I hope everyone began the new decade with much decadence and bravado. My wife and I celebrated by taking a quick trip to Beijing and getting pounded by a snowstorm.
As you probably noticed, I have purposely abstained from milking the New Years’s holiday for blog post fodder. Why? Out of consideration for you. You’re probably sick of hearing it. I know I am.
That said, a new year (and decade) is a prime time for starting new projects and adventures. Some people, though, might be too worried about the risks. In his article Beware of Life, Chris Guillebeau (@chrisguillebeau) argues that the real things to worry about are the roads not taken, the places not explored, and the life unlived.
Seth Godin poses a hard question in this post: “Seven years from now, what will you have to show for what you’re doing right now?” I would like to follow this with another question: who will own your work?
Jonathan Fields (@jonathanfields) posted a great interview about motivation with bestselling-author Dan Pink. Pink explains why intrinsic motivation is the most effective kind of motivation of all. Why else would people work for free on things like open-source software and blogs like this one?
This article from CNN offers the five ‘secrets’ of innovation: associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, and networking.
Jonathan Mead’s (@jonathanmead) Why People Hate Productivity takes a hard look at why some people feel like they must be constantly busy. GTD fans, take note.
I had two articles featured in blog carnivals this week. The first was my article ESL Teaching: The Easy Way to Live Abroad was featured at the Sharing Travel Experiences Inspiring Travel Monthly Review. The second, How to Manage the Fear of Failure, was featured at the InkyBlots January 2010 Blog Carnival. Both of these carnivals feature some excellent articles. Be sure to check them out.
Site notes:
I have a couple busy weeks ahead as I wrap up things here in Korea and prepare to hit the Banana Pancake trail. I’ll probably scale back posting to 1-1.5 posts per week. Forgive me, loyal readers! As a consolation, this week you can look forward to a post on the really cool concept of Csíkszentmihályi’s Flow.
Have a wonderful week!