Successful Reads

The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz is a classic self-help book that sets out to show how success is determined by the size of your thinking – and not the size of your brain.  But it does more than introduce the concepts – it demonstrates  how one can get more out of life and enjoy it more.  It teaches one to live big in all areas of life -  career, relationships, business, and finances by expecting more out of life.

David helps one determine which thought patterns are trapping us in a smaller existence.  One way he does that is by illustrating each “primary concept” with real-life examples that we can parallel with our own life and see if we can find a way to think bigger.

The book covers a lot of success principles – but coming in at only 188 pages it only briefly touches on many of those topics.  So if you are expecting to find details on how to implement every one of those principles of success you’re not going to find it in this book.  But if you look at it as a way to inventory the thought patterns you currently use in your life and discover those those thought patterns you could do better at than this book could be of great help to you.

But keep in mind that many books could, and have been, written on the theme of each chapter:

• Believe You Can Succeed and You Will
• Cure Yourself of Excusitis, The Failure Disease
• Build Confidence and Destroy Fear
• How to Think Big
• You Are What You Thin You Are
• Manage Your Environment: Go First Class
• Make Your Attitudes Your Allies
• Think Right Towards People
• Get the Action Habit
• How to Turn Defeat Into Victory
• Use Goals to Help You Grow
• How to Think Like a Leader

Originally published in 1959 there has been lots of material written on all of the topics covered so many people will find their isn’t anything really “new” here. But keep in mind that much of it was  fairly new then as the self-help industry was just starting to grow.

With those words of warning, I do have to say I enjoyed the book when I first read it over twenty years ago and I still enjoy reading it now and again to help me inventory those areas of my life that could be keeping me from achieving a higher level of success.

For example, today I read…

“You will discover that excusitis explains the difference between the person who is going places and the fellow who is barely holding his own.  You will find that the more successful the individual, the less included he is to make excuses.

But the fellow who has gone nowhere and has no plans for getting anywhere always has a bookful of reasons to explain why.  Persons with mediocre accomplishments are quick to explain why they haven’t, why they don’t, why they can’t, and why they aren’t.

Study the lives of successful people and you’ll discover this: all the excuses made by the mediocre fellow could be but aren’t made by the successful person.”

So I used that as an opportunity to inventory my own life and I found one excuse I have been using way to much lately is “lack of time.”  (I need to work on a plan to outsource more).

So what will you get out of this book?

If you are looking for some “new secret” that will catapult you to to success than you won’t find it here.

But if you are looking for some insight into your life and for tips you can use to level up your success than this book can help you do that. No doubt, if you’ll gain a new perspective each time you read it.

Naturally – the Magic of Thinking Big isn’t in the book – but it is within you.  This book will do nothing to improve your life if  you don’t look for the lessons and apply them to your own life.

The Little Red Book of Selling book by Jeffrey Gitomer is full of bite-sized pieces of  sales information all designed to inspire and encourage the reader to become more of an expert in sales. In it Jeffrey answers the question that a lot of people in sales ask all the time:

What’s the difference between failure and success in salespeople?

It’s not usually technique.  But rather attitude.

Jeffrey outlines the fundamentals that successful sales people do as well as the way successful people think.

The basic fundamentals outlined are:

1. Believe you can.
2. Create the environment.
3. Have the right associations.
4. Exposure yourself to what’s new.
5. Plan for the day.
6. Become valuable.
7. Have the answers your prospects and customers need.
8. Recognize opportunity.
9. Take advantage of opportunity.
10. Take responsibility.
11. Take action.
12. Make mistakes.
13. Willing to risk.
14. Keep your eyes on the prize.
15. Balance yourself.
16. Invest, don’t spend.
17. Stick at it until you win.
18. Develop and maintain a positive attitude.
19. Ignore idiots and zealots.

In the introduction he touches briefly on each of those then he outlines additional principles necessary for true sales success.

But…

He does it in that “in your face” style that Jeffrey is know for.  Just take a look at the titles of the twelve principles he covers:

• Principle 1: Kick Your Own Ass.
• Principle 2: Prepare to Win, or Lose To Someone Who Is
• Principle 3: Personal Branding is Sales: It’s Not You Know, It’s Who Knows You.
• Principle 4: It’s All About Value, It’s All About Relationship, It’s Not All About Price.
• Principle 5: It’s Not Work, It’s NETWork.
• Principles 6: It You Can’t Get In Front of the Real Decision Make, You Suck
• Principle 7: Engage Me and You Can Make Me Convince Myself
• Principle 8: If You Can Make Them Laugh, You Can Make Them Buy!
• Principle 9: Use Creativity To Differentiate and Dominate
• Principe 10: Reduce Their Risk, And You’ll Covert Selling To Buying
• When You Say It About Yourself It’s Bragging. When Someone Else Says It About You, It’s Proof.
• Antenna’s Up!

There is a chapter devoted to each of those principles.  They aren’t chapters full of fluff and sales stories.  But rather, simply full of  sales principles and tips.   I say sales principles because some people will believe that this is more of a book on self-improvement than on sales.   If you are looking for a step-by-step how to sales book.  This isn’t the book for that.

But..

If you are looking for a book that you can pick-up and study for a few minutes every day to help you become better at sales than this is great for that purpose. You could think of it as a daily sales devotional.

The layout of the book makes it quick and easy to read.  It’s printed in full color with key points in bold, and plenty of graphics .

