Twitter: why and how

Published on December 2, 2009 in other. View Comments Tags: , , , .

There are over 350 million people using Facebook. That’s more than 5% of the Earth’s population on one website. Chances are that you’ve got an account there. I certainly do.

Why Twitter?

After using Twitter for a few months I recommend that you try it for one specific reason: Twitter is brilliant at helping you find and make friends with people you’ve never met before. Facebook on the other hand connects you with friends you already know.

Twitter kung fu

How to use Twitter

Twitter can be used in many ways depending on what you want to get out of it. The lack of guidelines confuses many people who give up on it too quickly.

Here are my tips on socializing with Twitter:

  • Set it up properly: Make sure you fill out everything on your profile page including your full name, location, bio and a picture.
  • Design your profile: Change your page colors and background image to your liking. If you know how to make an exceptional background do it! Update: try themeleon.
  • Search, follow, listen and talk: (1) Use the search box to find people talking about something that interests you. (2) Follow people if you like reading their tweets. (3) Listen to the existing flow of conversation. (4) Talk to people and get to know them.
  • Develop a Twitter policy: Once you’ve been using Twitter for a while you’ll need to make a few rules of your own regarding other Twitter users. This is important so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Here are mine: (1) I only follow people who have real conversations. This rules out internet marketers, spammers and others who won’t care about anything you have to say. (2) I always block any of the aforementioned marketers and spammers if they follow me as I like to keep my followers list clean. (3) I use the “lists” feature in Twitter to categorize people I follow and to filter conversations.

All of the above are simply recommendations. You will gradually figure out how to use Twitter in your own way. If you’re interested in making the most of Twitter you’ll also want to take a look at Twittercism and Twitip.

You can find me on Twitter at twitter.com/anopenscroll. I’d love to hear from you! One more thing:

Whether on Twitter on anywhere else, always be yourself.

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Flying for gold

Published on November 1, 2009 in satisfaction. View Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Jewelry button airplane

I’m going to fly 40,000 miles in two years.

Since I was little I’ve always loved anything that has to do with flying. Having had family that worked in travel and access to cheap tickets didn’t hurt either.

I’d like to get myself into the air. Now, I could simply go over to Expedia and start booking tickets.

But that would be unrewarding and way too expensive. There must be a better way.

Ready, Set, Read
Internet forums are the best place to connect with people and information on any topic. I spent days browsing the ones at FlyerTalk and Airliners.net. I brushed up on my knowledge of mileage runs, airline alliances and more.

Aim for something
All the information I gathered helped me to set two goals:

  • Spend less than 5 cents per mile of flying. In other words, flying a hundred miles must cost me less than 5 dollars including all taxes and fees. The cheaper the better.
  • Achieve Star Alliance Gold status. There are many ways to do this but the easiest and cheapest is to join the frequent flyer program at Asiana Airlines. I get gold status by flying 40,000 miles over the next two years on any Star Alliance airline (there’s 25 of them now).

Airplane at sunset

Why I’m really doing this
To be honest, what’s pushing me more than flying, adventuring or acquiring status is the chance to face my fears including:

  • Traveling somewhere unknown all by myself
  • Being stranded in the middle of nowhere
  • People thinking that I’ve lost my mind for doing this
  • The same people telling me that I’m wasting my time, money and effort

Its time for me to go. I’ll see you in the sky.

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Fearlessness: trying it out

Published on October 12, 2009 in truth. View Comments Tags: , , , , .

In the three weeks since I wrote “how to become fearless” I’ve put my words to the test. My accomplishments may seem trivial but each of them required me to step out of my comfort zone. I have:

  • Negotiated more suitable hours at work
  • Flown half-way around the world on a whim
  • Found and caught up with friends I hadn’t talked to in ten years
  • Handed out business cards to people I met
  • Held many “uncomfortable conversations” with others
  • Let myself go and have fun

Here’s what I’ve learnt: fearlessness is very addictive. Its also self-reinforcing: the more you face your fears the easier it becomes.

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How to become fearless

Published on September 25, 2009 in truth. View Comments Tags: , , , , .

The man with intention

Want to be as fearless as 007 or Gandhi? Fearless people are rare but extremely effective in changing the world around them for better or worse.

1. What do you really fear?
Know what the underlying reason for your fear is. It’s not a person or thing that causes you concern but what you’re afraid to lose. If you’re afraid to mention something to a friend, you don’t fear him or her but the loss of your pride, friendship or something else you have that’s important to you.

If you want to be fearless you must have nothing to lose.

2. Consider both sides, then decide
Fear is natural and is a good thing. It is a warning that you may be negatively affected in one way or another. Again, you may be affected, not will. We assume that our feelings tell us what to do, but they simply provide us with information. Weigh your options, think about what you can or cannot lose and then make a choice.

If you don’t think before dealing with fear, you’re neither brave nor cowardly; you’re stupid.

3. Do what you’ve decided
If you decide to fight your fear you might face failure, but the sting of failure is better than the deep wound of regret you will have for not having tried. You may not get a second chance.

Once you’ve made your choice stop thinking and just do it.

Am I fearless? A lot more than I was a few years ago. I know what I’ve lost to get this far.

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” – Timothy Ferriss

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