Blogging About Blogs

I don’t know about you, but there are days… no, make that weeks when it seems I can’t keep up with all the reading I want and/or need to do. I suppose “want” is the most accurate word here, as no one is forcing me to do all the reading I do. But, on second thought, “need” really is the word that describes how I feel about what I read. It’s kinda like an addiction, this reading, this thirst for more knowledge that I have.

The other day I was trying to update my reading list on my LinkedIn account - http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=17909489&trk=tab_pro - and realized that I’d probably shut the entire internet down if I listed every book I’d like to recommend! I ended up listing a couple more of my favorites, but I’m about a year behind from when I read them to when I list them on LinkedIn. Oh well…

Then there are blogs.

I have a few favorites that I like to read on a regular basis – that is, if you can call not reading them for a month, then reading every post all in one day regular. That seems to be my pattern: Ignore them all for a couple of weeks, then find some time to sit and read them all in one evening. I wish I could be a bit more regular with my blog-reading pattern. Oh well…

I love Peter Zaballos’ Open Ambition blog (http://openambition.com/). In addition to his insights from a side of the business world that many don’t get to see – as a venture capitalist – lately Peter has shared some of his experiences about a three-week hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. What I love about his blog is how it gets me thinking about business in different ways, and these latest posts get me thinking about a hiking adventure next summer. Hmmm…

Although much different, I also enjoy time at Zen Habits at http://zenhabits.net/. How different is it from Open Ambition? Compare the venture capital world to an blogger living on Guam, and you begin to see the difference (although, I’m sure Peter’s hike led to some Zen-like habit-forming thoughts).

As a writer, Write to Done at http://writetodone.com/ is another of my favorite blogs. Interestingly, it’s written by the same person who writes Zen Habits (well, most of the time – he does have many guest bloggers).

Which brings me to my blog’s focus, performance and learning, and my favorite blogs that inspire me, that I learn from, that make me think. They are:

• Performance & Strategy at http://www.performanceandstrategy.com/.
• Creating High Performers at http://www.l2lgroup.com/_blog/L2L_Group.
• The Business Execution Blog at http://www.successfactors.com/blogs/business-execution/.
• Be Excellent at http://sixdisciplines.blogspot.com/.
• Management Excellence at http://artpetty.com/.

And from there I just go surfing through a variety of others, sometimes killing an entire evening just looking for more interesting blogs. But I always come back to the ones above. Sure, some of them have a commercial bent to them, but that’s okay as long as they inspire, teach and make me think.

Have I missed any? If you know of a blog that I should be reading, please let me know – send me a link. And then help me find more time in my day to read it.

Comments

[Kevin YORK]

Great post Ross; thanks for the links!

[Ross Bentley]

I bet you have some good ones, too. Any recommendations?

On Sep 25, 2009, at 4:25 AM, typepad@sixapart.com wrote: