Throughout this time, this blog has given me the opportunity to meet thousands of wonderful people. Sharing and connecting with others has become one of my favorite hobbies, and I intend to keep doing this indefinitely. I would like to share with you some great opportunities for you to meet like-minded people as well.

Facebook: Personal Development Group

If you’re a Facebook user like the hundreds of millions of other people online, then you’re aware of its tremendous presence, and its power to connect with people from all over the world in an instant. Image having a separate little world within Facebook, where the conversation is all about personal development.

People sharing personal development articles, inspirational videos, favorite quotes, motivational books, mastermind ideas and much much more.

This group is starting to pick up in the double digits, and has earned it’s very first media coverage by Monica Rozenfeld on BustedHalo.

When I share a link, I personally like to talk about how it impacted me, what I got out of it, or what distinctions I made from this information. People comment and add their own point of view. Others just observe, occasionally express interest by ‘liking’ the status updates, and that’s okay too.

Join: Personal Development on Facebook

LinkedIn: Personal Development Group

This personal development group connects users in more of a professional setting, based on the nature and user-base of LinkedIn. This group has over 700 members, and it hosts a large number of discussions daily.

I find that most of the people in this group are financially invested in personal development. Many of them share their own articles, in hopes of attracting people to their products or services, including books, informational products, and coaching.

Join: Personal Development on LinkedIn

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If you love to learn, share, and engage with great company, then join these groups today. We look forward to getting to know you better.

Photo by linhngan

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” ~Mark Twain

Now that the second year is behind me I get about a minute to breathe as I transition into clinic and start studying for the board exam.

My idea of using that minute is spending time with good friends, having laughs, eating really healthy food, learning, and meeting interesting people.

This past Thursday I decided to go out and meet two more interesting people, Tim Ferris and Ramit Sethi, who were doing a ‘Meet the Authors’ event at the SOHO Apple Store in NYC. They’re both really smart guys, produced very useful best-selling books, are entrepreneurial as hell, and really pride themselves on putting out high quality value.

For me going to the speech wasn’t about capturing every single word that was said. Although, Jim Rohn would say ‘bring a journal, and get all the stuff!’ I feel pretty comfortable with what I already learned from Tim’s book, so what I really wanted was to get one great piece of information, and just meet the boys face to face.

On Protein

So the gem that I took away was about protein consumption. I’ve had success following Tim’s protocol in the 4 hour body, as it pertains to weight-loss, while slighting modifying it to be more primal. Tim encourages the consumption of 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up.

This is the same advice I passed on to a few friends as well. However, when they began protein consumption, their weight-loss slowed down, they became discouraged, and stopped the protein intake.

Due to a great question from an audience member, Tim put this problem in very simple terms. Most people are walking around being protein deficient. When they start protein consumption, their muscles finally get enough, and they start to grow. So while they’re losing weight, they’re gaining muscle, their body composition is changing, but their weight is not going down all that quickly.

This is why in my current 21 day challenge I’m running for myself, I’m only weighing myself when I start and on the last day, same with body fat, while keeping track of my inch measurements weekly.

On Guilt

When I spoke to Ramit, I told him that I’ll be coming out of school with about 400k in loans. My 4 year dental school program costs 65k a year. Then there’s the living expenses. It adds up real quick.

Ramit told me what he tells all his friends. There is such a thing as good debt, and paying for a dental degree definitely fall into that category. Sure, it’s different from car debt, gambling debt, or even mortgage debt.

I agree with Ramit on this. That’s why I took it on!

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To learn more, you can check out Tim Ferriss at FourHourBlog.com and Ramit Sethi at IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com

What do you guys consider to be good debt? Which author that you read would you like to meet?

“People don’t want to do business with business cards, they want to do business with people.”
~Audio (via @LewisHowes)

I’ve placed myself in an excellent position to observe networking patterns between homo sapien mammals. About 2-3 events per week (6 days in a row this week).

Beware The Card Pusher

Some people are scared of rejection, think they are their business card or are simply socially retarded. These people think that handing over a business card with the standard name, number, and job description is going to make them remarkable enough to do business with, let alone remember.

This might be a very convenient way of doing business, if it worked. You don’t need a personality, charisma, or strategic conversation. Just sneak up behind someone, take out their wallet, and slip in your business card. Later on when they get to the office and notice this nice shiny card in their pocket, they’ll be sure to call you to order some life insurance for the family and staff.

As Borat would say, “Noooooot.”

Ditch The Card

The secret is that it’s not about the business card. I’m not saying don’t have a business card (until more people get Pokens) – you’ll want a business card after you’ve made a solid connection with someone as an easy way to exchange contact information without having to stand there and enter it into your iPhone.

When I say ditch the card, I mean ditch using a business card as your approach. Don’t even use what you do as an approach. Be a person, with genuine passions, hobbies, and interests and go out there and share yourself!

Think about the people that you want to do business with right now. You know, like, or trust them in a similar way as you do your friends. That means that what you want to do is increase your personal network of friends, so there are more people that want to do business with you.

We’ve got some work cut out for us. We have to be clear about our vision and who we are both as a person and as a marketable brand. We have to be brief, since people’s attention is limited and expensive. We have to be transparent, because people don’t want to do business based on a lie. If we can master this we will graduate beyond our business card and into a person that people know-like-trust.

Right and Wrong

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Affiliate Summit East in NYC. My intention for going there was to catch up with some friends and meet some online personalities that I respect and admire. For the people I haven’t met yet, I’d obviously need an approach other than jumping on them like a Beluga Whale with a business card.

Getting burned. I admire Chris Pearson for his no BS approach to creating code for the WordPress Thesis Theme. His philosophy is that he’s going to do it perfectly, not care what anyone says, and be the number one in this space. He actually reminds me of Howard Roark from The Fountainhead, except Chris also likes money. Long story short, when I first met him I tried to pitch him an idea, something that happens to him on a daily basis and no doubt annoys him, instead of just trying to be a friend. Fail.

More effective. I respect Jim Kukral because he’s always thinking in terms of how he can bring value to people. He’s one of the most genuinely nice guys that I’ve met, and he’s got an incredible savvy for business. I did try to pitch him a little, but I was mostly concerned with the interesting things that he’s got going on, and I let him beat me in Wii Golf (that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!) a few times. I think him and I have much more of a potential to be friends, which is great for me. Remember my rule – I will be friends and surround myself with people that I respect and admire.

Greatly effective. During two of last weeks networking meetings I simply presented myself as “These are the various things I’m good at, and I love to connect people, so let me know what you need in order to grow and I’ll connect you with the best resources I know.” I made sure to hook up everyone, follow up with e-mails, and facilitated business contacts for people. These are the people that would go out of their way to help me if I asked.

