Life Musings

I've quoted Keith Ferrazzi before as he offered advice on being a master networker. He does offer the following bit of advice though, which I have a hard time accepting.

Never Eat Alone

The dynamics of status in a business network are similar to those in Hollywood: invisibility is a fate worse than failure. Above all, never, ever disappear. "Keep your social and conference and event calendar full," Ferrazzi tells me. "I give myself one night a week for myself, and the rest is an event or dinner."

Is this a life?

Ferrazzi, who has no children but has been in a 10-year relationship with another man, spends almost all his time working. "I wake up around 5 or 6 in the morning, and I go until 1 in the morning," he says. "Every free moment is a chance to E-mail or call someone. But I don't consider that work. That's my true joy. I have balance, but it's my own version. My career and my community-service stuff have always taken a front seat to my personal life. But, in a sense, that is my personal life. There's no distinction for me. Yes, I'd like to go to church more and meditate more. And it's been a while since I've taken a real vacation. But do I feel like I've sacrificed anything? No."

This might work in some fields, but I think that engineers and a lot of other introspective types would have a hard time with it. And the title that he gives this particular rule ("Never eat alone") is kinda extreme. I understand that he was probably going for hyperbole, but I think that hyperbole works against him in this case.