Anyway, I am creating this blog for a few reasons. First, I am in the process of establishing an online presence for myself. Having a blog is a great way to do just that. Also, keeping a journal (or blog) is a great personal exercise for many reasons. I'm sure all you fine, intelligent people can relate.
So, this is a personal blog which is really kind of cool because it means there are no limits as far as what I'm able to talk about and, effectively, what you can discover about me. And maybe even what I can discover about myself. Reading about people from a personal standpoint is so much more interesting, isn't it? I mean, take Abe Lincoln for example. In school, we learned he was the sixteenth president, he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, he was an abolitionist, and every other factual bit about him. And were we intrigued? Well, I don't know about you, but being inundated with factual information that has no immediate practical application to my life can be a bit much. I mean, I view myself as a nerd that loves learning and acquiring knowledge, but at some point, the FACTS get boring. But, wait. I haven't gotten to the punchline yet. Why did I bring up Abe Lincoln? Well, it turns out the other day I was listening to the audiobook How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and Mr. Carnegie speaks about Abe Lincoln from a personal standpoint. Wow, what a difference this made with respect to how engaged I was in learning about one of the great men in history.
From the audiobook:
I made a special study of Lincoln's method of dealing with people. Did he indulge in criticism? Oh, yes. As a young man in the Pigeon Creek Valley of Indiana, he not only criticized, but he wrote letters and poems ridiculing people, and dropped these letters on the country roads where they were sure to be found. One of these letters aroused resentments that burned for a lifetime.
Mr. Carnegie goes on to talk more about specific situations in Lincoln's life that I thought were very interesting. I think I naturally found Mr. Carnegie's coverage of Abe Lincoln more exciting than my school's because he portrayed Lincoln as a normal human being subject to emotions and capable of making mistakes. It's more interesting to hear about how Lincoln became angry with someone and started ridiculing them in a public newspaper than just trying to swallow a set of events with dates, isn't it? What do you think?
Anyway, I hope this blog is that much more interesting because I will be talking about my personal life in addition to my professional life.
Oh, so I mentioned that I was listening to How to Win Friends and Influence People on audiobook. Audiobooks are pretty amazing because you can read (technically, listen to) books while you are doing other things. For example, I usually throw on my headphones and listen to an audiobook while doing the chores around the house. You can't exactly read a book and do the chores at the same time, can you? So, I like to think of audiobooks as getting free time. I mean if you think about it, our time is limited. And let's say there are a given number of books that you are determined to read before you die. And let's say we somehow know that it will take you 240 hours to read those books. If you just sit down and read for 240 hours, you will have accomplished your goal of reading the books, but you will have also spent 240 hours of your life that you cannot get back. Now, take audiobooks. Let's say instead of sitting down and reading the books, you listened to your desired books with your headphones while you were doing other simple mandatory tasks such as chores around the house. And let's say the number is the same here, so it takes 240 hours to listen to all the books and have them complete. In conclusion, if you choose to digest the books via audio, you are essentially giving yourself 240 bonus hours, or 10 days of bonus time to use on anything you want because you won't have to sit down and read for 240 hours. Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking that reading a book can be better for the mind because it takes much more mental energy to read than it does to listen and you could miss parts of the material if you are doing other tasks because you could get distracted. Well, that is up for you to decide. I'm not going to argue either way on that. All I know is that I have really enjoyed listening to audiobooks while doing simple tasks. And if I notice that I missed a part or that I started wandering, I just skip back a few seconds and listen to the bit again. Oh, and also, I think it makes doing these otherwise mundane tasks more interesting because you're not thinking about how you would rather be doing something else, because you ARE doing something else -- you are improving yourself personally, professionally, mentally and spiritually.
Another thing I wanted to mention in this post has to do with a real-life experience I had in dealing successfully with people, which is what Mr. Carnegie's book aims to teach. Currently, I am about a third of the way through How to Win Friends and Influence People. One of the major things you must do, according to Mr. Carnegie, is become genuinely interested in others. Roughly two years ago (before I had read any of Mr. Carnegie's book), I was in the market for a new phone. I decided to call up my cell phone company and order a phone that way rather than pick one up in person. It turns out the gentleman I was connected with was from Colombia, which is a spanish-speaking country. I don't recall his name, but let's just say it was Jose. Looking back, I realize that the transaction went so well because I took a genuine interest in Jose. The first personal thing I asked him was where he was from. I'm always curious where the people that help you over the phone are at, aren't you? He told me that he was from Colombia, and then I quickly followed up, "Hablas español?" We exchanged some pleasant brief words in Spanish during which I told him that I was a fan of Shakira, a popular singer from Colombia. I also asked him about his professional aspirations. When we got back to talking business, he mentioned that the iPhone 4S that I was interested in was going to cost me $200 up front. I jokingly replied, "But I want it for freeeeeee." We both subsequently laughed. Just a few moments later, he enthusiastically said, "You know what Julian, I am going to help you out." Oh yeah, you know it. He gave me the $200 iPhone 4S for free. Absolutely free. Well, I didn't pay him any fiat money, but looking back maybe I gave him something just as valuable -- a genuine interest in him personally. I think about it now and it blows my mind how I took an interest in a person over the phone thousands of miles away, a person with whom I'll probably never have any further contact as long as I live, and the effect was so positive and so true that this person was eager to give me a highly valuable electronic device completely free, with no strings attached.
Alright, I am going to get some work done on my personal website that I'm currently building. See ya later blogheads! Is that even a word? Blogheads? I think I just came up with it. It has a nice ring to it.
Oh, by the way, here are my social links if you would like to check me out online...
Make sure to reach out to me with any questions or comments.
I would love to hear from you :)
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