For readers from the States, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving! A few months ago, I was thinking about all the individuals who have helped shape the course of my life and the person I am today. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the guidance of some brilliant minds and to surround myself with motivated, creative, innovative people.

They say your character and your achievements are influenced most by the people you surround yourself with. There have even been studies that show your income bracket is likely to be equal to the average of that of your five closest friends. So who are you surrounding yourself with?

Today I wanted to share my gratitude to my many teachers, mentors, role models, and friends who have influenced my life and given me their support. It’s important to acknowledge those who help foster your abilities and empower you to pursue the life you want.

Alec Hodgins

A French Canadian who taught English in France for years and then migrated to the US to teach French! I was lucky to be in his class for three years in high school. Alec was the most influential teacher I ever had in school, always advocating the unconventional path. He was the one who inspired my fascination with world cultures, languages, and travel. My first travel abroad was on a class trip with him to Cannes & Paris, France, and he first got me drooling over photos of Thailand when he took his wife and son there in 2000.

Lesson learned: You don’t have to color inside the lines all the time.

Alan Haynes

My photography teacher in high school, again for three years. In another life, I was a professional photographer (now it’s mostly a hobby, but I have a travel photo site coming soon). Alan connected me with my very first job, working in a darkroom, and showed me that it was possible to earn a great living if you split your time as an artist and as a teacher, to pass on your craft to the next generation.

Lesson learned: It’s okay to pursue your creative passion professionally.

Nicole Pefley

I met Nicole in middle school and our paths have intertwined ever since. She’s been a two-time Coachellian with me, we have a shared love for travel, French, music, and other assorted weird experiences. After high school, she lived in Paris for many months, and then spent a year studying in Brazil, so she was a great example for me to follow when I chose to live abroad for a while. Recently, she’s followed in Alec Hodgins footsteps and began teaching French at our old high school.

Lesson learned: We’ve both found you really can be a drifter for a few years after school, explore your interests, and eventually land on your feet.

Ramit Sethi

I’ve mentioned Ramit a few times recently. He was the first big blogger I reached out to when I started building my online presence in 2006, and I found out we’re from the same town! He’s a perfect role model for gen-y bloggers and entrepreneurs—he’s a year older than me, a graduate of Stanford University, and a successful tech startup co-founder. He’s worked with bigshots like Seth Godin and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and now he’s a New York Times bestselling author!

Lesson learned: Nobody’s going to give you handout. But there’s no harm in asking for what you want.

Jeffrey Skoll

Jeff Skoll was the first president of eBay and founder of movie production company Participant Media (responsible for bringing An Inconvenient Truth to the world). He’s been an active voice at Stanford’s Center for Social Innovation, and took his wealth from his success at eBay to become a philanthropist and support innovative entrepreneurship and social change with the Skoll Foundation. I’ve never spoken to Jeff, but he has always served as a great social entrepreneur role model for me.

Lesson learned: You can make a damn good living and make a difference at the same time.

Warren Buffett

The “Oracle of Omaha” is known around the world as one of the world’s most talented investors and money managers, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the richest person in the world (up until 2008, worth about $62 billion). Buffett started out with the money he earned as a newspaper boy to buy his first assets, and despite his now immense fortune, he still lives in a home he purchased for $50K in the 1950s and embraces a frugal lifestyle. In 2006, I had the opportunity to meet him briefly, just weeks after his announcement that he’d be giving away 85 percent of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Lesson learned: If the wealthiest investor & philanthropist in the world grew his business from just a few dollars from his paper route, you can too.

Rajesh Setty

I connected with Raj through his blog Life Beyond Code in my early days of blogging. As a serial entrepreneur, he tends to be involved as a co-founder, investor, or board member in about eight companies at any given time. He shares his wealth of business experience and motivational wisdom through his blog, Twitter, speaking engagements, and his books, and he was a huge influence on me when I first started my freelance side business which later grew into Thrilling Heroics Consulting.

Lesson learned: Business isn’t about a product, it’s about the people you work with, the relationships you build, and the dedication you show to your customer.

