Mark Manson
Medellin, AT
Male, 28
I am a professional blogger, internet entrepreneur, and world traveler. I've been to over 40 countries and am currently working on my second book about long-term travel and how to work/live abroad. On my blog I write about self development and creating a unique lifestyle for yourself. Feel free to ask me anything.
I think in the early-going my readership influenced me quite a bit. Back when I started I had far fewer readers, so in a way my relationship with my readers was far more intimate. Conversations and feedback from readers inspired me to pursue a lot of various areas of interest that I may not have otherwise: i.e., feminism, self esteem, motivation, etc. These days I would say they influence me less... or at least they influence me less on a person-by-person basis. There are a dozen readers or so who I am in regular contact with, but for the most part, there seems to be an invisible barrier of separation between me and them. I suppose on a macro-level they influence me indirectly by validating my life purpose and ambitions. It's cool to write things you're passionate about and see that 10,000 other people read it and seemed to like it. That has to affect a person I imagine, even if on an unconscious level.
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Lack of internet. Unfortunately in most countries (including the US), landing reliable internet is a crapshoot depending on which hotel or hostel you stay in. In developing countries sometimes you even run into internet problems in apartments and houses. As someone who not only makes a living on the internet, but also needs the internet to keep in touch with my family, friends, plan future travel, pay bills, etc., this drives me crazy to no end. Luckily, wherever you go in the world, there's almost always a Starbucks two blocks away.
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I do believe in it. Although I don't believe in it in any kind of supernatural or meta-physical way. The law of attraction has been taught in self help for over 100 years and can be easily explained by some basic psychological mechanisms we all have. 1. Confirmation bias - when we believe something, we're more likely to see information that supports our belief rather than what refutes it. 2. Opportunity blindness - we're only capable of seeing the possibilities of what we're immediately focusing on. The example I use for this is that when I quit my day job and started an internet business, I believe it was all or nothing with the internet business. But in fact, not only has my business completely evolved into something else I never could have imagined, but I have encountered dozens of amazing opportunities in the past 4 years that don't relate to my business at all. As humans, there are more variables and possibilities than we can comprehend and so we're not able to see them until we take a step towards them. 3. Hindsight - As Steve Jobs, it's easy to connect the dots when you look backwards. What "feels" serendipitous to us is actually just the single path we happened to choose. One of my interns commented to me recently at how lucky he was to have stumbled across a forum where some people knew me, therefore leading him to getting a job with me and being flown to Colombia to work online. I commented back to him that he always wanted to work online, and that if he hadn't met me, chances are he would have met someone else and encountered other opportunities, just as unique. The total effect of all of this is that when you focus singularly on your goal -- whether it be make money, start a business, find a girlfriend -- you start to 1) naturally only see information that confirms your goal, 2) "stumble" onto new opportunities you were unaware existed as you pursue that goal, 3) in hindsight feel that everything serendipitously came together.
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As usual, content is king. People don't share articles that suck. But there are some things you can do. 1. The New York Times actually recently did a little study on their own content and how much it got shared and they found that the more polarizing of an emotional response the article brings, the more likely it is to be shared. It's like the old Howard Stern thing, people who loved him listened to him for 3 hours a day. People who hated him listened to him for 4 hours a day. The point is to get an emotional reaction and a STRONG one at that. 2. Know the basics of copywriting, this is the biggest thing I've picked up from bloggers like Tim Ferriss the last year: the title of the article is so important as a marketing tool. For instance, check out the difference between the two following titles: "Implementation Intention and Overcoming Bad Habits" or "3 Steps to Remove Procrastination from Your Life Permanently" Both are accurate article titles. One is about the psychological concept of implementation intention and how it can be utilized to overcome procrastination and bad habits. The other is the benefit marketed directly in the article title. Guess which one will get shared more? 3. The article needs to be widely applicable. One of the most popular articles on my site is called "Butchering the Alpha Male". It's an article written for a very specific subset of men and a response to a certain subset of men's dating advice. Within that small niche, the article became widely popular and was shared a lot. The thing is, because it's focus was so narrow and was only relevant to such a specific group of people, it never caught fire and spread beyond that.
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Federal Lobbyist
What was the strangest lobbying request you've ever received?
Server / Bartender
What's the best tip you ever got?
Peace Corps Volunteer
Are Peace Corps volunteers just a bunch of "hippie freaks?"
This question is so misinformed and ignorant that I'm not even going to justify it with an answer. Taxi Driver is one of the best movies made in the last 50 years. Anyone who disagrees is a communist and/or a terrorist.
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About myself, I like to think no, there's nothing that's off limits. But there are things about family members and people who have been close to me that I wouldn't reveal (without their permission, of course).
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Yes, absolutely. It forces you into new and uncomfortable situations, often handicaps your communication (creating a so-called "altitude effect") and of course, gets you talking and meeting new people. I think it's one of the most useful things you can do to improve your social skills and social confidence in general.
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