seaneoliver.com » personal

You Can Do Something Now

Sean — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:26:30 +0000

“Start where you are, Use what you have, Do what you can” -Arthur Ashe

Today was difficult for me. I broke the auto focus on my Nikon lens, got into a fender bender and lost some cash. I’m not communicating as well as I would like to with people that are important to me.

Despite my day, I’m focusing on what I can do, and doing it.

Action is the underrated catalyst for awesomeness. Things don’t just happen, they get done.

Right now, there is something you are stuck on. You don’t have to solve it right now, but you DO need to move the needle. Go do that thing.

What are you currently stuck on? Let me know in the comments

Recommended Dating Products For Men

Sean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:01:32 +0000

Men often ask me for advice on what dating products I would recommend. Many products are worth buying and yet it’s a challenging question because it depends on where a person is at in his learning. It’s a reasonable question though. Depending on where a guy is at in his dating game I could comfortably recommend material by David DeAngelo, Vin DiCarlo, Neil Strauss , and even Paul Janka.

The challenge is that no magic bullet exists. There is no product that is right for every guy.

Opportunities range from simple style and fashion issues to starting, and continuing quality conversations. Deeper learning material covering what it really means to create and develop a lasting attraction vs. flash in the pan one night action is an entirely different level.

Luckily there is material available, both free and paid that address all manner of coaching. From the beginner to the man who just wants to eliminate a very specific sticking point, there is a product available.

In a future post, I will do my best to share what I know. Hopefully it will serve as a bit of a FAQ, and I won’t have to answer another email.

What Are Your Communication Preferences?

Sean — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:56:33 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

I have had interesting conversations recently on communication. Many of my friends have radically different styles than I have, and surprisingly there seems to be little thought as to how people communicate, intentionally or otherwise. This is interesting to me because many of my friends are impossible to get on the phone. Some have over the last 10 years, emailed less than 10 times. Friends who would never use Twitter will text almost non-stop. With these thoughts in my head I decided to get clear on what my own personal preferences were. Naturally I made a list.

This got me thinking about my preferred modes of communication, both inbound and outbound. Of course I used the trusty Prioritizer to help me rank my items. This is what I found.

In order of importance to me, I present Sean’s Communication Preferences

Face to face-What can I say, I appreciate quality time.
Text- It’s a mental nudge for me, a quick way to let someone know you are thinking of them
Email- I share a lot of links, and I am a fan of doing it directly, plus it’s a great way to reach out
Tweet-quick, condensed way to converse and share
Facebook-This is less of a hub for me than most, but some of my friends swear by it, so I am there.
FaceTime-Its club iPhone, and I’m a fan
Instant Message-This is the first line of defense against the phone call
Phone-This is dead last. There are about 5 people I talk to on a regular basis, and its SIMPLY because we entertain each other during drive time.

There you have it, my communication preferences. What about yours? Do you prefer mostly online or mobile communication? What are your top 3 communication preferences and why?

Let me know in the comments!

Bickering Is Bad

Sean — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:03:28 +0000

Great post by AJ. This guy will experiment with anything.

But at the same time, I know it’s not good. If you playfully bicker enough, after a few years it stops feeling playful.

via Will doing EVERYTHING my wife tells me turn me into the most perfect husband? | Mail Online.

5 Things I Love Right Now

Sean — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:16:15 +0000

Dropbox www.dropbox.com

This useful service allows me to access my files via my iPhone, or any web accessible computer. Moving from PC, web, and mobile devices daily this is a time saver for me.

Seesmic www.seesmic.com

If you have to use twitter via the web, this is probably the best experience. Lightweight and fast Twitter client.

Tweetie 2 for iPhone http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-iphone/

This is simply the slickest, most effective twitter app. Its interface is so intuitive, it does well everything I need. Available for iPhone only.

Beats headphones by Dr. Dre www.beatsbydre.com

I was skeptical that I could get good sound from ear buds, but this set a level for quality that I was not expecting. Clear highs and quality bass sounds help me through my day.

Foursquare/Gowalla/MyTown www.foursquare.com www.gowalla.com http://booyah.com/

Location based services are just fun. It helps to know when people you like are doing cool stuff near you. Impromptu meetups FTW.

What about you? What are you loving right now?

Facebook Is The New Phone Number

Sean — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:43:45 +0000

Not long ago in the days before Facebook, the phone number was significant social currency. It gave others direct access to you. The only other choice in the old days was to give someone the keys to your house. Phone numbers were a big deal. Now with the entire social networking sites, email, blogs, etc. There are a variety of ways to connect, communicate, and otherwise maintain an awareness of people you come across.

With all of these new access points, I present in order of intensity my communication list, ranked from most personal to least personal.

