Moments ago, a friend of mine called me "weird" (a cognitive distortion known as "labeling") after she learned I didn't know that she was the one text-messaging me this morning.
For the record, out of the 18 contacts in my address book, four are family members (22%) and 12 are my closest friends or acquaintances I enjoy being connected to the most (78%) . Since I'm connected to nearly 2,000 people due to friendships, education, volunteering, or business, there are ten super smart reasons why I have under 20 contacts. Let's begin:
1. Functionality - I prefer to quickly locate the people with whom I speak the most.
2. Availability - Due to the nature of my work and lifestyle, I am most often unavailable for unscheduled phone calls.
3. Discipline - One of my personal preferences is to limit distractions.
4. Efficiency - E-mails are a better way to communicate for non-urgent priorities.
5. Interest - While it would be fun to be connected to plenty of people on my cell phone, I have enough fun being connected to people via e-mail and Facebook.
6. Effort - I am not interested in taking the time and making the effort to maintain an abundant address book.
7. Temptation - In my spare time, I do some personal coaching. While I'm an exceptional listener and enjoy helping people reach personal and business goals, I would be tempted to help even more people if I had 24/7 access to them in the palm of my hand.
8. Minutes - Up until May 2008, I had the 300 min./month Verizon calling plan. It's true, but I was actually only averaging 200 minutes a month. While I'm now on a 450 min./month plan (and actually hit 700 last month due to new coaching clients), having limitations helps me focus on my priorities.
9. Opportunity Costs - The more I speak on the phone today, the less I'll want to speak on the phone tomorrow. That's not good if tomorrow I'm committed to making specific phone calls. This one's for you, Ma!
10. My Profession - I am a professional speaker who is compensated to communicate to people on a one-on-one basis, in small groups, or before large audiences. Some days, I spend 8-12 hours speaking to people. For professional speakers, the last thing one wishes to do after a day or week of speaking is to speak on the phone. And for no fee, mind you.
So there you have it friends. Interested in having me speak? Please visit my web site to learn more about me.
