I love this as as sign-off. “As you were”. My mate Gez says this to me when he hangs up from a good, deep chat. And someone emailed me this week, out of the blue, with some random feedback (actually, the delightful Gala Darling‘s ex boyfriend to give his thoughts on my contact submission form … Read more
This week I find my “right reason”…and get a little faith.
On Tuesday I sat with Mitch Albom. Which is lovely and fitting, really, because Mitch wrote Tuesdays with Morrie, a book about how he spent Tuesdays sitting with a bloke called Morrie. Not read it? Well, Morrie is Mitch’s former teacher and is dying. Mitch is a sports journo from Detroit. Each week Mitch visits Morrie who, as he faces death, shares his compassionate insights with Mitch. The end. Or thereabouts.
Much like when I look at a Splade or a pair of Crocs, I’ve often wondered what possesses someone to spend years of their life creatively and myopically dedicated to something that, on paper, isn’t exactly a commercial shoo-in. I mean a book of wisdoms by a dying teacher and a sports hack…who was he kidding? Indeed, countless publishers knocked the book back.
But perhaps you know what comes next. Tuesdays with Morrie was finally published in 2000 for a modest fee. It became the biggest selling memoir in history. And Mitch has sold a whopping 28 million books since.
So the question I put to Mitch: what kept him writing?
Happy Easter to all of you. I’m not doing much. My mission is to stay nice and still. My family back in Canberra is not doing much on account of, well, being a bit funeraled out. Friends are off up the coast with inlaws… There’s a certain satisfaction to be derived from not doing what … Read more
Weirdly – or perhaps not – a lot of people got excited about my column on how to hire a virtual assistant. For anyone wanting to give it a crack, Freelancer.com is offering this deal to three inquisitive, desperate-to-delegate readers…
Ideas are the new gossip. I like this. The Times recently wrote about how Brainy is Suddenly Chic and the “new vogue for intellectual pursuits” as a way of accessing happiness.
More and more we’re becoming interested in sharing concepts and being truly informed. Not so much to wear the badge “Hi, I’m Informed”, but to connect with other people’s thinking and experience.
To this end, a few experiences that you might like to sign up for. Sometimes life is improved by simply signing up. Committing, sitting, absorbing.
1. Get Motivated with a Daniel Pink Webinar. Daniel is author of Drive, the New York Times bestseller. I’ve read it. It’s all about how the new way to motivate to tap into creativity, and to access the new flow. Very fresh. So….The Australian Businesswomen’s Network is holding a free lunchtime webinar with him next Thursday at 12.00pm. It’s free, you just have to register and be at a computer to listen in on the day.
PS these webinars are supremely well run and incredible to be part of. I did last month’s Seth Godin webinar. A community of more than 500 people are Australia listening and tweeting comments…a nice little community experience. Try it!
2. Think big with TED Sydney. Have you checked out TED? Ooooh, you should. The VERY best thinkers around the world – in technology, entertainment and design – congregrate to talk, each for 18 minutes…under the banner “ideas worth spreading”. My favourite is Jill Bolte Taylors‘ account of having a stroke, explained in spiritual, metaphysical terms. I cry ever time I see it.
And so TED comes to Sydney Saturday 22 May at the CarriageWorks. There will be a live audience and anyone can go…some people will be able to participate as a member of the live Bay 17 audience. Here‘s where you would apply to be within that group.
TEDxSydney we are on the lookout for merit, moxie & diversity. Applications close on 12 April 2010 … and we’ll be letting people know one way or the other via email on 19 April.
3. Intelligence Squared Debate with Annabel Crabb: These debates are held in Sydney and Melbourne on a regular basis and are webcast at SMH and podcast on Radio National. Pretty much an old school debate with great big minds…including one of my favourite writers, Annabel Crabb. The next one in Sydney is April 13: The Senate is still unrepresentative swill
