Using Twitter can make you smarter. Yes, it can also make you dumber if you just waste time tweeting about a bunch of nothing.
I had already posted about a way to use Twitter that makes it fun and relevant. Read that article to see how to capture your thoughts in a rapid fire way.
Here are some more thoughts for using Twitter that makes it as indispensable as text messaging for you:
1. 4 A Day. Try and capture for good thoughts in a day. It’s a mental challenge to keep yourself sharp. You have many thoughts in a day from the people you meet and the books you read. When you capture them, you own them. Don’t let good thoughts pass you by. Force yourself to capture 4 each day minimum.
2. Learn to write headlines. The most important part of writing is having a great headline. You end up competing for people’s mindshare. Even if you wrote a great article or piece, it is in vain if you cannot capture attention and get people to write. Use those 140 characters to practice the art of writing compelling headlines. The space forces you to focus. Exercise that muscle of creativity with a brief focal point.
3. Measure your reading. I already talked about how to use Twitter for notetaking for yourself. If you audit your own Twitter feed, you should be able to see how much you have been reading. Your knowledge and ideas are what matters in the new economy. To grow with this you have to exercise your mind. Start with Love is the Killer App on an Audible account on your iPhone. Listen along for an hour a day and take notes in your Twitter. You can easily finish 1-2 books a day. Imagine how much smarter you will be with ideas. While everyone else is cruising, you keep growing.
4. Connect with the author. Every book you knock out can become a part of you. Mention or tweet about the author using something like @DonDalrymple. Follow the person who shared that knowledge with you. Grow that collection of thought leaders for yourself in your Twitter feed. The great thing about the Twitter ecosystem is that you can connect with total strangers. It’s about sharing thoughts and ideas and seeing what the quality of those tweets may lead to. You started with some ideas, now stay with the source and continue growing.
I think a lot of people shy away from Twitter because they think it is merely about follower counts and marketing gimmicks.
In reality, it is simply one of the most convenient and frictionless ways to get information and share it. Using it as a personal tool and scorecard can keep you focused on your own personal growth.
Imagine looking back over your tweets from the last month or two. It should give you a great gauge of how much you are truly growing.
