I read James Altucher's blog. He's crazy, smart, practical (some may say impractical but I disagree), irreverent and insightful. And he can tell a wild story. But James's blog is different from everything else out there, and intentionally so. He strives to be different and, more importantly, himself. As he's mentioned, he pours his blood onto the page (well, the keyboard, I guess) constantly, and he aims to be even more open.
As a result, his readership has skyrocketed. I read today a post by Mars Dorian on the Yahoo! Small Business Advisor blog which referenced James and his unique writing style. The post is "The Anti-Blog Post to Writing Better Blog Posts." Basically, the lesson is this -- stop doing what everyone else is doing. The only way to truly create good content is to actually create content, unique content that only you can create. Let your guard down. Spill blood.
I'm trying to write more, and I often have trouble with ideas on which to write. I need to write more from myself and for myself without worrying about the ultimate audience. Hell, there is no audience for this blog. I need to open up the skin. I need to spill more blood.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Finding Your Career Path
The speaker at this morning's Wharton-Kellogg-London Business School Atlanta Alumni Associations' breakfast event was Virginia Hepner, the CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center, the largest arts center in Atlanta and one of the four largest in the country. Virginia spent 25 years in the banking industry with Wachovia, retired in 2005, then had a series of positions both in the private sector and the nonprofit arena. After a short stint as interim Executive Director with a subsidiary of the Woodruff Arts Center, she was selected by its Board to become CEO of the parent organization last year.
In addition to her discussion about the Woodruff Arts Center and the intersection of the business and arts communities in Atlanta, Virginia touched on her own career. She mentioned that she never would have planned to become of the CEO of a nonprofit arts-related entity at any point in her career. The first 25 years of her career were well planned -- she had a vision for her career, and she took steps to make that vision a reality. But the last seven years have been largely unplanned, and she mentioned that she is enjoying her work more than ever.
The lesson is that we sometimes don't know which way our careers will ultimately turn, but we should be prepared for anything. Virginia's preparation came from her years in the banking industry, and she was ultimately prepared to handle the accounting and financial issues with any organization, including a nonprofit. In addition, her passion for the arts naturally led her to spending more of her time and energy in that arena, ultimately being tapped to lead this organization. We may not know where our careers will ultimately take us, but if we follow our passions and our talents and be open to different opportunities, we will find the right path.
In addition to her discussion about the Woodruff Arts Center and the intersection of the business and arts communities in Atlanta, Virginia touched on her own career. She mentioned that she never would have planned to become of the CEO of a nonprofit arts-related entity at any point in her career. The first 25 years of her career were well planned -- she had a vision for her career, and she took steps to make that vision a reality. But the last seven years have been largely unplanned, and she mentioned that she is enjoying her work more than ever.
The lesson is that we sometimes don't know which way our careers will ultimately turn, but we should be prepared for anything. Virginia's preparation came from her years in the banking industry, and she was ultimately prepared to handle the accounting and financial issues with any organization, including a nonprofit. In addition, her passion for the arts naturally led her to spending more of her time and energy in that arena, ultimately being tapped to lead this organization. We may not know where our careers will ultimately take us, but if we follow our passions and our talents and be open to different opportunities, we will find the right path.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy
Well, my first New Year's "objective" has not exactly been achieved to date. Simply put, I have not written as much as I would like. I guess like anything challenging (exercise, a diet, etc.), it is a constant struggle. At least I am aware of the issue, and I am trying to improve.
I found this little nugget over the weekend and wanted to share it. David Ogilvy, often considered the "Father of Advertising," wrote a memo to his employees in 1982 titled "How to Write." In it, Ogilvy provides 10 excellent tips to anyone who writes, be it novels, memos, emails or tweets. Some of my favorites:
2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
And I guess I'll need to buy a copy of the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing.
I found this little nugget over the weekend and wanted to share it. David Ogilvy, often considered the "Father of Advertising," wrote a memo to his employees in 1982 titled "How to Write." In it, Ogilvy provides 10 excellent tips to anyone who writes, be it novels, memos, emails or tweets. Some of my favorites:
2. Write the way you talk. Naturally.
3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.
8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it.
And I guess I'll need to buy a copy of the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
New Year, New Resolutions
I am normally not a New Years Resolution kind of guy. I just think that the effort is generally pointless. People spend time coming up with random goals only to fail at those goals days into the new year.
This year, however, I have decided to list a few objectives -- not goals -- on which to focus in 2012. The first of these is writing. I would love to be able to write every day, even if that is just a few sentences a day. However, I know that if I set a goal to write all 366 days in 2012 (its a leap year), I will fail very quickly. Instead, I resolve to write much more, to focus on writing and to attempt to write as often and as many days as possible.
