The Importance of 5 Online Tools

Kevin Eikenberry explains how five very important online tools can help you reach your goals this year!

The Web has become the home for so many activities. It increasingly is becoming a source for shopping, it is where many people get their news, and it is a major source of entertainment. And while the online world certainly can provide all of those things, it can also be a source for something potentially much more valuable.

Consider the World Wide Web as your personal “goal and learning accelerator.”

Because the Web can help in so many other parts of their lives, many have missed this fact. Some people even complain that the Web is a distraction from achieving their goals; calling it a time waster.

Because it is so vast, the Web can be virtually anything you want it to be! This article is meant to help you use the Web in new ways; to help you learn more, and learn it faster; therefore moving you towards your goals more rapidly than ever.

One more thing before I get to these tools. This article isn’t a technical treatise on how these tools work or even how to get the maximum value from them. Rather, it is meant to give you an introduction and some ideas for how you can use them to reach your goals. As you find one or more of these tools that you believe can especially help you I encourage to follow some of the links, try them out and learn as you go!

If you have some goals set, pull them out or think about them now. Then, as you read on, think about how you could use one or more of these tools in service of your goals.

1. Blogs

What They Are:

If you haven’t yet become a blog reader, now is the time. There are blogs written on almost every conceivable topic. Some blogs are written by so called “experts” (authors for example), while others are written by anyone who might be passionate about the topic. Yes, there are thousands of blogs written detailing people’s daily lives or ranting about a particular political issue; however, there are likely many valuable resources in areas relating to your goals.

Ideas for Reaching Your Goals:

The simplest way that blogs can help you is as a source of research and knowledge related to your goal. While this is valuable, it just scratches the surface of what blogs can do. Bloggers (people who write blogs) love feedback and most all blogs allow you to post comments. This allows you to ask questions, share your opinion and be engaged with the knowledge. Beyond this, as you begin to comment you may find yourself building a relationship with that blogger – and that blogger could become a mentor, coach or in some other way help you reach your goals. Maybe most important, you may want to begin blogging yourself! Just as capturing your insights and progress in a journal can help you, blogging some of those lessons will help you, and possibly others as well!

Links:

Getting started
The Google Reader
Start writing a blog

2. Social Networks

What They Are:

You’ve probably heard of Facebook and/or MySpace, and thought it was something for your kids (or possibly your grandkids). However, both are growing up and may be valuable for you too - regardless of your age. They are just two of a wide variety of social networks or communities that are available online. Facebook and MySpace are the largest and most general, but there are also online communities for most any group or interest that you might have.

Ideas for Reaching Your Goals:

The big idea in social networking and goal achievement is the community that can support you in reaching your goals. Depending on the community you become a part of you might meet people who have achieved what you want to achieve or who can help you in some other way. All of us need to feel connected, and while you may have a wide circle of friends and colleagues, they may not be the people who can help you move towards your goals most rapidly.

Links:

Here are several online communities. Click on these links or do a search to learn more:

Facebook
MySpace / My MySpace page
LinkedIn / My LinkedIn page
Shelfari (a community of book readers) / My Shelfari page

3. Wikis

What They Are:

Wikis are websites where people can add content without any special tools or software. The best known is Wikipedia, a publicly created version of an encyclopedia. There are wikis for all sorts of specialty areas, including perhaps an area related to your goals.

Ideas for Reaching Your Goals:

You can certainly use wikis for research, but let’s be more creative than that. Let’s say you have a goal to run a marathon. You might find an existing wiki to assist you with all that you need to do for training and preparation, but perhaps you are a part of a group with the same goal. You may way to start your own wiki that everyone can contribute to - helping all of you reach your goals more rapidly!

Links:

A Directory of Wikis
Create Your own wiki for free

4. The Audio/Visual Web

What It Is:

The Web is now far more than words! There is more audio and video on the web than there has ever been. Perhaps you are an auditory or visual learner - if so, you are in luck. The web can provide you with tutorials and lessons and all sorts of audio and video resources.

Ideas for Reaching Your Goals:

This is a broad category, so let me get you started with a treasury of content and knowledge in one word - podcasts. Podcasts are like online radio shows, but instead of general interest topics like standard commercial radio, there are podcasts on virtually any topic - much like blogs. (In fact some bloggers also create podcasts.) Along with citizen podcasts, there are podcasts of radio shows, television news and so much more. Think about your goals and what you need to learn, and then search for podcasts with content relevant to your needs. You can listen to them on your computer, on your MP3 player, or even burn them to a CD. You don’t even have to be on the web to take advantage of it as a learning tool!

Links:

YouTube - search on what you want to learn, you’ll be surprised at what valuable information you find.
iTunes - one place to look for and download podcasts and audio books.
Podcast Directory
Audible.com - one place to buy downloadable audiobooks.

5. Google Alerts

What It Is:

A free tool that alerts you via email whenever something is added to the web on any topic you select.

Ideas for Reaching Your Goals:

Want to stay on top of the latest information on anything? Create a Google Alert and have the information show up in your email inbox at whatever frequency you choose! Could there possibly be a better way to stay on top of a topic or skill? Since these are free you can set up as many as, and be as specific as, you like. Google does offer a fee-based service that provides additional benefits, but likely the free service will be all you need.

Links:

Google Alerts

These are just five tools that you can use to make the web your personal goal accelerator. Invest some time to investigate the ones you think will help you the most - or perhaps the ones you know the least about! That effort will reward you with new insights and, if applied intelligently, goals reached more rapidly!

Potential Pointer: The World Wide Web is a vast and amazing place that you can make your own personal learning space if you take the time to learn some of the tools available to you. Invest a little time to transform the web from your news, entertainment and/or shopping hub into your personal goal accelerator.