Are You Infected?
Posted in Community, Follow Your Dream, GTD |
Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: StephenPSmith.com
Phil Gerbyshak and Aaron Potts are!
They are infected with enthusiasm for making 2008 a Two-Thousand-Great year. I am now infected, with an inspiration to do whatever I can to help all of you make 2008 the best year that it can be.
Blogger/Reader Outreach
As a “Productivity Expert” I want to share the results of my own learning and research from 2007, and the benefits of all of the growth that I have experienced. This motivation is based on Aaron’s post , which had the following paragraphs of true inspiration:
If you have a business and/or a website, chances are that you want your business to be successful, and you want to get visitors to your website. Well, I’m a business owner and a website owner myself, and I know that I want success, so here’s a novel idea:
Let’s help each other out!
It’s no-brainer stuff, really, but it is also true that small business owners and website owners often get so caught up in what they are doing that they don’t give enough effort to helping others for the mutual benefit of both parties.
There are plenty of ways that people can help each other out, and I am actively seeking partners for all of the following activities during 2008:
Phil’s post lists his goals for the year, and they are Two-Thousand-Great:
My theme: Make It Great! in 2008
To me, this means:
- Collaborating with at least 50 people to create something new and cool (if you’re interested in joining me, I won’t be posting anything about this yet, but you can send me an e-mail and I’ll add you to the list of folks “in the know”);
- Creating most, if not all, of the content for my second book and getting it out of my head and into the hands of people who can help me with it;
- Launching a completely new website/blog with a focus other than personal growth/lifehacks;
- Creating 5 or more new ebooks and 5 courses to support those ebooks;
- Losing 54 or more pounds to have the energy to do all of the above and more!
Phil and Aaron and I have some similar ideas, and I am definitely infected with their enthusiasm.
How can you and I help each other?
Well, I can think of a few ways:
- Collaboration - What kinds of projects or ventures can we put together? I am interested in contributing to your blog, newsletter, or information product. I am currently working on some e-book products that I would love to get some input on. I would also be interested in learning more about video-blog productions and pooling our materials and resources. For free distribution or profit.
- Social Networks - I look forward to all of the readers to feel free to contact me via any of the following social network sites:
- Skill Set Synergy - What do you do? What skills do you have that might be useful to other readers or myself? Wondering how you can get involved? I know that many of the readers are not bloggers, yet you do have knowledge and experience that can help other readers! Do not hesitate to contact me about publishing an article that you have written. If you need help with links and such, that’s great, because that is something that I can help you with. In fact, I can do quite a bit. I am not a web designer, but I know the basics of HTML and CSS programming. I consider myself to be adequately proficient with setting up the back-end of WordPress, web-hosting and the concepts of living in the blogosphere in general. I am very experienced in training adults, teaching others how to learn and how to lead. I have 13 years of management and leadership experience in the hospitality industry (which brings a host of lessons learned through blood, sweat and tears).
- Discussion Forum - I have loaded a forum for the Productivity in Context community to get together and discuss Personal Knowledge Management and the future of Productivity practices. A new category was added this morning, where you, the readers, can share and discuss the obstacles to productivity that they face.

My first post on obstacles is:
My own biggest obstacle to overcome is with accountability. Since this is my new full-time gig, I am struggling with getting used to my “assignments” coming from myself, rather than someone else to hold me accountable.
Getting things done in an efficient manner while minimizing distractions is very hard.The forum is free to join, no spam ever, no ads, and you can get involved by clicking this link. The forum can also be a “Suggestion Box” for those ofyou looking for specific answers in the form of posts or other research.
Now it is up to you. Do these ideas spark your own creativity? Are you feeling motivated? Are you getting infected?
We Can Make Two-Thousand-Great, Together
I am here, you are here. Let’s work together to make this the best year yet.
We can set each other up for success…
- … in our personal lives,
- … in our relationships,
- … in our professional lives,
- … in our growth and development.
Leave a Comment or contact me by e-mail [stephen-at-hdbizblog-dot-com] to get infected and get involved.
If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5evhfo. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen








January 11th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Thanks for the stimulating post - I think we’re on the same wavelength re: “How can you and I help each other?” My perspective is: “How can I help *you*” in a proactive, concrete manner. More here, FYI:
How to help people
http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-help-people.html
January 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Thanks for coming by Matt. I did read your post, and it, too, was one of the germs of inspiration. So many in the “productiv-o-sphere” have been such a great influence on me in the last year. I just wanted to give something back, and in the process work to create something even bigger - for all of us.
I believe that 2008 will see an explosion in true Web 2.0, as those of us who blog invite more participation and connection with our readers.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I always turn to my readers and fellow bloggers whenever I need something in their area of expertise or hear about a project they might be a great fit for. I agree - I think blogs/web 2.0 will become more powerful than ever this year and in the coming years for building powerful friend and referral networks.
:) Christine
January 11th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Stephen,
Much obliged for the link to my post, and I’m truly grateful to have been part of your inspiration.
It goes back to what I’ve been writing (ranting?) about since mid-2007 - Why aren’t we all doing things to help each other out?
Yes, there is link-love, word of mouth, etc., and those are all wonderful. However, with so many people who have so many skills, it just makes sense for all of us to do some things together for mutual benefit, as well as the benefit of our respective audiences.
I’m wading through A LOT of info right now after my post, but once the dust settles, several ideas will be proposed, and more will be coming later on down the road. Looking forward to staying in touch, Stephen!
January 12th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Steph, kudos to your enthusiasm and picking on the brains of some of the most selfless bloggers (people like Aaron & Phil).
With your own selfless spirit, I’m sure you’ll be able to rack up some positive karma your way! Way to go.
Cheers,
Ellesse
January 13th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Stephen - thanks for the link love and the offer to help. I’ll be counting on you to help me out soon!
And I definitely signed up for the forums. If I can learn 1 nugget, it’ll be totally worth it!
Keep making it great, and let me know how I can help you!
January 13th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Thanks to all of you who have left comments!
> Christine: I just spent some time yesterday with your “Millionaire” and “Unlearning” posts, they are helping me very much.
> Aaron: I will be contacting you for some collaboration soon.
> Phil: I definitely want to be included in your “group of fifty” project, even though I do not know what it is, I know that it will be exciting!
> Ellesse: Thank you too, for being such an inspiration when I began this journey nearly a year ago.
January 15th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
[…] you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Stephen at HDBizBlog has suggested working together to help achieve something great in 2008. In fact, its not just […]