A Fourth R

Laurent Pfertzel, co-founder of eCairn, recommended that a fourth R should be added: Relevancy. It's hard to argue with the importance of relevance. We look for it in what we read, strive for it in how we write, and use it as a means to identify the people with whom we associate.

Online and off line, we tend to build relationships with people who have common interests and priorities. Relevance is based on a shared sense of purpose. Your personal brand is brought to life by what you care about and how you engage with others. Relevance empowers the other three Rs.

So would you rather be liked, disliked or irrelevant? I'd take the first two any day.

Susan Sontag once said, "Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future."

So read, write, build relationships and for heaven's sake be relevant. Thanks Laurent!