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There are some really effective people using social media. Seth Godin leads the way.  Mashable is another.

And then there are the digital neanderthals – smart business men and smart business women – who think the world isn’t really going to change, and if they ignore social media long enough, it will go away.

Fools.  Sloths. Dinosaurs. Excuse makers.

“I’m too busy.”  “It doesn’t apply to me.”  “I’ve made it this far without social media.”  “It’s too difficult and I don’t have time to learn it.”

Good.  It’s the perfect storm, isn’t it.  Let the people who excelled in traditional ways make room for the others.  It’s their turn now.  A new social (media) order.

Have you ever read a fair number of LinkedIn profiles?  They are great if you have trouble sleeping.  Seriously. And very boring status quo.

How do I know?  Good question. Maybe I don’t.  But here’s a hint, from a Twitter tweet from someone who read my LinkedIn profile.

“Thx for following, Jeff Will look forward to your tweets. Jennifer PS: Best Linked In summary ever- clever, yet informative.”

Put it to the test.  Click here.  Remember Lane 8’s post from two days ago, “Put Up Or Shut Up”?

Do you know one of life’s most under rated yet critical success factors?

Most people have such a casual approach to this gold medal secret that many of their challenges in life could be remedied, or at the very least, alleviated.

Still have no idea right?  Bet it’s not even on your radar screen.

Sleep.

When was the last time you had a year’s worth of consistently adequate rest?  Most adults require 7-8 hours of sleep per night.  As a student, and teacher of excellence, I confess to focusing hard on this.

I also confess to have had my clock rocked since (traveling to Finland in) August 2009.

Bottom line is, I’ve been struggling for a long time with this.  Having slept for eight hours each of the past three nights has felt like a major accomplishment.  And then this morning, this email article hits the inbox.

Click here to read it if you want a professional opinion on what I just wrote.

Get your sleep, or you’ll be miserable for the rest of your life.

Here’s an excerpt from an email I sent yesterday.  It started as a simple note to encourage a friend (purposefully maintaining anonymity), and fellow blogger, who had sent the link below.

Thanks for the tip on the website design link. Book marked https://Flavors.me

I often think that writing for a year has allowed the opportunity to create a vault of content. Which comes first, content or candy?

Anyway, while others fuss about stuff, I simply wake up and write. Closing in on 2,000 posts.  In a year. It’s because the first priority is to write. That’s what a blogger does.  Write.

Over time, people will either like it or not. The blogger then has to decide to continue or quit.

Most quit.

People like people who don’t quit.  People also like people who have big dreams, for the right reasons. People like honest, open, real people.

They also like people who have something to say that makes them laugh or think. I’m not that funny when I write. And those that don’t want to think about what I write are free to move on.

And yet, last month, there were over 15,000 unique visitors and well over 30,000 visits.

Hits (different from visits) and page views are off the chart (between 100,000 – 200,000 monthly). This means, slowly but surely, content trumps candy. If you want to generate more visitors, where do you think you should focus?

PS.  You know why, and who, I write for.  The rest, as they say, is a bonus.

What is it that is the one thing that will move you to action?

What’s that “hot button” that makes doing what you need to do, no chore at all? The trigger that lights your fire?

I hate to say it, but most people, myself included, don’t have a ready answer.

Once this realization was etched in stone – on my heart and soul – magical things, transformational things, began to happen.

Your clock is ticking. No one wants to admit it, but it is.  The older (and wiser) you become, the clearer this becomes.

The secret is to find your hot button that will unleash your motivation and untether your excuses, your barriers, your worries, your fears, your doubts.

You really do deserve the best life has to offer, but it ain’t gonna fall in your lap.  Ya with me?

Have you noticed it the last few days?

Is it happening to you too? I can’t be the only one.  There has to be a ton of us. A ton who are really impatient as we wait for our economy to turn around. Perhaps the whole world feels this way.

And yet, in our dissatisfaction, the predictable happens.  You already know the answer don’t you?  What happens is what always happens.

Nuthin’.

Nuthin’ happens.

This is why the past few days have been unusually exciting. I’ve come to the realization that this time last year, I was on fire.

And then things started to hum, and by August, jungle jeff, Mid Life Celebration, Lane 8, jeff noel.org and jeff noel.com were cranking out the numbers. (humbly, everything has more than doubled since then)

This led to a feeling of relief, and a feeling of panic.  And both emotions impacted these five daily blogs.

There are some writers and bloggers that write for the numbers, the traffic.

That makes me nauseous. Seriously. I pray that none of these blogs ever become status quo or worry about being mainstream.

But when it does happen (and it will), it won’t be because I caved, but because I pushed and pulled and didn’t accept bull crap excuses for why people have to accept anything but excellence.

And the part of the equation that’ll make it all possible is the core group of you who get it. Who act on it.  Who transform themselves.

And then they’ll start to influence others around them in a transformational way, and this ripple effect is what will make the world a little better before I die.