What are your business networking tips?

(I’m in this issue of Productive Magazine, check it out)

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

We were originally supposed to do something closer to the end of November, but moved it up to tomorrow. That’s Friday, November 7, at 2pm on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel #108. If you visit their site you can get a free online trial.

I’m hoping to have some of my readers listening in, and maybe even call in. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

I’m also working on a special something that I will be unveiling late tonight, or early tomorrow morning. Since we’ll be talking about relationships on the air, I’ll have something on the site to complement this event.

Just a heads up, this is the perfect time to sign up to the free personal development newsletter that you see in the sidebar, because it’s about to get very very interesting.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

“How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are making them feel good about you.”
~Dan Reiland

It was a beautiful Sunday night in Israel when we arrived at the party. It was being held at a multimillionaires loft in order to honor his sons accomplishment, and we were invited. I wasn’t very surprised to see Kelly (alias) there – after all she’s the best networker I know. On the other hand, when she said I’m known for my networking skills, and that she’s one to know, it got me thinking.

I never liked to look at networking as some skill set that I have. Instead I looked at it as putting together a couple of things I learned here and there, and just getting to know people. As my virtual Rolodex began to fill up, and my friends started to ask me more and more questions about networking, I knew I was onto something. I got serious about analyzing the things I was doing that were working for me, and the ones that would also work for my friends (and you).

One thing that you should know about me is that I’m an extroverted-introvert (I might have just made up that terminology). That means that I love time to myself to read, write, and exercise, while at the same time I really enjoy talking to people, going to large social gatherings, and being the center of attention when I need to be. You might be either an extrovert, or an introvert, and it’s important for you to know yourself so that you can work with your personal strengths.

1. Show Up Early. It seems that a lot of people these days tend to show up “fashionably late.” I personally hate when I’m late, so I always leave an abundance of time to get to my destination. I’ve noticed that when it comes to networking it really pays off to be early.

You’re at an advantage because you might stumble into the host, or whoever is your main networking target, and get them all to yourself for a few extra moments. You also have the opportunity to introduce yourself to more people, building rapport within the group, which could later convert to people putting in a good word for you.

2. Own The Building. When you walk into a building for a conference, or to meet someone for networking purposes, it’s important to remember that everyone is important. I call this owning the building, because I chit chat with everyone from the security, front desk, janitors, and employees.

By the time I get to my target I’m feeling confident, sociable, and might even have a couple of extra pieces of information or anecdotes to inject into the conversation thanks to my new friends downstairs. In general it’s a great idea to just be fun and sociable, and to enjoy life. Allow other people to experience the fun that you’re having in your own little world as well.

3. Feel Their Essence. I hate when people are overbearing and keep talking at me about things that are of no consequence to me. On the other hand I love talking to people, getting to know them, and hearing what they have to say. I take the fact that I hate overbearing types as a sign that other people like to do more talking then they like to listen; after all, the most interesting person you know is yourself.

I use this to my advantage by proactively listening to the people I’m with. I eliminate all distractions, and I listen for clues in their speech for what they really want to talk about. You could use this method to show up to a job interview, and to talk about everything else but the interview, and in this way gain favor from the interviewer as well as the job.

4. Passionate Curiosity. I’m infatuated with passion of all kinds. If I see a person that gets excited about something they have to say, I get automatically turned on to this conversation. I unobtrusively follow up with questions to find out more. Not only do I want to know what’s so interesting, but why it’s so interesting to them, and why they’re so motivated to disclose this information.

I’ve recently noticed myself utilizing this technique and in 20 minutes found out, step by step, how the man I was talking to created an insurance company that was making 40 million per year. The guy was absolutely fascinating to talk to, and I’ll definitely be calling the number he gave me for follow up conversations.

5. Speak Clearly. If you’re doing everything correctly, but you aren’t speaking clearly, you’re going to find that you’ve hit a bottleneck in your networking effectiveness. I know some brilliant, intelligent, and motivated people that have such amazing things to say that they say them all at the same time.

There’s no reason to rush, so relax, and speak clearly. Organize your thoughts, and say exactly what you mean, with as few words as you need to get your message across. It isn’t necessary to tell someone your life story to ask them where the bathroom is, so don’t get caught up in the non-essentials which may possibly turn people off to you and classify you as an excessive talker.

6. Track Your Target. I know this sounds a bit stalker-like, but I assure you it’s not. Whenever my friends ask me for dating advice, because they aren’t seeing anyone, I start off with one important piece of advice. I ask them to define exactly what kind of person they’re looking for, and what their non-negotiables are.

I then ask them to figure out what type of places this specific type of person would frequent. I’m talking about where would they shop, work out, read books, watch races, or whatever you’re person would be doing.

You then take this dating philosophy and apply it to networking. Where would the business professionals or customers that you want to network with be frequently found. Will they frequent a networking event, a business seminar, or eat at a certain place that is frequented by people in their field. Once you’re in a position to bump into someone, you’re much more capable of sealing the deal.

7. Find Other Networking Rockstars. This is called networking for lazy people. Actually, it’s more lke networking for smart people. Find someone that has already made leaps and bounds with their network in the specific niche that you’re trying to tackle. Ask them to introduce you to the other key players and work yourself out from this center.

I happened to have met some key figures in the finance industry in the New York City area. I happened to take interest in them as self-developed people, and really enjoy the conversations that we have. I personally have no use for them as a business contact, at least not at this time, because I’m nowhere near the finance industry. Enter my friends, many of whom are into finance, and I’m happy to introduce them to the right people and help their career along.

Then there is my rockstar personal trainer. The type of people in her network are world class athletes, iron men, and regular people in my area that are health & fitness enthusiasts. In this way I enjoy hanging out with her and her friends because they’re all really smart and take care of their bodies. I’m sure I’ll be learning a thing or two from them everytime we hang out.

8. Plug Yourself. Whenever you’re having a casual conversation with someone you meet, or catching up with an acquaintance, don’t be shy to throw in a sentence about what’s important to you at the moment. The worst case scenario is they’ll be bored by what you say. The likely scenario is that they’ll think it’s great, but it will end there. In certain cases they’ll remember something they heard, or a friend that might help, and they’ll help you to make the proper connection.

An example of this would be if I said that I’ve been really enjoying my writing sessions, and I would like to expand this area of my life from freelancing online to writing for print publications. I would be interested in writing about health, fitness, and any other area of self-improvement in a magazine or newspaper column. Now, if you happen to know someone in that industry, you should feel inclined to make the connection for us!

9. Be The Mirror. Every person exhibits their own unique energy at different times in the day. You might walk into an interview joyful and energized while the person at the other end of the table is in a more serious mood. You don’t want to go ahead and mess up your vibe, so the key is to tone yourself down and emulate them in the power of your speech, posture, and speed of your movements.

