I have loved doing this blog over the past couple of months but I have to move to more pressing issues in my life and career. In trying to Change the World I need to begin taking more action which is what I plan to do.

I am going to have this post up for a few days with a final message.

Look outside yourself. I have written many posts on being introverted or extroverted and various charities, groups and organizations; about character and humanity; about people and the way the world interacts with you and you the world.

My idea I want to present to you now is to see the extroversion inside of you (isn’t that a contradictory statement). I have said before that there are people who can travel the world and be in incredible places and experiences and not even look outside themselves.

The reason I love to stare up at the stars or watch the sun rise and set is because it reminds me of my place in the universe. I am nothing without those around me as far reaching as the other side of the world. A person is nothing without other people. To look only within yourself is to not except the power and importance of those who you may not even know.

To live solely for yourself is vain but to live for yourself and the world is empowering. Helping those outside your own comfort zone actually has benefits for all, including yourself. The Golden Rule is called golden for a reason.

As I sit here outside by a fire, after having a long-and-great conversation with an old friend who just left (came to keep me company while I am sick), I remember the most important aspect of my life is other people. Without them life would be meaningless so to devote myself to others brings me great and fulfilling Life Meaning.

I say tomorrow, you wake up and do your usual routine. Drink your coffee; tread mill for fifteen minutes; whatever. But then during that day I want you to try something. Try following an old rule of the Boy Scouts and do a good deed for someone else in that day. A good turn for someone else in the long run is a good turn for the world and yourself.

It does not have to be a great and powerful showing to your fellow man but a simple gesture of selflessness can bring a great change if done enough by enough people. It could even Change the World.

To keep up with me in the future head over to my personal blog WarrenGreeley.com/Blog to read my future posts. They are on topics of business, writing, and generally trying to change the world.

Thank you for reading. Thanks for caring.

When I meet a new person I try not to talk too much. If I do I end up talking about myself and not really finding out about the person I have recently formed acquaintance with. This is a problem I see with a lot of people so I thought I would throw an alternative suggestion into the mix. You don’t build a connection by boasting about yourself. Being a listener is a great way to form stronger bonds with new people and this can be set as a strategy for building personal and/or professional relationships.

It is really easy to do but oddly enough it does take some practice. The trick of sparking conversation and keeping it going is by asking questions that will lead to more questions.

Here is a little secret. (pretend I am whispering). People love talking about themselves. As I mentioned earlier in this post I am no exception to that rule but to really impress someone, you should be on the listening side of the conversation. Everyone is doing the next big thing but what will really shock a new person is for you to want to know what they are doing and who they are.

Start out by asking a question that will get an answer you know will lead to another question (could be more detail or a tangent on the subject). Once you begin and the story gets more in depth it is easier to tangent into more questions towards the new person you are talking to. The new friend will really enjoy how much you are taking interest in them.

Side note: This is a great strategy to use on the women or men you are interested in too.

Once the conversation gets rolling, continuing to use this strategy will become easier and easier and you will be able to learn much more about the person you are meeting, build a beneficial relationship with them (business, social, or both), and you may just get a free drink out of it too.

In my post “the audacity of introversion” I write the following…

You are not the center of the universe and must realize that in a world of six billion people you have to wait in line like everyone else. Especially to the full grown adults, why do you throw fits in public when you do not get your way? You are not above the people around you and especially are not above those you are yelling at. Most likely they are working harder than you at that moment. Maybe you should take that into consideration.

I want to spotlight the group of people today that inspired me to write these words. They are the restaurant and fast food workers who are constantly harassed, ridiculed, and disrespected by the people they are trying to serve.

Here are some very interesting things you may not know about these people. Take them into consideration next time you are at one of these places.

One Uniform. Emloyees on average because of franchise budget get only one uniform to work in (two if at Portillo’s) but are scheduled to work five to six days a week. The math on that is pretty gross.

Minimum wage. The average employee, even full time get very little over minimum wage and after months or years of hard work their best bet for a raise will be less that a quarter. (normally between 10 cents)

Labor Costs. Managers are forced to cut labor at all corners which means sending home employees early so they make less money. Yes, even the full timers.

Flexible, Ha! Flexible hours does not mean the employee chooses times. They can say when they cannot work but the rest of the time is up to the managers and almost always alters from week to week. Schedules are made only days prior to working in some cases and cannot be altered in most.

Management Wages. An assistant manager will work on average between 50 to 60 hours a week. No, I’m not kidding. And what do they bring home with that hard work? Around 25-30K a year. I’ll let you do the math hourly for that.

Cashiers Responsibilities. The cashier does not just take orders for their minimum wage. They also in their job duties must do the following. Take out trash; clean spills including water, pop, and the occational vomit; wash the interior and exterior windows; sweep the floors and parking lot; mop; clean the mop and bucket when done; unclog the toilet; other bathroom duties I will not mention (use your imagination); scrub the walls; and on and on and on. And that is daily. One cashier will be cleaning up after anywhere from 200 to 400 men, woman, children, and babies every day.

Customers. The cashier especially gets the majority of the riticule for incorrect food. Besides the fact that the food is really cheap and is demanded to be made insanely fast, it is also normally not the cashier’s fault for mistakes made. Yet because of their positioning in the restaurant all the blame goes on them. They have to be peace keepers more than most united nations workers and rarely have any training provided in doing so.

Students and More. Most workers are one of three things. 1. Immigrants. They have very little schooling and do not speak much english. The name on their pay checks is normally not the one people call them. I think you know why. 2. Students. Most of the english speakers are student and they make up the majority of the front cashiers and drive through workers. They get the most ridicule for mistakes made and that gets added onto their stress with homework, paying for college, and the other job they are likely working after dealing with your s**t. 3. 30 and still living at home. These are the types that never finished high school or gave up on college and could not get ahead due to lack of motivation and education. Don’t feel sorry for them but do not get mad at them either. They have done nothing. Literally, they do nothing.

