Image Credit: The Joy of Christmas
Happy New Year. May your 2013 bring you the wishes and joys of becoming debt free, productive, and serving.
Books of 2012
December 30, 2012
Image Credit: brewbooks
2012 was a year of reading and education for me. I have read more this year than in any previous year and it is great to see the accomplishment. What I believe drove this was Jon Acuff’s “FinishYear” where he talked about finishing 12 non-fiction books. I went and doubled!
2013 is just around the corner and my goal is to complete 40 books by the end of next year. Who wants to come along on the journey?
Below, in no particular order, are the books that I completed in 2012. The links will take you to Amazon to read more about them and where I have written a review I have included a link to that as well.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Money Class by Suze Orman
QBQ: The Question Behind the Question by John G. Miller
Parenting the QBQ Way John G. Miller
How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber (review)
Linchpin by Seth Godin
Poke the Box by Seth Godin
Tribes by Seth Godin
Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander
Wisdom Meets Passion by Dan Miller & Jared Angaza (review)
No More Dreaded Mondays by Dan Miller
More Than a Bucket List by Toni Birdsong (review)
Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
The Art of Selling Yourself by Adam Riccoboni & Daniel Callaghan (review)
The Present by Spencer Johnson
Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson
The Daily Six by John Chappelear
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker
The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
One Big Thing by Phil Cooke (review)
The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney by Jeff Kober
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All
December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone!
May you have a great rest of this year and be ready to kick it into gear for 2013!
Rest In Peace Zig Ziglar
November 28, 2012
Zig Ziglar
1926-2012
“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”
Zig certainly helped people get what they want but I would doubt he would say that he helped enough. He is an inspiration to millions. I am grateful that I had the opportunity along with my dad to see Zig Ziglar in person about ten years ago. He was then in his 70s and still full of motivation and had the audience pumped.
The great motivator will continue to inspire generations to come. I will continue to study his writings and recordings and one day hope to see him at the top.
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 22, 2012
Photo courtesy of Jason Meredith.
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!
You Are What You Say You Are
November 21, 2012
When you are a child you are always saying that you are a singer, movie star, or princess. Why do we lose this as adults and start focusing on the negative?
A lot has been written about this and I often wonder how many people pay attention and see how it really does effect their life. What am I speaking of? The story you tell yourself.
When you say you are something you tend to become it. Those that say they are poor tend to be without money. Why? Because you head in the direction in which you focus. If you focus on being poor you will stay poor. Focus on having money and taking care of your money I know you will have it. It may not be today or three months from now but try getting up every morning and instead of being broke to the point of being broken change your story. Tell yourself that you are rich and say out loud the things that you have that make you rich. Do you have a partner? Children? A job? A home?
Why is it that as humans we have a hard time telling a good story when we as individuals are the subject? Instead of “I failed” why not “I learned what not to do”? When someone asks how you are doing why not respond with “Grateful for another day.”
Zig Ziglar says “A failure is an event not a person.” Even the great motivator has spoken about it for decades. The story you tell yourself is a major force in directing your life. Saying “I am a failure” points you in the direction of failing. When someone says “How are you?” and you respond with “Worn out” it makes you fell more tired than before you said it (I am guilty of this).
A lot of people have talked about this but one of the more recent is Pastor Joel Osteen. I have included his “The Power of ‘I Am'” sermon below. Take the time and watch through it and take notes:
Book Review: More Than A Bucket List by Toni Birdsong
November 20, 2012
This will be my final book review for 2012. As we embark on a new year and a new journey I will be gearing up for things to come in 2013!
“More Than A Bucket List” by Toni Birdsong is a hardcover gift book that runs 278 pages. It is divided into many different sections to give you various activities/adventures to pursue. The purpose of the book is to help you get more out of life instead of watching it go by. My take away from it: PARTICIPATE!
When I first came across the title of this book it was something I instantly wanted an opportunity to review. My job is to help people live their life to the fullest and breakthrough the things that are holding them back and this is part of what a “bucket list” is intended to do.
This book contains a lot of different lists including things to do, places to visit, and adventures to pursue. I really like the variety that is presented and it made me think of some places I would like to visit. I also like the “Real–Life Challenges” that are presented throughout the book for you to go out and try in real situations.
If you are someone who is in a pursuit to find things to put on your bucket list or to help you generate ideas I think you will get a lot of suggestions and direction from this book. However, I would not recommend it for someone who is really looking to find or pursue their dreams and passions – I believe there are books better suited for that than this.