I find this to be a very useful technique. It creates an element of comfort and connection between you and the person you’re talking to. You’re basically appealing to their emotions, which relay to them that you’re on the same wave length as them, and that you’re just like them in general.

10. Be Accessible & Approachable. I’m pretty easy to get in touch with, especially when I want to be, and I’m rarely found without a business card to give away. This allows people to follow up with me, and opens the door for them to give me their personal contact information as well.

When you have an open mentality that screams “I LOVE PEOPLE,” you’ll notice more people coming up to you and being more open about what’s important to them. I try to look for what’s important to people, and to cater to that need if I can.

11. Live An Exciting Life. The way to live an exciting life is to do something that you’re completely passionate about. People will start recognizing you, and showing you respect, because you’re out there doing what you love and not letting life pass you by.

That respect comes from the fact that people recognize hard work, achievement, and like to take a moment to appreciate it. Once you have someones respect, you’re better able to leverage the relationship in order to create a mutually beneficially venture.

12. Be The Persistent Initiator. You never know when someone is too shy in order to make the first move. Sometimes their shyness can make someone appear cold, or unapproachable, which is just a safety mechanism so that they don’t have to risk getting rejected. This is another scenario that mimicks that of a dating situation.

At my internship I’m constantly pressing the director to “introduce me to some cool people.” This statement is somewhat unobtrusive, but it’s very clearly understood that I’d like to be introduced to the higher ups in the building for a networking opportunity. I guess asking every day makes me a pain in the butt, but I think persistence is key here!

13. Comfort in Speaking. You need to be able to feel just as comfortable in front of one person as you do in front of a small group of people. Often times life will put you as the center of attention, and you have to know how to casually pull it off, and not choke up, by saying the right thing at the right time.

I’ve spent a lot of time in social interactions such as night clubs, and dances, as well as professional settings, and small group events. I think it pays off to do some public speaking, because once you’re comfortable speaking in front of a small group of people that support you, you’ll be that much more effective in a 1 on 1 setting.

14. Serve Up Some Vanity. I already mentioned that the most interesting person to you is yourself. The same thing holds for the person to your left, and the person to your right. This is why you want to genuinely inquire about someone, and allow them the time and space to fully express themselves.

The other thing you want to do, although it might sound trivial, is to use the persons name often in conversation. For example, you could say “Oh Alex, that’s really funny,” or the one that never fails “Wow, Alex! You are so handsome!” — People like that!

15. The Power of Touch. This may not always be appropriate in formal situations, and you have to be careful that the person isn’t religiously against touching, but if you’re feeling comfortable you should go for it. If someone makes a funny remark, you can give them a light tap on their elbow or side of their shoulder.

This creates a bond and increases the comfort level between you and another person. We’re all here to connect with people and develop relationships, so what you’re doing is speeding up the process a bit.

The quote at the beginning of this article best captures the root of my networking approach. I do my best to pay attention to the person I’m speaking to. Without any gimmicks, or tricks, I simply look for what they need, what I can do for them, and what they’re all about.

If you like this article, please vote for it on StumbleUpon, I’d appreciate it.

Tell us your favorite networking technique in the comments below.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
~Jerry Seinfeld

Important Bonus Information: This program officially launched last week, and all the bonuses were sold out after just two days, however, if you do want to get the great bonuses that come with the program, read the instructions at the bottom of this article.

If you’ve ever dreamed of possessing the ability to stand in front of a large group of people and have them listen, laugh, and clap then you aren’t alone. This is both the dream, and the worst fear of most people around the world.

No matter what anyone is going to tell you, being a world class public speaker is going to take some intense practice, failing, fixing, and practicing some more. You’re going to end up reading a lot of books on the subject, talking to a lot of people who may or may not be any good, and then putting together what actually makes sense in order to develop a routine and style for yourself.

Imagine not having to read hundreds of books on the subject, not talking to people that are going to steer you wrong with bad advice, and taking a short cut to getting the best possible information that you can. Disclaimer: This is not a substitute for practice. It’s the best information that will enable you to practice more effectively.

On With Get Applause Now

What you get with the Get Applause Now package is 4.5 hours of mp3 audio, a 64 page Get Applause Now pdf ebook, and video coaching sessions. The mp3 files are as follows:

• How To Write A Winning Speech (mp3)
• Free to Fee (How To Get Paid For Public Speaking) (mp3)
• Humor 101 (mp3)
• Get Applause Now (pdf)
• 10 weekly videos coaching you on public speaking

Who Made Get Applause Now

Get Applause Now is a collaboration between Andrew Rondeau and Darren LaCroix. They join forces to bring you this all inclusive public speaking program.

Andrew has spent the last 25 years as a Manager / Leader, and has worked and managed in numerous large companies and different types of business including Manufacturing, Retail, IT and Financial, managing teams from 10 individuals to 1000!

Darren LaCroix is the 2001 world champion of public speaking. He achieved this title by out speaking 25,000 professional speakers from 14 countries. He now spends his time public speaking, doing stand up, and coaching people in public speaking. The great thing is that Darren was not always a charismatic guy that owned the stage. He once was very timid, disorganized to the point that he would mess up reading flash cards on stage, and hardly got any laughs except when they were in leu of his mess ups.

I think it’s amazing that he was able to pull himself back on stage after being so bad. I think it’s also very good for us that he had to learn the hard way, because he’s able to be a great coach due to his systematic way of teaching himself.

Purchase Get Applause Now

How To Write A Winning Speech

This is a bit of a teaser of what this audio file has to offer. There’s much more useful information within. I really liked how the information is presented. It’s very easy to understand, and welcoming as it is in the form of a dialogue between two world champions of public speaking. They both share their special formulas for how to best accomplish the items I’ve outlined below. This is by far not all that is included, but meant to be a taste before you go on a buy the full version for yourself.

1. How to create a main message — a premise that the rest of our speech will be based on.
2. The most important part of a presentation — the thought process of the listener.
3. Organizing your speech
4. Tie your entire speech together
5. Organizing how you’ll use stage space in your speech
6. Winning speech formulas from 2 world champs
7. Formula for how to focus between yourself and listeners
8. How to open a speech and keep the audience captivated
9. Formulas for getting a laugh from your audience
10. Creating vivid images for your audience
11. The proper ways to get feedback on your speech
12. Defining the “cherry tree” effect
13. and much more!

Humor 101

I’m really excited about the humor mp3. I have a bit of a dry sense of humor, partly because I assume that people will understand the back story, or make the link to what I mean (or maybe I’m just too brilliant for my own good?) This mp3 helps me to set up situations better, and deliver more clearly, so that at the end of the day I’m not the only one laughing.