Timothy Ferriss

My interest in coming to Southeast Asia was fueled by reading Tim Ferriss’ inspiring NYT Bestseller The 4 Hour Workweek. Ferriss noted that Thailand and Argentina were two of the world’s best remaining destinations where Americans can easily stretch their dollar, and that if you spend the time to build a business that you can run from anywhere, you can easily leverage the idea of geo-arbitrage—earning in a strong currency while you live somewhere with a low cost-of-living. Though I’ve never met Tim, his ideas and experiments have certainly influenced a lot of my business decisions since reading his book!

Lesson learned: You don’t have to wait until retirement to create the lifestyle of your dreams. Also, nobody ever said you have to follow the rules.

Jacqueline Novogratz

Founder & CEO of Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture fund that invests philanthropic capital and trains the next generation of business leaders in South Asia and East Africa to build thriving businesses focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor. She delivers a few incredibly pursuasive TED Talks and is a shining example of some of the social entrepreneurs that are trying to lead social progress for the developing world. (Side note: Jacqueline is married to TED‘s founder Chris Anderson, another inspirational figure who has proven that that ideas can change the world. I’m excited to bring Chris’ vision to Thailand in Febraury with TEDx BKK!)

Lesson learned: Entrepreneurial approaches can be applied to solve the problems of global poverty.

Matt Mullenweg

At just 25-years-old, Matt Mullenweg has developed a company that is changing the way businesses interact with their clients online. His company created the WordPress blog platform, which makes it easy for anyone to get started publishing online, and which is what I have built my two businesses around—Thrilling Heroics Consulting and FreelanceWP—to help make online publishing more accessible to everyone and help innovators and changemakers spread their message to the world. Matt is a huge advocate of open-source development, which is making great software more quickly and easily possible, and transforming how we think about ownership.

Lesson learned: Share your best ideas with the world freely to empower the largest possible community, and it will come back to you many-fold.

Paul Dickey

Paul joined E*Trade after high school and became senior internal auditor, working around the world and overseeing a team of employees with advanced degrees. We met in college when he returned to get his own Bachelor’s degree, lived together for nearly a year, and traveled to Spain together with friends. Paul led a campaign to implement leadership studies at Sac State, was president of several student organizations, and together we attended many entrepreneurship conferences, organized monthly Saturday art walks in Sacramento, launched the U.S.’ fourth university Toastmasters chapter, and networked with tons of other entrepreneurs. He’s got a few business plans laid out, a submission with the patent office, and real estate property.

Lesson learned: Set your life goals and manage your time appropriately, and you can maximize your involvement in different entrepreneurial opportunities to guarantee your success.

Chris Guillebeau

After Tim Ferriss, Chris Guillebeau has perhaps been the most influential writer encouraging the masses to think differently and pursue unconventional, remarkable lifestyles. Chris is on a mission to travel to every country in the world (he’s already visited 122), and since starting his blog The Art of Nonconformity a little under 2 years ago, he has managed to create a full-time income for himself just from his writing projects. He even has great tips on how to travel to rogue states and “off-limits” places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Libya, Syria, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea. I got the chance to meet him on his way through Bangkok in February, and have often been inspired by his thoughts on entrepreneurship, success, and changing the world.

Lesson learned: You really can go anywhere you want, and create your own wealth along the way.

Dwight Turner

Dwight and I met briefly in college. When I learned he had taught for a year in Thailand, we became fast friends and eventually both ended up back in Bangkok together. Dwight’s In Search Of Sanuk is a grassroots charity organization that makes it easy for anyone to contribute their time or donations to make a difference for orphans and refugees here in Thailand. He housed me when I first moved out here, has supported me through a lot of the challenges of getting used to expat/entrepreneur life, and together we’ve done a lot of traveling, volunteering, and bringing cool people from different walks of life together for the monthly Bangkok Tweetup, charity mixers, and other social events.

Lesson learned: It’s easier than you might think to mobilize a community to create social change.

Vanessa Rubin

An incredible young woman I was lucky to meet this year here in Bangkok—Vanessa is an aid worker who has spent nearly a decade working on humanitarian projects (frequently as a food & hunger advisor) in places like Nepal, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, & Bangladesh—she’s full of life, an avid rock climber, and earlier this year she was filmed for the BBC’s TV series Extreme Dreams on an expedition to scale Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. She came to Thailand to review progress made by Care International since the 2004 tsunami.

