How Business Works When We Were Five Years Old

I was re-reading “The E-Myth Revisited” last night. It reminded me of a book I read in 1989, called, “The Game of Work.” Both got me thinking about how the idea of work is so much more important than the task at hand. Those thoughts took me to jobs I had, the work I do, and the games I played as a kid.

I looked around at the world and found that everything that is hugely, remarkably successful has the same things that make it work as our back yard games did.

• The guy who’s house it is — the place we’re playing — sets the culture. That’s how it’s always been. Everyone takes a cue from the owner, that personality has power. He might keep kids out or share his yard with everyone. He might change the rules in his favor or consistently help others win. Steve Farber, Extreme Leader describes what works remarkably on the playground and in life when he says, I’m convinced that the ultimate rule of the Extreme Leader is to make others greater than yourself.




• Rules and roles give us freedom to act. — Nothing was worse than when everyone wanted to be king in the drama or sheriff in the old west. Forgive me, but it was chaos when kids would get “shot” and refuse to stay dead. Playing baseball was no fun when we argued about what was a fair ball and was what out or even worse, where the bases were. Learning the rules and working with them make us smarter and give us benchmarks. Seth says so.




• Sometimes a “do over” is the right answer, sometimes it’s not. — But even the smallest kids know that doing everything over is boring and gets you no where. Guy Kawasaki has some great advice on when and when not to respond to mistakes.




• Whining, yelling, and tuning out make you look like a baby. — Kids soon enough ignore whiners, yellers, and kids who tune out as not worth the time they take away from the game. Kathy Sierra talks about what to do if stress brings out one of these traits when you should be learning.




• Don’t break a promise unless someone will get hurt. ,
  
  

• You have to CARE for the game to be remarkable and successful. — Kids know that they put their hearts and their heads into whatever they do Christine Kane explains why everyone wants to do business with people who think like she does.

That’s why experts call play the “work of childhood.” It’s true.

So, let’s get playing.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your business, your brand or your blog, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related
Are You a Freelancer or a Solo Entrepreneur? Use Guy Kawasaki’s Mantra as He Meant
5 +1 Whole Brain Steps to Believable Strategic Goals OR Find Your Bliss Without Wasting Time

Life, Weekends, Memories — Finding Time for the Time of Your Life

Filed Under Business Life, Motivation/Inspiration, SOB Business, Successful Blog | 28 Comments

One Friday ritual that happens in offices is that people ask What are you doing this weekend? I’ve never been good at small talk in general, but I had to study to answer that question.

I kept a list of responses that sounded somewhat normal.

“I’m going for quiet and relaxation.”

“I think a good book is in order.”

“I have an appointment with my pillow.”

“I’m just so happy to be having a weekend.”

You might note that all of my answers basically say the same thing that my friend, KB, once said, “Liz doesn’t do weekends.”

I used to say, “Hey, I made my quota of decisions at the office. The last thing I want to do is come home to make more of them — decide what to do, where to go, what to eat, where to eat it, when to go there, what to wear.”

So instead I’d stay home and let life happen.

Sometimes life happens in ways worth remembering. Most often it doesn’t. Time just passes.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. I don’t make plans — too many options. I can talk myself out of almost anything.

“Do something.”

“Do what?”

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”

“How about this. Too crowded.”

“This? Too expensive.”

“This? Too far. . . . too early . . . too late . . . too extravagant . . . too boring . . . too edgy . . . too too.”

I think I should stay home.

I care more about who I do things with than what I do. So when someone suggests anything, I go. Most cool things I’ve done have been because someone invited me.

That sure is a passive way to live life, waiting for it to come to me.

I’m getting back in the driver’s seat. Plans are now part of my personal navigation. I’m finding time for the time of my life.

Life isn’t made of weekends. It’s made of memories.

I’ve decided it’s time to start making some outstanding ones.

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