1. Coming up with original humor
2. Observational/Situational humor
3. Story files for humor
4. How to set up an audience
5. How to build expectation
6. The rule of 3
7. Expectations versus Exaggerations
8. Using tragedies for humor
9. and much more!

Free to Fee

1. How to Inventory your assets and liabilities
2. Speaking for free to generate sales leads
3. Finding a fund to sponsor your speaking
4. Using interviews to leverage yourself
5. Creating a one-sheet of talents
6. Finding the right audience
7. Joining party planning groups
8. The books and websites that will help you convert
9. and much more!

Purchase Get Applause Now

Here’s another video of Darren LaCroix speaking about the
number one thing that helped him get to the top.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bonuses

I know Andrew, he is a good friend of mine. Last week he launched this new fantastic product, Get Applause Now! with a fantastic offer, which was sold out after only 2 days.

But…I have twisted Andrew’s arm to make you a very special offer for the next 72 hours only.

For the next 72 hours only, when you purchase Get Applause Now!, Andrew will personally send you the link for you to have private access to all the extra bonuses for no added cost.

So simply go to this link order the basic course and get all the extra 5 bonuses free…but only if you order within the next 72 hours.

And The Bonuses Are…

• Body Language Magic. An excellent ebook that will not only teach you to read other people’s body language, but how to improve what your own body says about you.
• Powerful Ways to Sharpen Your Memory. This ebook is full of tips and tricks on how to have a better memory.
• Unleash the Creative You. Creativity is one of the fundamental principles of success, and with this ebook you’ll learn how to unleash some of the creativity that’s naturally within you.
• Improve Public Speaking (Subliminal NLP). This audio system allows you to improve your public speaking skills by using affirmations, calming music, and binaural beats for a trifecta of improvement.

Parting Words

Get Applause Now is a great self-study system, there’s no doubt about that. It’s all inclusive, and can either be used all my itself, or in conjunction with other speaking systems. It’s true that nothing beats experience, especially when it comes to public speaking, but I say why reinvent the wheel.

You’ll still have to practice in front of people, that’s for sure, but this will drastically cut your learning curve as well as give you the need to know info on public speaking that would take you ages to gather on your own.The best part is that it’s available for instant download and there’s a 100% -60 day- money back guarantee if you aren’t satisfied (you can’t go wrong with that offer).

Purchase Get Applause Now

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

After the successful launch of Get Applause Now I have been authorized to release the free ebook The Simple Steps To Deliver A Dazzling Presentation.

This powerful ebook serves as a taste of what you’ll find when you purchase the whole Get Applause Now system.

You might be wondering what Get Applause Now actually is. Get Applause Now is the definitive guide to public speaking by the world’s number 1 public speaker.

How can you determine whose number one? Isn’t that a matter of opinion? It is a matter of opinion, but you can still determine it by holding a contest in which 25,000 contestants from 14 countries compete for the title of the world’s number 1 public speaker.

Darren LaCroix: World Champion of Public Speaking

Getting there was no walk in the park either. Darren started out as pretty much the WORST public speaker who totally sucked. He admits that it’s amazing he even came back after his first time up on stage. Actually, there’s some video proof of just how bad Darren used to be.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you can see Darren LaCroix went from somewhat of a public speaking dud to a person that has total command over his audience and stage. If you think public speaking skills are just for heads of company’s delivering hugely populated keynote speeches you’re wrong. What the free ebook The Simple Steps To Deliver A Dazzling Presentation will be able to do is identify many areas of work and life where your public speaking skills are essential.

Life Is Sales aka Public Speaking

Public speaking is part of daily life for just about all of us. I’ll foreshadow this by saying that all of life is about sales, because we’re always trying to sell ourselves to other minds in terms of ideas, products, and services. These sales are only possible through the utilization of language, and public speaking training insures a deeper comprehension and mastery of persuasive language.

Previously on this site I’ve written about Toastmaster International public speaking organization. A self study course will not replace a course like Toastmasters where you get the help and support of real people. Toastmasters allows you to obtain a mentor from within your club, and also has a systematic way to improve your skills greatly.

If you don’t have time to find a course, and make a commitment to drive to meetings and competitions on regular intervals, or if you want to improve your skills before testing them out in public, I would recommend investing in Get Applause Now. Get Applause Now will allow you to study at home, at work, or during your commute, and give you the practical tips that work without the fluff.

Don’t hesitate in downloading your free copy of The Simple Steps To Deliver A Dazzling Presentation. This free pdf will give you some great ideas about public speaking such as:

• Help You Create An Action Plan
• How To Store Captivating Stories
• How To Ask The Right Questions
• How To Structure Your Content
• How To Deliver Your Content
• How To Speak Passionately

Like I said, these things are available for free in the pdf below, so hit the big download button (or click this link).

Get Applause Now

Alternatively, you can go ahead and download the Get Applause Now (explanation page) course directly. Remember, it’s offered with a 100% money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose by taking a look at this great program — and you’ll have everything to gain.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

By writing this post, I’m participating in their contest. However, I would be doing this anyway, because the team has shown such great, unwavering customer service, and follow-up support, that I’m left feeling good about their work over and over again.

How To Enter:

Entering the UBD 1-Year Anniversary Contest is super simple!

• For one (1) contest entry – just reply to this post with a comment. Only one comment per person will be counted.
• For five (5) contest entries – write a blog post about the UBD 1-Year Anniversary Contest and link back to this post. If your blog post does not appear under the “Pingbacks,” leave a comment with a URL to the post.

The winner will be randomly chosen Monday, September 1st, 2008. We will draw the winner via streaming video from the UBD office.

Official Contest Rules

• The contest runs from 12:00AM PST Friday, August 22nd, 2008 to 11:59PM Sunday, August 31, 2008.
• Winners will be chosen Monday, September 1, 2008 through a random drawing.
• Only one (1) comment entry per person and one (1) blog entry per person. The total number of entries any person can receive is six (6) entries.
• Prizes include (1) grand prize of an Apple iPod Touch 8GB ($299 value) and three (3) copies of our new UBD Citrus WordPress Theme ($99 value) – coming next week.
• Contest is open to everyone world-wide.

I’ll be in Israel, and won’t really want to bother with handling the prize myself, so I will have UBD mail this prize, if I am the winner, to one of my e-mail subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed yet, this is your chance.

If you ever wonder what it takes to make a successful home-based business, than take a look at Nate Whitehill, one of the founders of UBD.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

This week I decided to try something new for the Sunday’s speedlinking. I asked my Twitter followers to submit their best personal development article.

