I went to my fist London Bloggers Meetup event last Thursday. I had heard about these meet ups, so I was happy to finally attend one. I couldn't believe my luck when I read that the key speaker for the event was none other than Leo Babauta.
I just couldn't believe it, I love this guy's book!
I keep a copy of Leo's book The Power of Less in my bathroom! I first came into contact with Leo's book when I joined the Personal MBA community two years ago. I've been making my way through the 99 best business books list and Leo's book is in the productivity and effectiveness section.
In a nutshell it's about "simplicity as the art of focusing only on what’s essential to your goals and your personal satisfaction, and ignoring the rest." Have a look at this summary of the Power of Less from the personal MBA website.
It's one on those books that just makes sense and isn't too self helpy. I usually flip through it once a week, when I am having a soak :)
So to find out that Leo was going to be there was really cool. I brought my book along for him to sign, I know I am a bit of a nerd.
Leo's talk was about how he started his blog and insights that he felt were worth sharing. To be honest I hadn't read Leo's Zen Habits blog, just his book. So it was interesting to hear his story and to know follow his blog.
What I took away from it was:
- Write from your life and write with passion.
- Think about how you can help solve people's problems.
- How can your experience help others.
- What stories do you have that people can relate to.
- If Leo could do it in Guam with six kids...so can you.
The second speaker was Arvind Devalia and he was billed as someone who is living by Leo's teaching. He was very kind and gave me an autographed copy of his book Get the Life you Love and Live it. I am going to be taking a look at it this weekend.
At the end of the day it's not rocket science. You also have to feel passion for what you're writing about. Don't blog about something because you feel you have to. No one wants to read about something that's hollow or forced, or just published for the sake of making someone a social media star.
I found the meet up to be inspiring. All I was expecting was a networking event, but I came away with ideas for my own blog. I am looking forward to putting what I learned into practice. I also met some great new people, while seeing some lovely familiar faces. Thanks to the organiser and the sponsors. I am enjoying my Total Greek yoghurt!
