I went on a 50 mile bike ride today. It was with the Louisville Bicycling Club, which means we met at a local park, then headed off into the beautiful Kentucky country land, east of Louisville. The group included two 73-year-olds.

Let me say that again. TWO!! Nearly 3 times my age! And they regularly go on 50, and even 100 mile bike rides. Wow. If I could make a wish, it would be to be able to be as active as they are at that age.
That also got me thinking that simplicity and consistency are likely the keys to good health. There’s no need to be complicated with fancy fad diets that cut out all of (insert food group here). Or complicated workout plans that target “your lower abs”, etc. I doubt these concepts existed 50 years ago when they were my age. But these two individuals have been active for their entire lives. That, with a dose of good luck, produces really remarkable results.

Someone did a great job of marketing this book… which, after reading it, doesn’t surprise me at all. Keith probably knows all the right people that would put his book front and center at every major bookstore in the US. Even though I just read it, I’ve known about it since it came out. It was all over Barnes and Noble in 2005, when it came out, and even today, the cover really pops out at you.
The book focuses on the art of networking, and creating what Keith calls a “relationship based career.” Through this book, and a few other factors that have come up lately, I’ve realized that connecting with people may be the missing piece at this point of my entrepreneurial journey. It seems that when I reach out and meet people for lunch, or go out of my way to connect with old bosses, colleagues, and new friends, things start to happen. Opportunities open up, I get new ideas, I meet people who can help me, and it keeps me from stagnating.

The trap I’ve been following into, is that because I work for myself, I stay home behind my laptop all day. This can be productive, but it’s definitely not tapping into my strength as someone who connects people. In the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that

• I have both a friend a McKinsey who’s going into non-profit and another who is going to intern there and is interested in the same.
• I have a friend who is a local Louisville artist, and another who likes to buy art from young, local Louisville artists.
• I have a friend in NYC who works for the Daily show, and another who is in school at NYU for comedic writing, and looking for jobs.

In short, these people need to meet, and if I don’t make it happen, who will?

This book was great for showing you the importance in meeting people, and how specifically, to go about meeting the right ones. It was the right mix of specific advice, and background on why the advice is important. I’m definitely going to concentrate more on connecting with those around me… and being around those I want to connect with.

Last night, I had a beer with Curt Rosengren, whom I met originally over a year ago, and who was one of the primary people who first encouraged me to start blogging. Curt calls himself a “Passion Catalyst” and has been self-employed as a career coach for quite some time now. When I last met him, I was still slaving away at Microsoft and wishing of day’s like today, where I am at home working on my goals, and making it the primary focus of my day. It was great to see Curt again, and show him how far I’ve progressed since we last met, and how much closer I am to living my ideal life.

Curt has recently started making the move from a personal career coach to a professional speaker so that he can spread his message to more people in a shorter amount of time. Curt writes for Worthwhile Magazine, and has graciously offered to put me in touch with the editors Kevin Salwen and Anita Sharpe, both hotshots from the Wall Street Journal who broke off a few years ago to start their magazine.

Curt has some great ideas about my career path, and I look forward to keeping in touch with him. I gave him a short demonstration on memory, and the rundown on what I teach when I speak professionally. I also told him of Niels and my idea to start a magazine. Niels has already blogged about it, but we are dubbing it “The Social Man Magazine” for now, and are working on the business plan. A synopsis of the idea will arrive shortly.

In other news, I was happy to arrive home from Diabetes camp (where I was volunteering for the last week) to find a packet from Dr. Ken Higbee with all his research articles on memory and mnemonics. I am very grateful to him for taking the time to send me information. I look forward on incorporating this research backing into my speech.

In my pursuits of a career that is self guided, the one missing role that I feel I have yet to fill is that of a mentor. I can be my own boss, and make progress around work efficiency and making sure I’m working in the direction I have chosen, but the role of a mentor is something that is hard to replace. I imagine a mentor as someone who has gone somewhere before you, and has achieved, perhaps only in part, something you hope to achieve. They teach, guide and advise.

In my search for a mentor, I’ve been bugging a couple of professionals in the fields of Memory and Creativity for some time to interview/question them on their careers and respective fields.

Dr. Ken Higbee is a professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and has been at the forefront of memory research for the last 30 years or so. His book “Your Memory: How It Works and How To Improve It” is one of my favorite books on memory because it mixes practical advice with the research that backs it. After a bit of persistance, I finally got in touch with Dr. Higbee last week, and was lucky enough to get some of his time over the phone.

Dr. Higbee concurred that much of the practical research on memory improvement and learning never makes it into the classroom, which is clearly a problem. He has given memory seminars on a limited basis, and often focuses on simple memory tasks. He has addressed everyone from college students to the elderly, and was able to give me some great advice. His current research focuses on the top memory problems that our society faces. The runaway winner is remembering names and faces, while in the academic environment, student complain of problems with remembering for tests and exams.

This week, I am in Toronto for a family wedding, and was able to get in touch with Tom Wujec, one of my favorite authors on Creativity. Tom works for Autodesk, a creative software company, and has written two books on my shelf; Pumping Ions, and Five Star Mind. I’m hoping to meet Tom for lunch on Wednesday, and ask him about his professional speaking experience, and how I can use some of the exercises from his book to connect with my audiences.

Will either of these experts become my mentors? Maybe, maybe not… in the least I hope to continue contact with them. However, I have found something even more valuable in this exercise of contacting and interviewing admirable people in the fields of study I’m interested in. Their advice is in invaluable and getting that advice was not very difficult once I set my mind to it. I hope to continue to interview leaders and possible mentors over the next few months.