This Week’s Articles

1. Beginner’s Guide To Being Decisive by Avani-Mehta
2. Are You Listening To Your Self-Talk? by Jenny Mannion
3. Position Yourself To Be Passionate by Stanley Bronstein
4. How To Use Your Brain To Lose Weight by JoLynn Braley

My Articles on DumbLittleMan

Thought you would enjoy reading some of the other articles I’ve written in the past few weeks.

1. The Tiger Woods Rulebook To Being A Huge Success
2. How To Really Become The Boss Of Your Life
3. Michael Jordan’s 10 Secrets To Reaching The Top
4. The Sherlock Holme’s Way Of Exceptional Living

Podcasts by First Blog Media

You might have noticed the Podcast section in the sidebar on the right. The podcasts are done by First Blog Media, free of charge, because of my participation in a contest over at Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger.

So far they have produced two quality Podcasts for me, and there should be about 22 more in this 2 a month yearly contract.

With the help of Photoshop, Macbook Pro, and my friend Mark, I came up with the following Podcast Icon. Let me know if you like one of my first attempts at Graphic Design.

Twitter is Functional

The moral of the story is that I’ll be using Twitter more often. It’s a great way to keep in contact, get feedback, and grow a community that does a great job complementing a blog.

For this reason, I recommend logging into www.twitter.com and adding me as a friend on www.twitter.com/alexshalman.

I use Twitter to instantly send updates out to my friends as soon as a new article is posted on this site. I’ve rigged it up to happen automatically. This was really convenient while I was away in Israel because I had all the articles post-dated and then Twitter got the word out.

In the future I plan to have special events, contests and polls surrounding my Twitter account. If you haven’t done so, sign up and add me.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

By the way, I’m now actively using twitter, and in about a month when I get the new iPhone I will connect it with twitter as well. If you do not have a twitter account I recommend signing up. It’s the best way to get breaking news and keep up with me.

I started a series on JohnChow.COM – How To Get A Girlfriend

• Part 1 – Building Confidence
• Part 2 – Approaching – Has a picture of my girlfriend and I.
• Part 3 – Communicating Powerfully – Coming up shortly.

An article at Pick the Brain

• A Radical Goal Setting Technique That Works

Over at Lifehack

• 5 Steps to be Happy — Finally

At Problogger

• I won a contest. For the next 12 months First Blog Media will be providing this site with free podcasts. Super exciting.

At DumbLittleMan.com

• 10 Craft Ways To Build Unshakable Confidence

Ask Saiful

• Saif joins our Law of Attraction conversation.

Attention:

I am leaving on vacation in 1 week. I am looking for guest writers to contribute articles. If you are interested in submitting one, check out the contribution page, and shoot me over an e-mail.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

A blog is a conversation between the writer and the readers that takes place from the posts into the comment box.

Many moons ago I was inspired by One2One conversations between Liz Strauss and Dawud Miracle.

They weren’t your standard post to comment box conversation, they actually took place between their blogs, as one would ask a question, the other would answer, and vice versa. This is my hat tip to their great idea.

Today I’d like to talk directly to Steve Aitchison (RSS) who hails from the United Kingdom. He started his personal development blog nearly the same time as me, and we’ve seen parallel growth throughout this time. Steve is a great guy and Life Coach by occupation.

Law of Attraction

In the bestselling book The Secret, author Rhonda Byrne and co-authors describe an ancient force that attracts whatever we want into our lives, just as long as we want it bad enough. The theory behind this magnetic force is a universal attraction of some sort.

Many people who read the book and watched the book were instantly hooked to the idea. At the same time many people were totally skeptical of it. Is it fate, coincidence, or our deliberate actions that brings about change in our lives?

Do you think the Law of Attraction is a gimmick? Steve, what do you think?

Let’s talk. Post your response in the comment box below or head over to Steve’s blog (Change Your Thoughts) to see his response.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web:

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Inspired Money Maker
2. Blog by Tyna
3. Kelvin Goh

Three new happiness projects this week. The numbers are really adding up!

If you haven’t participated yet, and would like to do so then get the instructions from Happiness: The Group Writing Project. To see the entire list of participants, please visit the Happiness Project page.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

1. 6 Reasons Why Productivity Belongs To The Night Owls at DumbLittleMan.com

Reading Material

• Tuesday’s With Morrie by Mitch Albom

Advertise

If you get any advertisement from the advertise page through Friday I will give you a 10 day free extension on your ad. With the new version of OIOPublisher I will be able to take a queue on purchases, so if it’s full you can still get the discount if you place the order this week.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web:

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Vera Nadine
2. I never grew up
3. Way To Go Godot
4. Mori Therapy

Four more happiness projects this week. All unique and awesome. That’s a total of 62 participants in the group writing project, as well as the original 34 interviews on this site.

If you haven’t participated yet, and would like to do so then get the instructions from Happiness: The Group Writing Project. To see the entire list of participants, please visit the Happiness Project page.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

This week you can find my posts at two of my other regularly scheduled locations.

1. 7 Simple Ways To Burst Out of Bed Each Morning at DumbLittleMan.com (also featured on Lifehacker and made Digg front page).
2. Defend Your Dollars: Analyze Your Life Cycle Costs at JohnChow.com

Reading Material

• Lead The Field by Earl Nightingale

There are currently advertising spots open, so grab them up on the advertise page. I’m currently accepting guest posters, so check that out on the contribution page.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web:

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Plain Talk
2. In Spiros

This week we have two new happiness projects. As long as we get even new entry I will keep updating. When we’ve reached our happiness quota, I’ll stop the weekly updates.

If you haven’t participated yet, and would like to do so than get the instructions from Happiness: The Group Writing Project. To see the entire list of participants, please visit the Happiness Project page.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

This week you can find my posts at two of my other regularly scheduled locations.

1. 4 Defense Strategies For Becoming a Millionaire at DumbLittleMan.com
2. 10 Ways To Commit Relationship Suicide at Lifehack.org

Reading Material

• How Can I Get Through To You? by Terrence Real

Oldie But Goody Posts

• The Solution To Keeping Yourself On Track

If anyone is interested in writing a guest post this week, please check out the guidelines in the contribution page and let me know.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web.

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Jeanne May
2. Daily Booz
3. Change Your Tree
4. Yondrix
5. Liz Hubpages
6. Mikefolan
7. Wide Open Wallet
8. Increasing Velocity
9. Abundance Highway
10. Robert of Flimjo
11. Websites People Read

The happiness project is really heating up this week with 11 new entries. Go ahead and check them out. If you haven’t participated yet, and would like to do so than get the instructions from Happiness: The Group Writing Project. To see the entire list of participants, which includes 34 people I interviewed on this blog and 54 people that participated on their own blogs please visit the Happiness Project page.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

This week you can find my posts at two of my other regularly scheduled locations.

