I’ve been asked if I’m open to suggestions for new blog topics. The answer is yes. I’ve been open to them since day one. Many of the topics I’ve covered have been suggested by readers, including the recent series on self-discipline.
Whenever someone sends me a suggestion for a new topic, I add it to my ideas list for future blog entries. If I think enough people will be interested in a particular personal development topic, I’ll usually address it in some fashion if I haven’t done so already.
Lately I’ve had to stop accepting requests for personal advice via email. I was able to handle that for several months, but the volume of traffic has become too high for me to continue. I knew this point would eventually come, but I didn’t expect it to occur this soon. I made a conscious decision to focus on one-to-many communication (writing, speaking, blogging) as opposed to one-to-one communication (personalized advice, coaching, counseling). Partly this is because of my personal goals, and partly it’s because of the nature of the Internet. I can answer an email and reach one person, or I can write an article and reach thousands. While I do find great benefit in helping people one-on-one, I don’t think email is the best way to do it — for that I prefer face-to-face communication because it’s so much richer than plain text. This is why I like the combination of writing and speaking. Writing can reach more people, but speaking forms a stronger personal connection.
If you’d like to suggest a topic or pose a question for a future blog entry, feel free to do so either by posting a comment below or by sending me a message. You can make anonymous suggestions if you wish.
Here are some of the requests I’ve already received, so if any of these interest you as well, please let me know (I’m more likely to blog about a topic if I see a lot of interest in it):
- I have no idea what I should be doing with my life. How do I figure this out? How do I know which goals to set?
- How can I become more confident?
- What problems are you struggling with personally? What’s really hard for you?
- What do you do for fun?
- How can I relax and reduce stress?
- I’m in a long-term relationship. It’s pretty good but not quite what I wanted. How do I decide whether I should break up or not?
- I’d like to hear your comments on increasing your energy. I often find myself mentally drained and was wondering what advice you have for feeling revved up and focused all day long.
- What do you do if you’re stuck in a job you know you don’t like, but you don’t know what else to do and you need the money?
- Sometimes I feel really aware, and I know I need to set goals and do something with my life. Everything seems clear. But other times it’s like I’m stuck in a fog, and I waste a lot of time with no goals and later regret it. How can I get my awareness to stay high and stop sinking back down again?
- What are your religious beliefs? You’ve mentioned studying different belief systems and that you don’t belong to any organized religion. But do you believe in God or an afterlife? How do your spiritual beliefs connect with the rest of your life? I’d like to know how you see the “big picture.”
- How can I overcome an addiction like smoking?
- What about happiness? How important is that? What role does it play in personal development?
- You scare me!