Lesson learned: Always reach for new heights and seek ways to improve the lives of others, but never neglect yourself either.

Larry McKibben

My dad has been the biggest supporter of my unconventional entrepreneur & digital nomad lifestyle. Though I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, he has often been the one to encourage me and give me the pep-talk I need. Although he didn’t finish his college degree the first time around, he has had an extremely successful twenty-year career in retail sales and training and quickly worked his way to earning an envy-inducing salary. He’s always been dedicated to his family and a great example of a hard worker.

Lesson learned: With enough dedication, you don’t have to let perceived barriers-to-entry prevent you from being successful.

So who are the teachers that had the most impact on you? Who are your mentors? What supportive friends and role models are you thankful for?

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Show Thanks For Your Teachers, Mentors & Role Models

Okay I’ve been meaning to participate in Robert Hruzek’s latest meme since May 24th! That’s been over a month now (!), and I feel really horrible I still haven’t shared how I feel bloggin’ has impacted me since I started. What can I say? … I’ve been swamped with work, and interviewing authors and entrepreneurs, and calling San Diego business owners, and test-driving BMWs, and Toastmastering, and MasterMinding, and NetImpacting! It’s a hard life!

Oh well, I have the time now. Part of the reason it’s taken me so long to address is that I’ve been reflecting on the question for about three weeks! To quote Robert, “The irony is that while we bloggers are out changing the world, we’re also changing ourselves, you know? And by that I mean me, personally. To my surprise, I’ve changed in significant ways – directly as a result of blogging.”

I just had my first blogging anniversary in early June! (Although I started online journaling in 2003, I consider my blogging birth to be June 2006 when I started ThrillingHeroics.com and started writing for an audience, not just for my family members.) So how has it changed me in those 13 months? A LOT! That’s how.

How Blogging Has Changed Me

I’m addicted to the internet! I experience information overload firsthand. On a daily basis! But, the good side is that I’ve gotten really good at filtering what information I let in, what I care about and what I waste my time on. I read MUCH more (I’m almost done with my 5th book for the year — that’s 4 more than last year — in addition to the thousands of news articles and blog posts I read from week to week). I don’t let myself get as distracted by television (most of it is pointless drivel), video games, or other forms of laziness and distraction. I’m much more informed — I always know the latest trends in technology and business, and I often hear the headlines days before they get reported on your local TV news station. I’m addicted…but I’m always constantly learning and growing.

• Cody Recommends: Google Reader for organizing all those RSS feeds; and Suggestica for good book recommendations

I’m much more well connected. I’ve learned to appreciate the importance of and power of relationships. Considering myself a bit of a rogue journalist, I like to interview and talk to people in different businesses and I always enjoy reaching out to form new connections and learn from people who are doing it! I’ve somehow managed to build a global network of friends — a columnist in Wisconsin, a career coach in Arizona, a photographer in Pakistan, a student of design in Norway, an American student in Ireland, an executive in Palo Alto, a professor in India, entrepreneurs in the Bay Area, and so on. I’m a businessman, and what I’ve realized is that business is all about people. Relationships. You’ve gotta foster them before you need them, and you’ve gotta keep fostering them. You can never assume that you don’t need someone just because they’re not a customer! (They might be a future customer.) The best practice is simply to always look out for how you can help others and promote others, and it will come back to you, guaranteed. Think Karma.

• Cody Recommends: LinkedIn for business networking and asking questions to your professional peer group; and Facebook for connecting with old friends, coworkers, and classmates; also read Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone

I have loftier goals. 13 months ago, I didn’t want to go to Stanford GSB. I didn’t want to run my own company. I didn’t think writers or CEOs would give me the time of day. But, through lots of patient persistence and trying to learn about my interests — in green business, career development, and tech startups — and through trying to get in contact with important people, I’ve become much more motivated to do BIG things. I’m more of a goal-setter. I’ve started a career development group. I’m trying to start a professional organization in Sacramento! And I’m learning how to rubn shoulders with the big guys — the ones who are doing what you want to do! I’ve learned that pretty much anybody is accessible. Even CEOs. They may not have a lot of time — but everyone, in their own private lives, considers themselves just another regular guy (or gal). Everyone LOVES to talk about themselves! If you have a sincere interest in what someone does, let them know. We all like to feel important and like our experience and knowledge are valuable to others.