1. The Ancient Method For Creating A Life of Abundance at DumbLittleMan.com
2. Two Cups, One Idea – How To Attract More Money Online at JohnChow.com

Reading Material

• The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandino

Oldie But Goody Posts

• Don’t Fool Yourself, Self Sacrifice Does NOT Exist

From The Net

• The Top 10 Foods To Boost Your Sex Drive
• The Now Watch – Still my favorite watch

The Now Watch Winners

If you are one of the 4 lucky winners, please e-mail me your address so that I may send your watch to you. Congratulations!

1. Lee
2. Rina
3. Shilpan
4. David Zinger

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web.

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Stacey- Create Balance
2. Stephanie Coviak
3. Better Organized
4. Brucisms
5. Jungleswife
6. Anca MegaVegaLicious
7. Kacper Wrzesniewski

Seven new participants this week, check them out. You can participate in the Happiness Project, get the pleasure of answering these questions, as well as 2 links back to your site. For details visit Happiness: The Group Writing Project.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

I’ve had a few guests posts this past week that I would like to share with you guys.

• How To Get People Addicted To You And Take Control (it hit digg front page) at DumbLittleMan.com

Reading Material

Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins is a classic must read self improvement book.

Oldie But Goody Posts

My 10 Daily Success Habits

From The Net

My friend Stanley Bronstein, who you’ve seen commenting on this site, is an accomplished CPA, Lawyer, Author and Public Speaker. His website has recently been redesigned and looks absolutely beautiful. He’s the guy to watch as an up and coming personal development guru. He’s already done it all off the internet scene, and his experience can teach us many important lessons.

Check out Stanley Brontein, aka Mr. Positioning and subscribe to his RSS feed.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web.

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Deal Money
2. Butterfly Media
3. Punto Fape
4. Debo Hobo
5. Toro’s Mall
6. Inruad
7. Guidance For The Motivated

Four new participants this week, check them out. You can participate in the Happiness Project, get the pleasure of answering these questions, as well as 2 links back to your site. For details visit Happiness: The Group Writing Project.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

I’ve had a few guests posts this past week that I would like to share with you guys.

• 9 Ways To Jumpstart Your Writing Goal (it hit digg front page) at DumbLittleMan.com
• Are Posts Money In The Bank, Or Can They Work For You? at JohnChow.com
• If Money Grew On Trees, Would John Chow Be In Business? at JohnChow.com
• Killer Writing Strategies To Make Boat Loads of Money Online at Johnchow.com
• Creating The Best Ideas In The Land, Sure Way To Make Money Online at Johnchow.com
  • Yes, it does appear like I’ve taken over his blog, doesn’t it =)

What Can A Dentist Teach You About Business, Life, and Success Book Winners

On March 5th I held a contest to give out a signed copy of What Can A Dentist Teach You About Business, Life, and Success. Here are the 7 winners that I have chosen at random. E-mail me your address to claim your book prize. If you missed it, you can still get this book on Amazon.

1. Lori
2. Gagan
3. TonyW
4. Chipo
5. Alisha
6. Matin
7. Anastasia

Reading Material

Check out How To Finish Strong In Life ($4.95) by Alex Blackwell. It is a culmination of all his best articles to date and the ebook is made by one excellent designer. It looks great. You can see more of the books that I recommend in the books section.

Oldie But Goody Posts

The Dangers of Personal Development Addiction

From The Net

• Guy Kawasaki, the author and venture capital superstar, dropped me an e-mail this week to let me know that this site has been added to the very exclusive Lifehacks.alltop.com. I’m very honored to have been chosen among such great company.
• See what Saiful has been up to at his blog.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Here are this week’s goodies from around the web.

Happiness: The Group Writing Project

1. Step Lightly
2. A Question of Perspective
3. Know The Ledge
4. Life By Design

Four new participants this week, check them out. You can participate in the Happiness Project, get the pleasure of answering these questions, as well as 2 links back to your site. For details visit Happiness: The Group Writing Project.

Alex Shalman Elsewhere

I’ve had a few guests posts out these past couple of weeks that I would like to share with you guys.

• Want a Beautiful Life? Than Start With the Perfect Environment at DumbLittleMan.com
• The Simply Effective Guide To Reaching Anyone Online at Lifehack.org
• Build a Successful Blog in 2 and Running Out of Article Ideas? I Wish I Had That Problem! at Johnchow.com
• The Ultimate Guide To Networking For Bloggers at Problogger.net

Reading Material

Check out Zen To Done and Zen Habits Handbook for Life by Leo Babauta. You can see more of the books that I recommend in the books section.

Oldie But Goody Posts

Now You Can Eliminate 15 Years of Regret

From The Net

• 12 Great Personal Development Posts This Week by Steven Aitchison
• Scott Rigsby’s life is truly inspirational. The man lost both legs in an automobile accident, and instead of living a life of quiet desperation, he decided to live his life as an example to other’s. As a double leg amputee Scott when on to win numerous triathlons and even set world records. Kind of makes you think that some of are excuses aren’t as good as we thought they were, right?

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Last year I went to SOBCon, the successful and outstanding blogger conference. The experience was invaluable to me, in terms of raw information about how to improve this blog, and as far as networking with some really amazing people. SOBCon attracts not only the friendliest, but I would say the most elite bloggers in the sphere.

You get to listen to some really cool presentations, works hands on in groups, network your heart out during several breaks and have a weekend full of fun and learning.

For more information, I want you to go directly to the SOBCon website, and take 1 minute to look around. They do a great job telling you how it was last year, and what to expect from this coming year.

Once you checked it out, and decided that it’s at least worth thinking about, than I have a special treat for you. I am going to be giving away a free ticket to SOBCon. That’s right, you can go, free of charge. Can you afford NOT to go at that price?

I will be hosting the contest in a couple of weeks, right here on this site, but I wanted to give you a head start on your participation. By signing up to my newsletter (at the top-middle of the site), I will send you info about how the contest is going to be run, so you can get ready what needs to be gotten ready, and be the first to play!

Remember, the contest will take place here, in the first week of March, so find a way to subscribe, bookmark, or find your way back here.

In the mean time, click over to SOBConference, and see who’s going to be there.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

While there, I did some camera work for Tynan and Todd, so you can see Panama from the perspective of me, the camera guy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can also check out my write up of Panama if you missed it last week. As you can see I added the traveling category to this blog. That is because I’m planning on doing a decent amount of traveling. Every chance I get really. This is the perfect place to document what I learn along the way.