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Blog
Mobile #

I think email is the most personal because it serves as a gateway to pretty much every online experience. When you sign up for a service, what do you use? You use your email. That access is premium in my mind.

Next is facebook. Access here is really like inviting someone to a family reunion, secret clubhouse, and school reunion all at the same time. Your buddies and core friends are all up for consumption. It’s kind of a big deal in my mind and rounds out number two.

Twitter is really allowing someone to listen in on your chit chat, real time. If I had a dollar for every time I already knew about a story I was told because yes, I saw it on twitter. This is a middle ground for me, because you really need to pass the interesting sniff test.

Bringing up the rear are blogs and mobile numbers. Blogs are in my mind carefully crafted posts that someone put out there for a reason. This is less raw than any of the above modes. Due to the polish, I’m of the opinion that it’s far more formal and less personal than the items above. Mobile number, it’s really a real time stab in the dark. By their very nature, phone calls are an interruption. If you don’t connect real time, there is always voicemail, but who checks that?

There you have it, my current stab at a personal communication hierarchy. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Keeping Up With Old Friends (blogs.wsj.com)

Revelations and Decisions

Sean — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:02:53 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I recently had a revelation as I approach my 2 year anniversary at my organization. I’m in the wrong field, and in the wrong culture. I work in an environment where failure is not an option, and stuff gets done because 1. Someone said it would and 2. Everyone else kills themselves to do it. Every day I find myself saying “I’m not an idiot” out loud. This is typically responded to with a variation of “try harder”.

I spend most of my childhood trying to fly, read minds, be invisible and shoot lasers out of my eyes. Knowing your limits is a lesson learned early. In my entire time in my current gig I have never dreaded waking up and going to work until now. Reading Seth Godin’s book “Linchpin” didn’t really help matters either.

I question everything. I do it not out of insolence, but because clarity drives my understanding. In an environment where the only clarity is “I asked you do to something, do it”. The DO and don’t THINK or ASK QUESTIONS message has been received and now I am presented with yet another challenge.

Inspiring others (tdhurst.com)

Parking Justice In Seattle

Sean — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:00:18 +0000

Parking in Seattle is challenging with scarce off-street parking. This issue is aggravated by those who would flout the law, and park on the street in excess of 3 days and/or park too close to driveways, making it difficult to enter and exit streets.

Now is the time for justice! There is help a phone call away. By contacting the Seattle Parking Authority you can exact your own form of parking justice, and keep those streets just a bit safer for…parking.

For your viewing pleasure, the parking statute:

Seattle Municipal Code

Information retrieved January 29, 2010 12:32 PM

Title 11 – VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC

Subtitle I Traffic Code*

Part 7 Stopping, Standing, Parking and Loading

Chapter 11.72 – Stopping, Standing or Parking Restrictions

SMC 11.72.110 Driveway or alley entrance.

No person shall stand or park a vehicle in front of a public or

private driveway within a street or alley or in front of or in an

alley entrance or within five feet (5′) of the end of a constructed

driveway return or alley entrance return, or if none, within five feet

(5′) of the projection of the edge of the driveway or alley.

(Ord. 108200 Section 2(11.72.110), 1979.)

Urban Eats – 3 courses for $30 at Seattle Restaurants | Seattle Times Newspaper

Check Your Reputation In 5 Easy Steps

Sean — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:30:04 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

The internet is a big place. With so many blogs and sharing sites from flickr to facebook it can be a challenge to know what’s going on. I’m going to show you how to in 2010 make sure your digital ear is to the ground and check your online reputation. You will know is being said about you, and where.

Lets get started.

First, go to Google Alerts
In the “Search Terms” box enter your name in quotations. e.g “Jane Doe”
For “How Oftern” choose “Once a day”
In the “Deliver to” box select your email address OR, if you use RSS choose “Feed”
Click create alert.

There you have it. Now Google will scour the interwebs for your search term and serve you up the results with no additional effort from you. You may be surprised what you find.

Like this post? Let me know in the comments!

Have You Done Your Annual Review?

Sean — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:10:27 +0000

With 2009 shutting down I am taking the rest of the week to do my annual review. Using the guidelines Chris Guillebeau lays out in his blog, “The Art Of Non Conformity”. It’s basically taking stock of what didn’t work for you last year, what did work out for you, and your theme and goals for the coming year. I haven’t done a deep dive like this in my personal life for a while, so I will post my review when I complete it. I recommend you take a look at his link above, and give it a go yourself. It will take some time to complete, but I think the theme of Get Off Your Ass will be a component, given that I have been put on blast by Johnny B. Truant and all.

Do you think this type of review is valuable? Let me know in the comments!