Lack of focus? Blinders are a good thing.Letter to myself: I just realized that I lack focus. I subscribe to over 100 blogs, in my blog reader. And I don't read most of them. Life is so busy, and there are so many things vying for my attention. Here's the problem I've created for myself, though. I've categorized my blog entry by topic. Marketing. Personal Development. B2B. Affiliate Marketing. What ends up happening is that I miss some really good posts, buried in one category or another. Occasionally, Google will feature posts from a random blog in my blog reader, and I'll say: "Wow. I need to read more from this guy/lady". So I tried unsubscribing to a bunch of blogs. And I found it very hard to do this. - "What if I cut this blog out, only to miss out on some valuable nuggets?" - "Does not reading this blog say something about my Blog IQ? Everyone who's anyone is reading this blog." This is a metaphor for life. We do it with relationships. With work. With to-do lists. With books/DVDs we own. Today, I'm trying something different. Another 4am bolt of brilliance. (Or craziness.) I'm identifying 10 bloggers that I am enjoying RIGHT NOW. And putting them in a top ten category. I will then always start with this category. That way, I get the stuff from the bloggers I respect most... and then can scan the rest if I have time. This way, I don't have to unsubscribe from the other folks, just yet... but I also have a way of getting right to the opinions most important to me, without seeing the clutter. Or maybe I should just unsubscribe to all but 10 blogs. What's your take? Are you a pack rat in some aspect of your life? How are you sifting the wheat from the chaff? Here's my Top 10 Blogroll:1 - 43folders.com.Merlin Mann has taken things in a great new direction. In transitioning from being a blog about productivity, to one about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work... Merlin has inspired me. He's at the top of my list right now.2 - SethGodin.com.Seth is favorite author, by far. He's known for pithy, insightful books. And blog posts. He writes one marketing book a year, and each one has rocked the Marketing industry. His latest, Tribes, defines yet another necessary and fundamental change to the way Marketing is done. 3 - ChrisBrogan.com.Down-to-earth social media adventurer. Chris provokes you to think differently. 4 - ZenHabits.net.Read Leo Babauta's marathon strategy post (smile, breathe, and go slowly)... and decided to tune in. I enjoy his writing style, and life lessons. 5 - Always in Good Faith - Adventures in Real Estate InvestingOne of my best friends, Shae Bynes, is escaping the Rat Race via real estate investing, and chronicling every step. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I admire Shannon and her husband Phil boldly stepping into the unknown, constantly. 6 - Alexis Martin Neely - the intrepid mompreneur. I discovered Alexis on Twitter. Very down-to-earth, you wouldn't realize the success she's had, or the bold choices she's been making. Until you dig into her personal blog. Alexis is about being afraid and doing it anyway. Despite entrepreneurial success and TV fame, she has both feet on the ground. 7 - Creative Life and Passive IncomeBrian Lee writes about generating passive income, in a regular guy style. He's no guru - his passion is filmmaking. And so generating passive income is an enabler for him (the means, not the end). I respect his approach, and learn a lot from him. Glad to see him blogging again, after a 7-month hiatus. 8 - Rise of the InnerpreneurI discovered Tara Joyce (TJ, or The Teej) on Twitter. She was giving away free twitter background templates. She's a web geek focused on helping other "innerpreneurs" make a difference. My kinda person. 9 - The Hero WorkshopI (virtually) Met Matt Langdon through Seth Godin's Triiibes.com experiment. Matt's blog focuses on inspiring kids (and some of us grown-ups, too) to be heroes. And he isn't just talking about it; he's doing something to make it a reality. A good model for me, as I try to figure out what part of the world to change first. 10 - IndexedJessica Hagy's blog medium is the most innovative I've seen. 3x5 index cards. Wicked. But she's not a one-trick horse; this would be a gimmick, if her blogs weren't so insightful. Or funny. Usually both. The great thing about focus.If you have an extreme passion for what you're focusing on, success is inevitable. Eventually. |