Insurance. The previously mentioned group of students, on top of paying off student loans and trying to sustain the few youthful years they have left, also have the highest rates for insurance which is required to drive (car insurance) and go to most schools (health insurance). Men of college age can pay anywhere from 200 to 300 a month for full coverage. Get a quote yourself if you don’t believe me.

No Respect. They get no respect. (Ode to the late great Rodney Dangerfield). Employees at these establishments are consider the lowliest of all lowlifes by the majority of those in society even though they work harder and longer than most people and get more ridicule than any other type.

No Stability. Besides the risk of getting fired at any point for no reason (change the law Illinois!) employees are subject to a very unstable lifestyle. They work nights and days, have no reasonable sleep schedules, and in most cases have homework and other jobs stacked on top of it all. They do not enjoy the luxuries most complain about like a nine to five job.

These are just a few things. I could go on much longer but I’ll spare you cause it may be too much for you to handle. Next time you are yelling at a cashier, complaining that they put tomatoes on your burrito, or thinking you don’t have to clean up because it is not your house, please think about these things.

The workers at these establisments are rairly lazy. If it seems this way it is probably because they are over worked and just really need someone to put a smile on their face. So who is really the lowliest type of people? The overworked restaurant worker or the whining customer who complains and then leaves a nice big mess to clean up?

Anything else you would like to add? Personal stories? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Many writers, I myself included have become obsessed with typing. It is easier, more efficient, and gets the job done. Or does it? When you are typing there are a million distractions that cause you not to focus. Your music is playing, your email system is on alert, there are many ways to digress from your goal. This causes your focus not to be on the message in your writing so the thought process is not as focused as it could be.

Instead the alternative is writing. Typing is not writing incase you didn’t already realize this. I call myself a writer because I write. Even many of the articles that are on this blog are written before typed out.

The greatest benefit is profound inspiration. When you write there is much less to distract you so your thoughts flow and can end up being much more profound and solid than if typing. There is no spell check to annoy you as you type, no freaking paperclip asking if you need help, no other activity in your view (on your computer screen); it is only your thoughts turned to words.

If you are a writer try this out. Go to a place with no TV, no music, nothing to distract you. Take out a pen a paper and just write. Relay your thoughts into paper without having to worry about the spell check underline or the ding of new email. There is always time to rewrite, type, and publish but without your concepts flowing it is all for nothing so go back to the basics and just write.

In marketing this blog I have been trying a bunch of new things. One concept I have been trying that I learned from John Chow’s Make Money Online Blog was to use simple business cards place in local public forums.

So I mustered up my amazing graphic design skill and went to work on a simple design for a Blog for Squares business card. I even printed them myself because I do not have a marketing budget and then chose locations to put them.

What I found was that having a nice business card is not enough. Even though it looked great it did not stand out to the many people who came within view of it. So I decided to up my strategy with a simple technique to make it more noticeable.

I took a simple sheet of paper and wrote in orange highlighter the frase “Please take one… It won’t bite.” Just this simple attachment to my display made all the difference. By the day’s end I had checked if it worked and the cards were all gone!

Simple things that can make you stand out, no matter how rediculous or uncessary they may seem. It can make all the difference. Whether it is your business, your new blog, trying to find a significant other, or what ever else you are trying to accomplish; a little creativity to make yourself stand out can make a huge difference.

I was just reading an excellent blog that I found through LifeRemix that has inspired me to change my living space. The article I just mentioned is on ZenHabits and is called “A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home.”

Briefly I’ll tell you about the article but it is packed with great info so I encourage you to check it out for yourself.

The article tells of how to create a minimalist living space, one room at a time, by clearing out the clutter and taking each room back to the basics. In doing so it inspires you with a less stressful and more proficient environment.

After reading it I decided to try this approach on my living space, especially because of it’s small size. Since then I have made a plan for improving my office / bedroom in some simple steps.

1. Clear out all the unneeded paperwork and decorations that clutter my surfaces. This will clear up a good amount of space to start with.

2. Clean out my closet (especially the unwanted clothes) and convert the half with shelving into my book / media shelf and also add storage bins to take some extra clutter off my desk. This will allow me to get rid of two pieces in my room; my book shelf and media shelf.

3. The overabundance of wall hangings and and decorations have got to go. This will leave much more space to breath. I will only be keeping key decorations visible and two or three pieces of art / photos on the walls.

4. Rearrange my furniture. Now, I am not trying to seek inner peace by my arrangement but my goal with this is to have more surface in my space. I want the most open clear space possible to employ a feeling of simplicity in my room.

This is the plan I am trying. In the future I will show you how it worked out with some before and after pictures. I encourage you to try it for yourself if you think your living space has too much clutter and doesn’t have the feel you want.

A blog I frequent is BlogGrrl, a blog authored by a school teacher. She recently wrote a post entitled “Think Like a Gangster: 10 Tips for Success” that listed and explained what types of skills you can learn from someone who runs a gang.

This is great thinking. Yes, I know that gangs are awful and create a chaotic environment for some of the people around them but what she has done is put a good spin on a bad thing. With this readers can view and respect a group of people in a new light and actually learn something from them.

The point is that, ultimately, you can learn from anyone. I can’t begin to describe what the kids I teach have taught me, although perhaps the most important thing has been keeping an open mind. Now that I’m back in the fray, don’t be surprised if my posts take on a bit of a different tone, because there is always some drama that alternately inspires and terrifies me.

Thanks BlogGrrl for the insight. I always love to read out of the box thinking.