If you regularly read Cultural Offering, you already know about Nicholas Bate.  I consider the discovery of his web site one of the many great side effects of my blogging adventure (thanks, Execupundit).

I have referred to him as the master of distillation - lists, bullet points, even paragraphs are written as though he is paying for every word.  I once told a friend that I enjoy historian, Paul Johnson's writing because he wastes so few words in his telling of history.  Bate similarly wastes few words in his business-of-life narrative.

His web site is one of three sites that I must visit every day.  He covers a range of topics from The Beatles to food to exercise to his true forte and passion, productivity and business excellence. 

A few weeks ago I came across an interview with Bate that gives you a wonderful glimpse of his straightforward approach:

"How do you summarize your method, and how did you develop it?
A concept called 'personal compass.' The metaphor being of course to decide your direction, etc. Most productivity methods I believe are too tactical; without a big enough why, people cannot keep their motivation. I encourage people to discover and set their compass; that then keeps them motivated."

And there you have it.  I have a natural distaste for business and productivity "experts."  All the more reason to enjoy Bate's writing and advice.  No bullshit.  Just many good ideas and suggestions.

I own two of his books, have reviewed one here and am distributing the other one to several staff members to help with our 2009 work.   Here is another review of his latest book.

Oh, yes, the reason for this post is that Bate has developed a great series to help people start the year off right.  Go here and here and have a great year.  Do yourself a favor and make his site a daily routine.