Forget Networking. How to Be a Connector. Connector Josh Bycel raised $50,000 in three weeks to fund a medical clinic at a refugee camp in Darfur. We all know people like them, people who seem to know everyone. They're always able to help -- or if they can't, they know someone who can. You meet them for the first time and in 15 minutes, you're talking with them like you're childhood friends. They're successful, smart and funny, with a likable touch of self-deprecation. And they're interested in everything. Who are they? "I like people and am genuinely curious," says Banikarim, 42. Related: 12 Tips for Trading Places in 2012 As Gladwell writes, "sprinkled among every walk of life . . . are a handful of people with a truly extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances.
Traits such as energy, insatiable curiosity and a willingness to take chances seem to be the common thread among connectors -- as well as an insistence that connecting is not the same as networking. Related: Top Workplace Trend for 2012 "I'm a comedy writer. HOW TO DRAW COMICS. Get Organized: Hints, Helpers, & How To's.
The Day That Might Be. This is a continuation of The Day that Almost Was, which is turning into a series on rebuilding my rituals. The Sleeping Ritual Yesterday was a day devoted to synchronization of my schedule with the rest of the world. My schedule had been crazy before, 4-8 hours of wakefulness followed by 4-6 hours of sleep. As you might expect, it became very difficult to predict when I would be awake and when I would be asleep. This is the schedule I tend to fall into when I’m doing any kind of computer programming. Mental clarity – When I’m wrestling with a non-trivial programming problem, it’s quite exhausting. Anyway, I managed to tire myself out by not getting a lot of sleep the night before, and staying up until midnight.
Last night I also discovered something: turning off the air filter makes it really, really quiet. The Notebook Ritual This morning at Starbucks, I experienced a moment of irritation at having to copy the ToDo items from yesterday to today’s page. The Scheduling Ritual Today’s Focus. Pick A Point. I was flying last Sunday and my flight instructor reminded me, just before having me perform a maneuver, to pick a point to fly towards.
It didn't matter what it was, a factory, water tower, mountain, city, or a lake, the important thing was to fly toward something that didn't move. This outside visual reference guaranteed that I flew in a straight line. When in straight and level flight, you want to make sure that you don't climb and descend like a roller coaster going up and down, you want to maintain a steady altitude. You also want to do this without having to constantly stare at the instruments. So, you look at the horizon and then pick out a spot on the dash board or windshield that lies on that horizon line. By keeping that spot on the horizon line, you are able to maintain a constant altitude.
Specific - A vague and nebulous goal inspires no one. Measurable - If you can't track it, you can't tell if you're moving toward or away from where you want to go.
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action. A Low-Tech Notes Retrieval System. During our day, many of us, by choice or by employer requirement, document our activities, calls, meetings, and customer visits in some form. For some, it is an employer generated form. For others, the Palm’s notes component fills the bill. Outlook also provides a place for notes but, not being portable, they are useless away from the office. EssentialPIM has one of the best note components that I’ve seen in PIM software, with text formatting being available, capability to insert graphics files, and an ability to attach supporting documents.
Yet, I choose to go low-tech when I take my notes. Fast, quick, very portable, my Moleskine fills my needs perfectly. Reg, over at Elemental Truths, posted about his RAM Text system today, so I know I’m not alone desiring a low-tech answer. I would add, however, that to really make the low-tech answer truly work, one has to set it up to make information retrieval easy. Leave the last page blank: Twelve Ways To Mark Up A Book. Books are a fantastic way to gain knowledge. With books, one can learn new techniques, gain new skills, and learn from role models who have been to where one wants to be and can show the way.
There are many different ways to read books and just as many ways to remember their salient points. One of the most effective ways to get the most out of a book is to mark it up. There is no standard way to mark up a text, but below are a few ways that students have found effective in marking up a textbook so that one can see the important points quickly, make it more memorable, and make it easy to pick up years later and re-acquaint oneself with the major concepts. What Not To Do Don’t use a highlighter – Quality marking isn’t done with a fat-tipped highlighter. You can’t write, which is an important part of marking the text, with a large marker. What To Do Mark the text with a pencil, pen, or, even better, colored fine-tipped pens – Remember, you are not highlighting, you are writing. Extras. Post-It Possibilities.
I’m presently preparing a presentation for a conference that will be held in May. I’ve placed a large piece of chart paper on my wall and have begun attaching Post-It Notes, on which I’ve written points that I intend to make during my presentation. Later, I’ll move and re-group these small points into larger groups that represent larger concepts. As I wrote and re-grouped, I became more aware of how easy the Post-It Notes made this process.
I also began to think how indispensable these little colored pieces of paper have become to my productivity. Planning points and sub-points in presentations Bookmarks Posting goals on my bathroom mirror so I’ll see them everyday Creating seating charts on clipboards Scheduling teachers and classes Masking off completed areas of paper forms before copying to create a new “master” Labeling desk areas for sorting stacks of paper (File, Action, Refer, Trash, etc.)
Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity. Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from. RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Richard St. John's 8 secrets of success.