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January 1, 2007

Happy New Year! and My New Year Resolution (not!)

I'm not big on making new year resolutions. If you have a goal in mind, you should quantify it and set it at that time. There is no point waiting around until January 1 to say you're going to do something. I decided to train to run a marathon within 1 year in the middle of February. Going back to school was a decision I made in September (2000).

One resolution people seem to make year after year is to get organized. That's a good one to make, as far as resolutions go. For you on that bandwagon, I'll recommend a couple of books by David Allen that helped me out in that endeavor a few years ago (a May goal for me, as I recall). Getting Things Done is the quintessential book on personal organization. Through all of my years of education, all the way through a Master's degree, there has never been a day where organization was discussed. Sure, teachers always told you that you needed to be organized to do x, y, or z - but they never gave you any inkling on how to do that. Allen's book is a no-nonsense approach. I really like it because it can be scaled to fit the needs of any individual. It's the best $9 you'll spend (if you click through that link that is). Once you get your act together, check out his other book Ready for Anything.

So what does the picture I've attached have to do with getting organized?? Check out the address block. It's to "Occupant, or Current Resident." That's a real nice touch, I've only lived here 6 1/2 years. I'm glad that the Forsyth County News has their act together. I'll tell the story of why we got their paper for 6 months on another day (we didn't ask for it). In the mean time, I'm going to go occupy my current residence and bask in the anonymity of it all.

Posted by Mike at 8:00 AM

December 10, 2006

Steven Levitt on the Colbert Report

The other day I plugged the book that Steven Levitt co-authored, Freakonomics. Yesterday, I showed you Lynn Westmoreland's lack of preparation for the Colbert Report. Today, I point you to Colbert's interview of Steven Levitt. I haven't read the book yet, but it is on my Amazon wishlist and I am quite interested in reading it. Who would've thought most drug dealers live with their parents?

Posted by Mike at 7:30 AM

June 17, 2005

Never Eat Alone

I read Ferrazzi's Never Eat Alone midway through my second semester in Georgia State University's MBA program. Up to that point, I had understood the importance of networking with other students and alumni of the program, but my tactic was entirely wrong. I viewed class time as a competition. It was a competition in idea generation and analysis. Sure, socially we'd go out for a beverage after class, but I still felt like it was more of an exercise in demonstrating prowess for future career considerations.

Baseball is a competition, but life is not. I pride myself on being a go-to guy for helping removing road blocks at work and inspiring growth in those around me - and Keith's book helped me realize that I should foster that same spirit in all of my interactions, not just those with co-workers or customers. In the 3 months that have passed since reading Keith's message and taking it to heart, I have formed some really great relationships with people based on our common ground. And while we will still compete with one another to earn A's in our classes, we'll have a lot more fun at it. Knowing them at this level will make it easy for me to proudly help them accomplish anything I can help them with in the future. And that is what I think networking is really all about.

Thanks, Keith.

Posted by Mike at 8:19 AM

June 7, 2005

Summer Reading

Last night I finished reading The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy. He's one heck of an author and this was a great read. If you're looking for something that reads like a movie - this is not a good book for you. It is very detailed in terms of setting, character background, and social climate. Clancy gives you all of the details of a situation in order to tie you emotionally to it. If you're into US/Soviet relations, technology, or politics, or are looking for a challenging read, this is definitely a great book for you.

This morning while taking care of my doctor's appointment I started reading The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship, by David Halberstam. This book is based on the journey of Dominic DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky to visit their ailing teammate Ted Williams in October 2001. Bobby Doerr was the fourth member of the close-knit unit, but was unable to make the trek because of his sick wife. I'm not very deep into the book yet, but it seems to be a profile, of sorts, of the men as young ball players for the Boston Red Sox during the 1940's. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Posted by Mike at 12:30 PM