Adventures in Life Has Moved!!!!!!!

Hi Readers,

In the interest of consolidating the blogs I run and the ideas I have, it is time to merge my blogs. The new Blog is called Real World Basic (http://jobbasic.blogspot.com) and it offers life and work advice for recent grads with some fun stuff thrown in along the way. Please check it out and change your feeds and bookmarks! I understand that in the beginning some information gets rehashed. Hopefully bringing others up to speed will further the discussion.

Thanks,

Brad Maier

Announcing Where is the Director?

For a while I had been preparing an article on people who have broken out of the traditional mold and were working in a career and living a life that they loved. I was keeping the interviews at a site called Where is the Director? Inspiration and advice from those who run the show. In thinking about it more, the topic is very relevant to what I write here and in the future I will be posting the responses to the Six Simple Questions here as well for the people who already subscribe to this feed. To start here's the short interview format as it played out with Keith Schacht of JobCoin.com:

Keith Schacht is Founder and CEO of JobCoin, which provides a user-friendly job board application that gives websites a new way to monetize their content. He also currently co-edits Freshwater Venture and previously co-founded Inventables, Lever Works, Inc., and Chicago Beta. As someone experienced with living the start-up life and succeeding, here’s how Keith tackled the Six Simple Questions:

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Back then I would of told you “Someone who can just make stuff all day.” Give me some space parts and a little duct tape, and I was entertained for days.

Whether it is in a big way or a small way, how do you change the world?

I’m changing the way people connect with one another around job opportunities. I’m constantly amazed at how inefficient the process is.

What’s one invention or innovation that would change the way you do your work?

I want a tool that knows what I’m working on, or what I’m looking for, and automatically connects me to people who are in the same boat as me or who can help. It has to be instantaneous and it has to be smart. Yahoo Answers and other sites are almost there, but not instantaneous enough. People have an inherent desire to help each other and answer questions.

What problem do you encounter most frequently in your everyday life?

I don’t feel like there are a lot of problems, I’m amazed how many tools exist to help you day-to-day. It would be nice to eliminate batteries, no more charging laptops, cell phones, etc.

If you could go back to when you were just starting out, what are two things you’d do differently?

I don’t think I’d change anything. I know that sounds cliche, but it’s a learning process and you have to experience the good and the bad to learn the lessons.

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Cinnamon!

If you’re interested in learning more or getting a job board for your site, check out www.jobcoin.com. Also, be sure to keep up to date with new developments at the JobCoin Blog.

*Check out Where is the Director for the other interviews so far and look forward to more on the way. If you're interested in learning more check out the About section on Where is the Director and if you have any ideas for who should be featured next please let me know. Eventually I plan to merge the two blogs into one.

Tip of the Day: Shh! Don't Neglect the Library

I've been doing a lot of research lately and have come to realize just how important and useful the public library can be. Where else do you get a free and helpful service these days? In some cases the librarian's knowledge itself is worth the visit. Whether you need to learn how to write a business plan or are just looking for inspiration, the library is one of your greatest and cheapest assets.

Perhaps its because we grow to loathe them in college after spending long nights doing research for papers or cramming for tests, but we tend to neglect them as a valuable resource once we leave school.

For a budding or contemplating entrepreneur, the library can save valuable dollars and prevent an onslaught of restraining orders from the employees at Barnes and Noble.

If you haven't been there in a while, libraries are catching up with the information age. Unless it is a newly published business book you're looking for, the library is likely to have books with the information you need. We all know most of today's business books are just rehashing yesterday's ideas anyway.

So if you're looking to commit the ultimate act of bootstrapping, get a library card.

Corporation You

A couple posts I've read recently have gotten me thinking about the merits of looking at oneself as an enterprise. In particular, Ben Casnocha's post about upgrading his personal IT infrastructure put my thoughts on the subject over the top and into the territory of writing a blog entry.

As an entrepreneur it makes sense to work this way, treat yourself as business and get the most from yourself. I don't mean this in a harsh or cold way but in a personal improvement way.

Think of your accomplishments as profits, your goals as earnings targets, and yourself as the product. What would you change or do differently in your life if you were running it as a business? From deciding whether you can reduce costs by living in a different place or apartment or changing your diet to reevaluating how effective your current technology use is, there are many ways to examine your life from an entrepreneurial perspective.

Put the same effort into your everyday life that you would put into a new business and the change in revenue may surprise you.

Where Do You Want to Go Today?

The blog Wisebread has an interesting post on the merits of doing the safe thing vs. following your dreams. I don't think I've ever seen it so logically summed up as in these two paragraphs:

Lest you think I'm just a sentimental idealist, we also realized (how practical of us!) that the relative value of the financial security we were pursuing wasn't very high. Even if we paid off all of our debt more rapidly than we could possibly imagine, we wouldn't be satisfied. We would be more secure, but not happy. The money that we could then accumulate (when we were not longer using it to pay off debt) could not buy us our dreams, nor the years spent not pursuing them. For us, that price was simply not worth paying.

The truth is that we're not quite throwing it all on the line here. We didn't just throw ourselves on the mercy of anyone who will help. We have a plan, and that plan includes (and even focuses on) our finances. With my job and his jobs, we will be fine financially. We may not pay off our debt early, but we'll make our monthly payments on time. We may not buy a home or have a kid for a few more years, but I'm not convinced I'm ready for that anyway. We will probably be living on a tighter budget than most of our friends, but that's a sacrifice we're willing to make. We're willing to be less successful financially to be more successful as whole human beings.

It begs the question, just how successful are you if you achieve the rewards of taking the safe route?

Reconciling The Real World

Coming out of college, today's students are faced with some distinct realities. More and more students are struggling with the balance between what they want to do and what they need to do to stay afloat and increasing numbers are simply refusing to settle for the latter. Much has been written about this balance but a few standout. As someone who has been contemplating this a lot lately here are some of the things I have found most helpful.

The Brazen Careerist

Penelope Trunk is a former corporate worker who has done extensive thinking into the subject of a balanced life and is one of the few out there who are actively, consciously, and thoughtfully taking steps to do something about it. Her blog should be required reading for anyone but especially those just starting out into the world after graduation.

IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com

The tongue in cheek title of this blog should not take away from the content that's provided within. In the absence of a real life mentor Mr. Sethi would be a good online starting point. Ramit takes the time to logically organize and disperse tips on how to face the difficult battle between finance and enjoyment in the real world while producing some sound financial advice and providing some great tips for entrepreneurs at the same time.

Feld Thoughts

For the entrepreneur, Feld gives interesting insights into the world of venture capital and high tech entrepreneurship along with some poignant writings on business and life as well. If you're looking for inspiration check this blog out its always good to see how the mind works of someone who's already "been there and done that."

In the vein of inspirational blogs that everyone should read, Ben Casnocha's might take the take. Ben has done more than most and hasn't even entered college yet. His blog possess a personal and conversational tone and is a great look into the mind of one of America's most fascinating young entrepreneurial minds.

Life of Meaning

Steven Tomlinson's Blog may be quite different from what you expect out of a blog but it definitely shouldn't be overlooked. The blog consists of one post; one very long post that should be read over and over again. Tomlinson's discussion of the balance between passion and career comes from a high school commencement address given in 2002 and while this may seem interesting and trivial, readers should be slow to dismiss these words coming from one of the instructors at what is arguably the worlds most innovative and rigorous entrepreneurially focused business school; The Acton School of Business in Austin.