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Intrepid Innovations Networking Club Newsletter – February 2009– Page 1
Welcome to the Intrepid Networking Club Newsletter!
In this newsletter, you'll find:
Introductory LetterPage 1"How to Build Your Pyramid One Brick at a Time" by Dan KenitzPage 2“Business Tips & Tricks” by Aaron Robertson
 
Page 5
Intrepid’s March networking event!
 
Page 6
Updates and NewsPage 7
February Introductory Letter
Hey everyone,The higher we set our goals, the better things seem to get. This very club was mentionedon the front page of the
 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
this past month, leading us to meetsome new faces out there that we can’t wait to see in person.Also, be sure to communicate with us via our Intrepid Networking Club Facebook Page(http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=69408063416&ref=ts
 
). We’vealready got a solid membership roster going, but we want you to make your voices heard.Got some doubts? Post them up and receive some encouragement. Need a place to vent?Post up your rant and we’ll give you our take. Looking for feedback? We can dish it out.Got a funny YouTube video with absolutely no relevance at all? Hey, it’s
all
networkingto us.The Intrepid Networking club isn’t only about meeting contacts and filling your cellphone with names. It’s about finding out who you are in this world and building astronger identity that helps you achieve your goals. Whether you’re looking for greatcontacts, new friendships, or stimulating conversation, we’ve got it. So join in!We hope this newsletter finds you healthy and happy, and we hope to see you at our nextevent.
Keep on networking,,
The Intrepid Team: Aaron, Phil, and Dan
 
Intrepid Innovations Networking Club Newsletter – February 2009– Page 2
“How to Build Your Pyramid One Brick at a Time”
by Dan Kenitz, Director of Content Development
When I was a sophomore in high school, my dad approached me with the idea for a book.Since he knew I was already strongly inclined toward writing, he thought it would be agood collaboration for us, with me doing the writing and him handling the editing.Of course, if you haven't written a book before, I would venture to say that it's likeaccomplishing a mental marathon. It's one of the most mentally taxing and difficultundertakings you can take on.Fortunately, I did have one bit of knowledge and insight that helped me to accomplish thefeat of writing a 500-page first draft within a month or two.That's right - a month or two. Even though I was going to high school every weekday.How did I do this? What special insight did I have that let me tackle this enormouschallenge so quickly?Let's illustrate it with an example first.Let's say you wanted to build a pyramid in your backyard, and did all of the preparations:you ordered all of the bricks and stored them away, had all of the blueprints ready. Howwould you actually accomplish this without any help?After all, the ancient Egyptians usually had slaves do most of the backbreaking labor.We obviously can't "outsource" the work like that!Here's what you would do: let's say that the bricks were so big that you only needed1,000 to complete the Pyramid. You could do a lot of the work yourself, but it would behard to stay motivated after loading up 50 or so bricks the first day.Instead of letting yourself give up, you set a smaller quota for yourself: you'll lay tenbricks every weekday, first thing in the morning, no exceptions. Break up your hugeaccomplishment into smaller, achievable chunks.How long would it take to build your pyramid? Years? Decades?Nope. Just twenty weeks.And that's with weekends off!That's how I tackled writing that book. Every day, after school, I wouldn't do anythinguntil I had written ten pages. Sometimes I really struggled to hit the quota, and even themoments of profound inspiration were surrounded by most moments, in which it felt like
 
Intrepid Innovations Networking Club Newsletter – February 2009– Page 3
an enormous chore. But it wasn't long until all of that hard work gathered into onemonstrous piece of achievement.Did I publish the book? Actually, I didn't do much with it after that. But the rewardswere there - after all of that intense work, I never had to worry about typing too slowagain, and my inclination toward writing became even stronger, eventually landing me ascholarship to a University with a writing program.When I demonstrate how I write to people with no writing experience, it looks like I havesome sort of mystical talent.Of course, you and I know better.The truth is simple.They didn't see the hours upon hours of hard work, the struggling to find the right words,the total commitment to finish my quota each weekday, no exceptions.Others only see the results.They see the Pyramid in your backyard, not the work that went into it. When you onlysee the results of hard work, it's easy to ascribe achievements to sexier factors thansimple, ordinary, routine work.As Thomas Edison said, genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.Don't be misled by the myth. Lay ten bricks a day and you'll eventually build yourpyramid.In an article on the Intrepid blog recently, I mentioned Malcolm Gladwell's book called"The Outliers." In that book, Gladwell mentions the "10,000-hour rule," which says thatgreatness in one field of endeavor typically takes 10,000 hours of practice.It's up to you to learn how to apply this to your own life. What are your goals, and whatcould you do to start laying those bricks every day? How are you going to start rackingup hours?If you want a new boyfriend or girlfriend, try approaching one member of the oppositesex every day, five days a week. That's it; just one a day, every weekday. Try it out forthirty days and see if the results speak for themselves.If you want to find a new job, try applying for a certain amount of jobs every weekday.How many is realistic for you? Three? One?
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