• Cody Recommends: Start a MasterMind group (or join mine!) to excel your career and for goal accountability; and join a Toastmasters club to practice your public speaking

I take more initiative. Perhaps through trying to keep a clean email inbox, I’ve picked up the habit of attacking tasks more aggressively. I break down projects into actionable steps and I just go after the next goal. I didn’t always have such a proactive approach to getting things done — in fact I was quite a procrastinator. But procrastinating doesn’t work if you want to be a writer. You’ve gotta put out regular, good content. And that means you have to go out and chase it down! Now, if I see something that needs to get done, I try to just DO IT. When I want to accomplish some big goal, I call up those important people who I think can help. Just ask them (make it worth their while — frame it how it will benefit them). What’s the worst they could say? No? So what…you can’t lose what you don’t already have. So do it now, or else you won’t ever do it. Same with cleaning the house, starting that 401k, taking that vacation, saving the $10 service fee the bank tries to screw you for, reaching out to your favorite author, going back to school, and so on. Do it now, or you’ll never do it.

• Cody Recommends: David Allen’s Getting Things Done (this is the productivity Bible!)

Thanks go out to Robert for starting this little exercise! I’m not going to tag anyone for this meme because I’ve attacked all of my blogger friends with plenty of memes lately, but you readers out there who happen to blog, please feel free to continue this discussion and let me know how you’ve changed since you started blogging…

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: How Has Blogging Changed Me?

In a recent article, Paul asks the important question “can leadership be taught?” He gives a very good explanation of the current beliefs in the field. Leadership is thought to be up to two-thirds emotional intelligence, which is something we aren’t always taught in school. Paul gives a conclusive case why Sacramento State should consider adding leadership teaching to its curricula, and cites several successful institutions who have implemented similar programs (especially the LEADS program prevalent throughout the UC system).

Take a read and maybe you’ll learn a few things about leadership! Anyone Else Interested in Leadership Studies?

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Can Leadership Be Taught?

1. Keep exercising and stay fit. I have to conquer my asthma problem, keep running in the evenings at home, and I would like to start a new habit of taking a morning walk at work.
2. Register a dot com domain for myself and the blog. But, this means I need to find a friend who can help me design a professional homepage and possibly redesign the blog with significantly less than $1000.
3. Read at least one book a month that will help me realize my dreams. Since Christmas came, I’ve already got my books for the next 8 months:
   • Tom Peters’ The Brand You50
   • Rajesh Setty’s Beyond Code: Learn to Distinguish Yourself in 9 Simple Steps
   • Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People
   • Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes’ The Innovation Paradox: The Success of Failure, The Failure of Success
   • James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds
   • Jay Abraham’s Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got
   • Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone
   • Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics
4. Start a new business, and donate one percent of sales revenue to improve the environment through 1% for the Planet (started by the founder of Patagonia).
5. Reflect on my past week and plan my upcoming week. I also need to use my calendar better and want to look into using an online calendar that will sync with my Apple iCal (anyone have any tips?).
6. Start making a regular donation to the Save Darfur Coalition, a charity that sends aid to the victims of genocide in Sudan and lobbies on their behalf. This is a cause I have become very passionate about in the last year or so, and in addition to donating, I have pledged to get commitment this year from at least five friends to sign the easy online petition to the President and the new UN Secretary-General to strengthen the African Union forces in Darfur, to send a UN peace force, and to increase aid to Sudan (please follow that link if you’d like to help petition the UN to send more help—it is an easy 2-minute process).
7. Attend networking events and become a better public speaker through a club such as Toastmasters International.
8. Purchase carbon offsets for my Pontiac through a company like TerraPass.
9. Join GreenDimes, the service that keeps you off junk mail lists for 10 cents a day, and plants a tree for you each month!
10. Teach myself French again with language podcasts or CDs.

What are YOUR New Years resolutions?

Please share in the comments!

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: My 2007 New Years Resolutions