This Wednesday I got the opportunity to write a guest post for Liz Strauss over at successful-blog. It’s titled How To Win At Blogging and Keep It Real.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day

• How to Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries
• 9 alternatives to flowers this V-day

In the spirit of links

Ryan Whiteside of Helping You Get The Best in Life has an interesting trick with which he claims he can get you doing 100 push ups straight. I think it’s an interesting concept, really practical, and can work with other goals as well.

Saif is a guy that came across as very inspirational for me right off the bat. He’s the world’s first teen personal development video blogger with a passion to transform the world. It’s motivational enough to hear success stories, and listen to personal development guru’s. What’s even MORE motivational for me is to see the younger generation living this life. That says ALOT about our future. Be sure to check him out at AskSaif.com.

A Jim Rohn video for your enjoyment. Jim Rohn is one of the very first personal development guru’s that I have encountered on my path of personal growth. My friends and I love Jimmy, and I remember us cracking each other up with Jimmy’isms.

Me: Wow, that’s too expensive.
Yuli (talking like Jimmy): It’s not too expensive, you just can’t afford it!

So thank you Artem, and thank you Yuli, for introducing Jimmy into my life. You guys have made a tremendous difference for me and I’m more grateful than you know.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Jose at Karme Diem interviewed me about my work ethic this week. You can check out the post here and learn a little something about me you might not have known.

Leo Babauta our beloved author of Zenhabits.net, has started a second blog in which he shares with us his blogging genius. The new blog is called WriteToDone and already has some invaluable information on it. It’s in my feed reader.

Tynan, who recently wrote about productivity on this blog, is the location independent professional who records his journey at www.LifeNomadic.com. More on this later today.

I wrote a guest post on Ririan Project, 35 Sneaky Ways To Improve Your Finances. Check it out.

eGirlHelp has read the funny article I had up this week called 7 Ways to Delay Hank Panky, and come up with 5 Funny, But Commonly Made Mistakes that guys make when trying to take part in Hank Panky.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Our beloved John Chow, the guy who makes money online by telling people he makes money online, is hosting yet another contest. This time John is kind enough to give away a $1,449 ticket to the 2008 Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas.

If you would like to receive this $1,449 ticket, write a post on why you want it, why you deserve it and what you hope to get out of the Affiliate Summit. Then send me the URL send me the URL to the post. The best post will win the ticket.

Affiliate Summit West 2008, Las Vegas, What Is it?

Affiliate summit is the affiliate marketers event of the year. The affiliate superstars from all over the world fly in, network, share their knowledge, and have a really good time in sin city. The highlight, for me, is the Super Affiliate Strategies that Work.

They say ‘it draws on the expertise of three proven and well-known super affiliates, in order to provide studies for how to become a successful affiliate marketer.’ Our very own John Chow will be speaking on this panel. The other speakers include moderator Kris Jones of Pepperjam, Zac Johnson, and Amit Mehta.

Why I do I want to attend?

For starters, the above mentioned explanation of what the summit is, is one good reason. With the amount of knowledge there is to be gained from this conference, I could surely take my blog, and my other internet projects to the next level.

Meeting John Chow is something that I wanted to do since I started reading his blog about a year ago, since I was very impressed by how genuine he was in his writing. This has lead me to admire and respect him early on.

I’m also excited to meet, network, and befriend many people that are in the blogging and affiliate industry. From my past experiences these people are very fun, friendly, and full of gems of knowledge to share.

When it comes to networking, I’ve taken full advantage of the connections and friends I’ve made through blogging. In 2007 I attended SOBCon07, Problogger NYC meetup, Steve Pavlina NYC meetup, and Future of Online Advertising NYC events. I love meeting bloggers, working on my people skills, and learning a lot of useful information.

Why do I think I deserve to go?

As you know I’m committed to constant and never ending improvement in many aspects of my life. In fact, this very blog has become a vehicle for this growth, and has added immeasurably to my life over the past year. I would love to continue learning, and taking action to improve this blog.

What this blog stands for, and what I am committed to, is helping you discover your potential you, and I’m operating for the greater good of all in mind. I believe my others-centered attitude is a perfect reason to be picked for this event.

Why? The fact of the matter is, by optimizing the affiliate marketing and monetization on this blog, while keeping the readers best interest in mind, I will make more money and be able to devote more time to providing great articles on this site as well as other very beneficial products.

Don’t misunderstand me, I do not blog for money. This hobby has become my passion, and helping people has taken a central role in the core of my being, and has been something that I’ve grown to define myself as. However, if this passion of mine generates value for me in the form of money, while I produce value for you, my awesome readers, I will surely have more time available to devote here.

What I hope to get out of the Affiliate Summit?

I hope to get out of the affiliate summit everything that I mentioned as a reason I want to go, and for all the reasons I think I deserve to go. Also, I am looking forward to sharing all the gems that I get out of this conference, both in terms of affiliate marketing, but also in terms of personal growth.

John Chow – Entrepreneur Magazine – February 2008

Whether John knows it or not, he’s been one of my mentors over the past year, and on the tip of my tongue during many conversations. He’s one of the main things I talked about when I was at SOBCon07 in Chicago last year. It only makes sense that I would love a chance to meet this mentor in person.

While I can think of the hotel and flight as a reasonable investment, I cannot justify those expenses, on top of the affiliate summit pass to go into my budget, so if I don’t win, I will not be attending this year.

So John, this is my entry, and I hope you pick me!

What do you think, would you like to see me go to the Affiliate Summit? Do you have any interest in me blogging about what I learned there on this blog, or perhaps as guest posts over at John’s blog where the audience is more geared towards making money online?

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

40 Motivational Songs have been compiled for us by Ellesse Chow of Goal Setting College. Ellesse Included a special bonus video to a very inspirational Paul Potts on the bottom of her post that is definitely worth the 4 minutes to investigate.

When I stumble upon fundamental principles, I tend to be impressed by their simplicity. One such case presents itself at lover’s lawn, where they show us the three things men need to fall madly and deeply in love.

1. Let him know you understand
2. Let him fall in love with your feminine face
3. Make him feel like a man

My friend Alex Blackwell at The Next 45 Years reviews the 5 Secrets you must discover before you die.

1. Be true to yourself
2. Leave no regrets
3. Become love
4. Live the moment
5. Give more than you take

Benjamin from Redcatco blogs about a productivity tip and asks ‘Why don’t you see what you can do in an hour?‘

_____

I have been using Burt’s Bees Lip Palm for several years now. The reason I used it was because it was simply the best lip moisturizer on the market. I happened to take a look at their website, and I really like their slogan, which reads “Earth Friendly Natural Personal Care for The Greater Good.”

Part of what Burt’s Bees does is Setting The Natural Standard, and it’s always refreshing to find a company who’s mission statement is:

Make natural personal care products available to everyone, everywhere.

