How many times each day do you feel like individuals, businesses, government, and society in general wake up for the sole purpose of throwing obstacles into your pathway for just getting through the day?
As life becomes personally and professionally more complicated, and much busier than we’d like it to be, we learn to appreciate our encounters with special people who create positive experiences in our lives. Oftentimes such people and experiences seem fewer and farther apart than they did in our society five, ten, or twenty years ago. Many days it seems like no matter what you are buying, whether it’s a two dollar hamburger or a $200,000 house, they all come with a hassle.
As a self-employed, middle-aged family type of a guy, I value more and more each day the positive experiences and genuinely nice people I encounter along the way. Liz Strauss is one of those people.
Liz has made my life easier, better, smarter, more productive, and more meaningful. I met Liz in the Fall of 2009 and instantly connected with her after she commented about how she believes in the importance of actually doing something meaningful for her clients. (In my presentations, I add a bit of human with a similar comment: I am a living oxy-moron: An ethical, working consultant who actually does something useful to earn his pay.)
Liz inspired me to quit thinking about creating a blog and to start doing it. School Security Blog became a reality at the start of 2010 thanks to Liz. In only a few conversations, Liz helped me zero in on better understanding how my work truly helps my clients, determining what I want to accomplish with my blog, and in cutting my learning curve for having a successful blog.
Liz’s Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers) is loaded with nuggets of practical advice on creating and maintaining successful blogs. Each conversation with her uncovers a goldmine of new ideas. She always leaves me with a ton of practical thoughts, but at the same time a feeling of not being overloaded and unable to carry them out.
In our conversations over the past few months, I quickly picked up on many of Liz’s characteristics, traits, and style which emulate a model for all of us to strive for, both in our online and off-line behavior. In trying to come up with a concise and simple way of describing Liz, I simply thought: LIZ STRAUSS
My blog is up and running. I feel good about it. I get focused more each day and particularly after each conversation with Liz.
Wouldn’t it be great if all of our encounters each day left us feeling so focused and inspired?
(Disclosure: The contents of this post reflect sincerely from my heart and experience. The reason for posting it here in my blog is to serve as an entry to win a trip to #SOBCon2010 in Chicago this April,2010, where I hope to spend time learning more from Liz, Terry, and all of the great participants I have heard and read so much about online!)