This writing will likely take the form of a blog (this one, the Walkable blog and another planned blog on minimalist living), the beginnings of a book idea I have and potentially some fiction writing. My hope is that the following will happen from much more frequent and focused writing:
1. I will improve in the craft of writing by practicing much more often;
2. New ideas will spring forward as I write about and think about various topics; and
3. I may inspire someone who reads this or any of my writing to make some change in his or her lives.
Last night I was reading several letters in the excellent collection of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's letters throughout his career. Obviously Moynihan spent much of his career before the advent of blogs, Twitter, etc. But he was a tremendously prolific writer with very broad and diverse interests. I'm often amazed at the foresight he had when reading his letters predicting the future of American society. Moynihan's letters clearly illustrate my point -- that practiced, focused and frequent writing helps not only in the craft of writing, but in the creation and formulation of new ideas. While I will never be as good a writer as Moynihan, I hope to use his inspiration to continue the pursuit of my New Year's .... resolution.
This year, however, I have decided to list a few objectives -- not goals -- on which to focus in 2012. The first of these is writing. I would love to be able to write every day, even if that is just a few sentences a day. However, I know that if I set a goal to write all 366 days in 2012 (its a leap year), I will fail very quickly. Instead, I resolve to write much more, to focus on writing and to attempt to write as often and as many days as possible.
This writing will likely take the form of a blog (this one, the Walkable blog and another planned blog on minimalist living), the beginnings of a book idea I have and potentially some fiction writing. My hope is that the following will happen from much more frequent and focused writing:
1. I will improve in the craft of writing by practicing much more often;
2. New ideas will spring forward as I write about and think about various topics; and
3. I may inspire someone who reads this or any of my writing to make some change in his or her lives.
Last night I was reading several letters in the excellent collection of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's letters throughout his career. Obviously Moynihan spent much of his career before the advent of blogs, Twitter, etc. But he was a tremendously prolific writer with very broad and diverse interests. I'm often amazed at the foresight he had when reading his letters predicting the future of American society. Moynihan's letters clearly illustrate my point -- that practiced, focused and frequent writing helps not only in the craft of writing, but in the creation and formulation of new ideas. While I will never be as good a writer as Moynihan, I hope to use his inspiration to continue the pursuit of my New Year's .... resolution.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Bobby Fischer and Healthy Obsession
I don’t think I’ve ever been truly OBSESSED with anything. At least I haven’t been obsessed with anything to the extent Bobby Fischer was obsessed with chess. I watched “Bobby Fischer Against The World” last night on HBO. I had heard parts of the story on Fischer – his early rise to chess champion, his famous match against Boris Spassky in 1972, his disappearances, his eccentricities. But I had never heard the story fully told.
Fischer became absolutely obsessed with chess at a very early age (he said maybe age 7). By age 14, he had amassed enough hours of playing and studying the game that he catapulted to the national stage and became national champion by age 15. Clearly this is an example of the “10,000 hours rule” postulated by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers and Geoff Colvin in Talent is Overrated. But I think the case of Fischer shows something more.
It takes more than just interest and devotion to a craft to put in the time and effort to the extent Fischer did. It is more than a love of the game or work or hobby. Obviously with Fischer there were potential mental health issues with which he struggled his entire life. But he was obsessed with chess.
Obsession can lead to great skill and excellence. But where is the line that crosses from a “healthy obsession” to one that is detrimental to our mental states? When does obsession go too far? And can you balance a “healthy obsession” with a healthy outlook on life?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Obsession
There is a profile of Bill Simmons, writer for ESPN.com known at "The Sports Guy" in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine. Written by Jonathan Mahler (author of the excellent "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning"), the piece does not provide much additional insight for Simmons fans, but it gets to the heart of a matter I have been pondering lately. That is, that successful people are not just motivated and driven, but that they actually have some obsession that makes them pursue their goals and dreams.
Simmons, as the piece mentions, began his career as "The Boston Sports Guy," writing a column for AOL in which he took the role of everyman Boston sports fan. The role was driven by Simmons' obsession with all things Boston sports -- especially the Red Sox and Celtics. This was not merely fandom, but Simmons appeared to truly obsess over Boston sports. This obsession bled into his writing and not only improved his appeal, but I believe allowed him to continue to be successful, because he was writing about a topic with which he was obsessed.
Over the next several posts, I will continue to explore the relationship between success and obsession. Please let me know if there are certain individuals you think share this success/obsession link.
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