_____

I’m very excited to have gone over to lifehacker.com just now and found that Tamar Weinberg has featured 10 Traits to Be Perceived As a Winner in her post Exhibit Your Winning Personality. Thank you Tamar!

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

The time in my life when I got serious about personal development started on the tail end of me studying books on how to pickup women. The whole pickup world became a fun hobby for me and several of my friends, so we ended up reading a few more books than one would deem… healthy. Regardless, it wasn’t long before I realized what the underlying message in these books was, or at least the message that I got out of them.

Become a better you that is more interesting, and more valuable. Pickup is a great way to build confidence and propel people into social interactions that they may not have had the nerve to get into before. In a way, pickup teaches you not to just be socially competent, but excel in all social interactions.

The problem with being just a set of techniques is that after 20 minutes of performing captivating maneuvers to capture the attention and interest of women you will have to start being yourself. Whatever it is that is unique and amazing about you as a person will have to shine eventually.

Neil Strauss, a best selling author and master pickup artist, wrote two books that were of particular interest to me. The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, which discussed his entry into the seduction community, and how he went from dud to stud. His newest book, Rules of The Game, are actually two books in one, in which he discusses both the light and dark side of the game.

I thought it would be a great opportunity to go and meet Neil Strauss yesterday at his book signing in New York City. I think his ideas are excellent, and despite what his genre, or focus of his business is I believe him to be a very inspirational person for millions of people. Alright, I’m also a fan of his writing, and his stories are definitely captivating, not to mention hilarious.

Regardless if you agree with what the pickup community preaches, if you put aside your personal views on the subject, you might also be able to see the greater good in what Neil is doing. Likewise, you might also be able to see the greater evil. On one hand, Neil encourages people to reach a new potential. On the other hand, with this new found power comes responsibility, which could be misused if used by the wrong person.

I didn’t go to this event solo. If you guys remember Marina Tsipenyuk, who recently wrote The evolution of co-mentoring relationships: a quest for dialogue, accompanied me to the signing. Before we went I gave Marina a fair warning that Neil’s fans would most certainly be actively practicing pickup techniques. Unfortunately, after all attempts were made, she was left unimpressed by any pickup approaches that night.

During Q&A Marina asked Neil a really interesting question that got a great laugh from the crowd:

How does a man who uses The Game approach a woman that uses The Rules.

If you haven’t heard, The Rules is a step by step booklet that tells woman how they should act toward a man, in order to first have him fall for her, but ultimately find and marry Mr. Right. This question got a few laughs, but I think it’s a really interesting topic that I’ll cover at a later time.

My overall impression is that Neil is a very down to earth guy, and I hope to see more of him as he continues his career in pickup, personal development and writing. If you haven’t done so, pick up The Game, and Rules of the Game on amazon or your local book store.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Michael Kwan of Beyond The Rhetoric was kind enough to blog an answer to a question I had e-mailed him. Check out How to write a killer review by one of my favorite freelance writers.

Michael Montoure gives is HackYourself.org. His explanation of how we stop ourselves from achieving in life.

Ravi Vora gives us the Top 15 lies people tell us about persuing our dreams. He says we can just tell them to shove it!

Dr. Azfar Hussain writes about the 10 medical reasons to have sex. Hey, if it’s so medically important, who am I to disagree?

Steve Pavlina is doing another experiment on himself. This time he’s eating only raw food (fruits, vegatables, and nuts). If you want to follow him, he is posting a daily review of how this 30 day experiment is going.

This is my off the wall link for the week. Squat don’t sit talks about how unnatural it is to sit on the toilet, and the benefits that squatting has on our health.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Laura Milligan over at Bootstrapper brings us Negative Calorie Foods: 15 Foods That Actually Burn More Calories Than They Contain. Sounds like a diets dream to me.

Bob Grant writes at love-lectures and gives us 7 things he won’t appreciate. This is general advice for women, as to which actions their man may not appreciate. Noteworthy material.

Aaron Potts over at Fitness Destinations gives us the break down of How to do effective abdominal exercises. Very detailed guide.

The Frugalist asks: Why Live Frugally? 15 Ways Frugality Makes You Happier, Healthier, and Sexier.

Ever get stuck looking for an idea? Check out creative minds for a large list of tools for creating ideas.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Debbie Ballard of My Personal Cantor shared some feedback about How To Avoid 15 Years of Regret. Debbie is new to blogging, but here tremendous wisdom and beautiful writing style is something that I’m looking forward to exploring further.

Steve Pavlina, the man who inspired me to start blogging, seems to read and listen to many of the same material as I do. Steve and I are both Brian Tracy fans, and Steve shares with us one of Brian’s ideas about being Self-employed. I remember at one point my facebook profile said that I am the President/CEO of my own personal services company. This is still true today.

Definr is a new web-based dictionary that’s super quick and a pleasure to use. I’ve been using it all week and have already noticed my vocabulary expanding.

Glen Stansberry guests writes at Dumb Little Man and gives us 9 best ways to get organized by year’s end. I’ve enjoyed Glen’s writing over at LifeDev for quite some time now and thoroughly believe that he’s a guy to watch, if you haven’t read him yet now is a good time to start.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

Tynan at Better Than Your Boyfriend shows us how to properly give thanks to our parents. With thanksgiving just behind us, perhaps it’s time we give thanks to all the special people in our lives.

Me over at Lifehack on How To Use Compliments To Control Communication. Walking the fine line of manipulation.

Rob the Former Fat Guy points us to an anecdotal perfect beverage for weight loss. I’ve been talking about this stuff since I started writing this blog.

Tara Gidus at The Diet Dish serves us with a multitude of benefits that occur from having family meals all the time. She also mentions how to make family meals more welcoming for everyone.

Bethany Sanders of That’s Fit thinks that it may be too expensive to eat right. I think that it’s too expensive NOT to eat right. What do you think?

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!

No, this doesn’t mean I’m jumping ship and abandoning this site. On the contrary, this means that we’ll have some more friends joining us from the lifehack community.

I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting all my fellow contributors, but you might be able to recognize them from around the blogosphere.

Adrian Savage, Bob Walsh, Craig Childs, Susan Sabo, Tatsuya Nakagawa, Mike St. Pierre, Tejvan Pettinger, Donald Latumahina, Shane Magee, Alex Shalman, Tom O’Leary, Michael Leddy, Marco Adragna, Scott Young.

A great group of writers, all contributing to the 40th most popular blog in the world. Lifehack has been one of my daily reads for almost 2 years now. It is my honor to be a part of this great team.

For my first article you can see how I’ve been able to harness the power of compliments to control conversations. Check it out.

Attention: Don’t forget to download my free ebook, How to Get a Girlfriend!!