Understand this is intended to be a gift book and not something that you would necessarily walk into a book store and look for as a self help item. It is an excellent little tome to be given as a gift for that someone in your life that is in place to really connect with what is being discussed.
If you would like to read more reviews or purchase the book you can do so from Amazon.
*Note: I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.*
ENDED: Giveaway: 3 Holiday ePlanners From ListPlanIt
November 3, 2012
Winners
Congratulations to Matt L., Bambi W., and Davi H.! Enjoy your planners and have a less stressful holiday season!
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From November 3-November 9 you can enter to win one of three holiday eplanners from ListPlanIt. These planners can help keep you organized and stress free during the holiday season from Thanksgiving through Christmas. It is 53 pages of tools such as card lists, gift lists, meal and party planning lists, and anything else you might need to get your holiday planning on track.
Giveaway Times
Giveaway will run from 12:01am EST on November 3, 2012 until 12:01am EST on November 9, 2012. Winners will be announced no later than November 10, 2012 on this page.
Delivery
3 winner will be notified via e-mail and a link to download the eplanner will be sent from ListPlanIt directly to download your eplanner.
How to Sign Up
Follow the information below and gain multiple entries!
*Signup Form Removed – Giveaway has ended*
Book Review: One Big Thing by Phil Cooke
October 12, 2012
The book is about your “One Big Thing” or OBT. Basically, what is the one thing you were put on the earth to do is the question it seeks to solve. Why be average at a bunch of things when you can be great at your One Big Thing? Phil Cooke takes you on a guided tour to discover what your OBT is and how to get out of some of the clutter that is around you.
I found that in this book there was not a lot of new ground covered for me. Admittedly, I read much more of this genre than what the average person does, however, I found it to be a very easy and enjoyable read. Phil Cooke has a writing style that is comfortable and makes you feel like you are having a conversation. The book does accomplish it’s mission which is to help the reader bring focus into their lives.
“One Big Thing” does make you think and challenges you to look at your life and where you are. What is it that you are passionate about? What is it that you want to do with your life? And once you have found those answers it shows you how to focus in on it and take steps in the right direction.
My favorite part of the book was the epilogue titles “You’re Not Crazy.” I absolutely loved the story of Georg Friedrich Handel. This part of the book reinforces on of the other chapters and goes to prove that you are never to old to accomplish what you were born to do.
I also highly enjoyed the quotes throughout this book. I love good quotations and this one is packed full of them.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to focus their life or who needs helping finding what to focus on. Mr. Cooke has written a book that is easy to relax with and is enjoyable to read. I look forward to reading his previous book “Jolt” in the near future.
To read more customer reviews or purchase the book visit Amazon.
*Note: I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.*
Book Review: The Art of Selling Yourself by Riccoboni and Callaghan
October 4, 2012
“The Art of Selling Yourself” is a book written by Adam Riccoboni and Daniel Callaghan of MBA & Company. It was originally published in the United Kingdom under the title “Buy Me!” in 2011. The content of the book is, as you might tell, about how to sell yourself in business situations such as interviews, ideas and public relations and how to sell yourself if you are an entrepreneur and needing to sell your concept to potential markets.
Riccoboni & Callaghan outline ten steps to take to sell yourself:
- Self-Belief and Confidence
- Personal Preparation
- Personal Presentation
- Communication
- Empathy
- Under-Promise and Over-Deliver
- Going the Extra Mile
- Overcoming Setbacks
- Managing the Media
- Leadership
The book contains exercises to complete to help you focus on your qualities and unique selling points and takes you step by step from there to show you how to present yourself in a way that people want to buy you (your services, idea, or work with your company).
While some of this book is not ground breaking or new to this genre I did enjoy it quite a bit. I think everyone will get many takeaways and the book will help you develop confidence, show you how to network, show you how to have a conversation with someone in a way that you can better relate, get out of your comfort zone, and get up from setbacks and move on to the next sell. I also like the step by step format which makes this an easy read and helps you work on one concept at a time.
One of the most interesting parts for me are the case studies. Profiles of Sir Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, and Jeff Bezos were my favorites out of the the ten included in the book. You have an opportunity to see, in a few pages, how these business masters started out and see where they have come today.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to sell themselves in any area of their life but especially in business. From selling yourself to a potential employer to selling your project to an investor this book will show you how to begin and that is with yourself. I will have this on by bookshelf as a resource to continue to look back on.
To read more customer reviews or purchase the book visit Amazon.