Was rapping with an industry colleague the other day about this whole email thing…

I subscribe to his email list.

Recently, he’d sent a note to his readers asking for *feedback* and *suggested topics*.

I hated it…even told him as much.

Here’s why: it’s not my job to supply the theme-of-the-day.  I’m a subscriber because I’m interested in what YOU have to say.  I wanna know what you’re passionate about; what inspires you.  If you’ve got an opinion, I want to hear it.  That’s interesting.

Not sanitizing your content so it appeals to everyone.

A listener once called The Howard Stern Show offering feedback, and Howard told him point blank, “not necessary.”  He went on to explain why a fan’s critique is irrelevant, and how if he’d listened to feedback, he’d have quit a long time ago.

“I don’t care what you think, I care what I think,” he told the stunned caller.

I recently attended a talk by another fitness guy, Harley Pasternak.

I thought most of his presentation was canned, catered to a general audience, and just plain vanilla (I personally like vanilla as a flavour, but the connotation is *boring*, in case you missed it).  It was basically the fitness equivalent of shoving a pacifier in the audience’s mouth.

But I liked the Q&A.

Why?

Because he dropped the niceties and plainly said what he thought.  For instance, he called all the fuss about gluten “the biggest load of crap.”  I don’t agree (read my recent take on gluten here), but I appreciated hearing it.

Anyway, my industry friend received my comment in the right spirit.  I think.

What’s this all mean for you?

I’m not sure what you do, but regardless, there’s never been a time in human history that begged for honest, sober dialogue, more than this one.  We’re too afraid of offending, and too easily deterred by negative feedback.  It’s turning us into a society of wimps and whiners.  Don’t be one!  Adding your voice to the chorus of mush out there might get you lots of likes on Fakebook, but it’ll make you entirely forgettable everywhere else.

Personal transparency is what fuels charisma.

Just my two cents.  Canadian, that is.  So more like one and half.

My latest video transformation tip explores this concept of SELF and how it impacts your inability to change.  Watch this brief video to find out why I think Oprah Winfrey struggles with her weight, despite how rich and successful she is…

Happy Feedback-Ignoring,

Conor Kelly
conorkelly.com