Chris Brogan packs a punch in this short & sweet 5 question Your Life YOUR Way series. I first “met’ Chris on twitter a couple of years ago and have closely followed his very popular online digs at ChrisBrogan.com since then, often marvelling at the man’s capacity to go, go go.
Chris is cool.
I loved his very popular post about being an overnight success back in 2009 (hint, it’s not what you think).
He was also the catalyst for a public declaration of my Goals for 2010, some of which happened and some didn’t (but hang on, the year isn’t over yet!)
Chris and Julien Smith’s book Trust Agents: using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation and Earn Trust, is an easy and hugely informative read on what it really takes to create an irresistible online presence and be successful on the interwebs. Oh, and it’s a New York Times bestseller too.
If you’re still finding your feet in the world of social media and are looking to be a Trust Agent (and you should!), you’d best get this book asap, if you haven’t already! Actually, this is one time being a slacker may just work in your favour cos I’ve decided to give away a free copy of Trust Agents to one lucky reader! Can I get a YAY!? 🙂
All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what you think being a Trust Agent is all about & I’ll pick the winner a week from today. I’ll see you in the comments section.
1. Hi Chris, what does Your Life YOUR Way mean to you?
Life my way means that I choose my projects, I choose the time I spend with my family, I choose how I execute my duties such that it balances nicely between serving my clients and pleasing my family.
2. How did you discover and pick (if you had more than 1) a passion you could turn into a business / career you love?
I chose passions that would translate into work that people needed done. Playing guitar isn’t exactly a money maker. Art isn’t, except for some very few individuals, so I chose other duties and functions that I knew would be useful.
3. Â What was the biggest challenge / fear you faced in turning your passion into a living and how did you take the first step in getting past it?
My biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be daring ENOUGH. I maintained a salary to feed my family, and so that required a lot of delicate balancing. My efforts to keep that all alive were tricky to maintain.
4. What one most important piece of advice would you have given yourself when you were first starting out & is there anything you would have done differently?
My time machine efforts would be in telling myself at a much younger age the importance of growing and building my database, and helping others improve their standing sooner. That’s what has translated into the most business in my life is by being helpful to others.
5. What are your best daily / weekly habits & practices that help you stay inspired, productive & making progress especially when it gets “”tough”” to keep going?
What keeps me going are the small victories, so I seek out a pile of small victories every week that drive me closer towards my ever expanding goals.
Want More? Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, on the future of business communications, and social software technologies. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. Make him a daily part of your reading at ChrisBrogan.com and follow him at twitter.com/chrisbrogan. Tell him I said hi!
Hey, Tia,
You are rockin’ and rollin’, girl! Love it! And Chris Brogan — nice touch!
Being a Trust Agent to me means being someone in complete integrity — with myself and with others, someone that others can trust to know that I have their back (and their front) — that I care about what’s going on with them, that I’m interested in what they are up to and what they have to say, that I’m sticky, here to stay — not just a passing trend, and ultimately, someone that helps the Trust spread and grow roots throughout the community, so that it first settles in and then multiplies.
Have am awesome week and keep up the good work! You are truly motivating and inspiring!
Big hugs,
Shannon
Haha Thanks Shannon, it’s a tough job but someone’s gotta do it ;)!
That point about complete integrity is solid and “I’m sticky” is pure awesomeness girlfriend. That inspired me, thanks for chipping in, always a pleasure to hear from you x
I love how your questions create space for something new to show up. I follow both Chris G and Chris Brogan and still learned something new from each of your interviews. Keep ’em coming!
Thanks Sandi, I’m loving your presence here, you’re the best!
I am SOO excited for all these interviews to be published – got 7 lined up + one video interview coming Friday probably + a few more video interviews too. There’s a world of inspiring people out there and we might as well tap into that hey.
Tia,
Another GREAT interview!! “Daring enough”….the two words that are sticking with me as I’ve read through this today. And it’s reminding me…am I being daring enough in my own life?? Perhaps it’s time to step it up a notch…
Being a trust agent: This say “relationship” all over it, for me. The more I travel on this journey I’m on – the more I believe that the relationships we develop, foster, and nurture – create an even deeper level of trust. So for me – a trust agent is a builder of relationships…real and meaningful relationships. Quality relationships, creating deeper levels of trust..
I know, right!? It’s up there with bouldering on and not letting fear stop you. It’s about stretching every single day, just a little bit.
Being daring to me doesn’t just mean jumping out of an airplane or bungee jumping (although I’ve done those things), it means extending out of my comfort zone a little at a time untill it becomes second nature to stretch.
Stretch .. stretch… LEAP!! Stretch…stretch…. LEAP! Way easier than leap, leap, leap CRASH! LoL.
Love your take on being a trust agent – relationships. Everything starts and ends there, relationship with self and others. Add integrity to the mix and you’ve got a life worth living full out. Thanks for sharing Lance 🙂
Nicely done. I haven’t seen this book before, but I know I’m going to have to check it out one of these days. Thanks for the interview; I love interview series.
A pleasure, Mitch! Well you may have a chance to win it cos you left a comment 🙂 Stay tuned, got some very cool interviews coming up with a variety of young entrepreneurs, authors, coaches, lifestylers & people living their dreams!