For example, the sidebar contains “red whine” the term he uses to identify the excuses for failure people use all the time.  He counters that with a red selling response.  The solution that great sales people use to deal with those excuses.  One such “red whine” is “Nobody knows me.”  The “Red Selling Response: If you brand yourself people will know you.”

I’ve noticed that people who read this book either hate it or love it.  There doesn’t seem to be much middle group.  Me I really like it.

I love to blog.  And I love to read.  So why do I find it so hard to peck out a book review on this blog? I’ve been asking myself that for some time.

During the past few years I’ve devoured book after book.  I have a stack here of success oriented sitting here on the shelf books waiting to be reviewed.  But those blog posts are something I so easily put off.

The reason, I believe is this…

I believe to much in “Perfection.”

I’m not sure why, but I tend to look at a book review a little differently that the other blog posts I make on other sites.   I feel that I can’t write a book review unless it is an in-depth,  and well-researched book review.

You know the kind…

The ones like the critics post on places like Amazon.

Well I’ve decided that I am tired of feeling like a book blogger failure.

So here is what I have decided to do…

I’ll share with you a few of the concepts I learned from the book.  Perhaps  something about how the book helped me to solve a specific problem. I’ll share my insights on who the book may help.  I’ll share with you a few of my favorite quotes and passages.  And I’ll leave the long-winded book reviews to others.

So expect more posts.

After all, I’ve got this big stack of books here just waiting for me.

Would you like to learn how to better communicate your ideas? Would you like to learn how to motivate others with your words?

Yes?

Well, you’re sure to find more than a few ideas on how to communicate more effectively in the book Words that Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear by Frank Luntz.

You see, Frank’s books goes to the core of how the words you use persuade. It contains useful information on how to best organize your words to enable your message to get across, how the meaning of words can change, and how carefully replacing just a single word can change many peoples view on a certain subject.

Dr. Frank Luntz recommends these rules to create more effective communication

1. Simplicty: Use small words.
2. Brevity: Use short sentences.
3. Credibility is as important as philosophy.
4. Consistency matters.
5. Novelty: Offer Something New.
6. Sound and texture matter.
7. Speak aspirationally.
8. Visualize.
9. Ask a question.
10. Provide context and explain relevance.

Not only does the book provide you with some rules of communication, but Words that Work is full of examples that demonstrate how simple words can make a huge difference in politics, business, and relationships.

You’ll find that many of those examples are taken from politics. But as you read, carefully looks at the examples and ask yourself what you can learn from it. Using these methods you’re sure to further your communication skills.

Trickery and Deceit?

No doubt, some people will say to avoid the book as these methods are a form of trickery and deceit.   If you are using words to sell snake oil, than the methods could easily become a form of trickery or deceit.  However, if you are using words to help sell noble ideas and values than how could they be?

So, increase your chances of success, focus on how to be understood, and learn skills to further your success. After all, the words you use can mean the difference between success and failure.

I love to learn, but often find it difficult to fit in as much educational time as I would like. David. S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have come up with an easy way to easily increase your knowledge. Simply read a page a day from their book The Intellectual Devotional.

Each day of the week is devoted to a specific topic:

• Monday – History
• Tuesday – Literature
• Wednesday – Visual Arts
• Thursday – Science
• Friday – Music
• Saturday – Philosophy
• Sunday – Religion

Of course there will be plenty of topics in the  The Intellectual Devotional that you already know about, but chances are that you will learn something new on that subject. For example, during the first week you’ll learn about…

Monday – Day 1 (History) The Alphabet

Did you know that the Egyptians developed the alphabet as an easy way to communicate with their slaves, and when these slaves eventually migrated back to their home country they took the writing system with them?

Tuesday – Day 2 (Literature) Ulysses by James Joyce

Did you know the novel Ulysses by James Joyce was banned from the United States for nearly twelve years due to the sexual imagery.

Wednesday, Day 3 (Visual Arts) – Lascaux Cave Paintings

The creators of the painters made use of perspective, they painted the figures high on the wall, and a manner that would not be distorted to the viewers below.

Thursday – Day 4 (Science)  Cloning

You’ll read about Dolly the Sheep.  However, did you know that Dolly’s
telomeres (a thin strand of protein at the end of the chromosomes) are the same as the mothers.  A newborn sheep would normally have much longer telomeres.  Telomeres seem to help protect our cells and get thinner as we age. So there could be some truth to all those science fiction stories of clones aging quickly.

Friday – Day 5 (Music) The Basics of Music

I played the Viola for many years so I have some musical background. However, I did learn that in India the musical pitches are chosen from a collection of twenty-two possibilities, and the distance between the steps on a scale are sometimes are larger and sometimes smaller than those used in the Western world.  This makes the differences between the pitches in Indian music very subtle.

Saturday – Day 6 (Philosophy) Appearance and Reality

I learned about a group of philosophers called the Presocratics. While I had heard of each of these philosophers before I didn’t know they believed the world was vastly different from what the experienced.  For example, Thales held the belief that all reality was ultimately composed of water, while Heraclitus believed the world was built from fire.

Sunday – Day 7 (Torah)

Torah scrolls are written in Hebrew by hand. They contain 304,805 letters and make take more than a year to produce. If a single mistake is made, the entire scroll becomes invalid.

I recommend this book for several reasons.

1. It’s a great way to expand your knowledge about a wide variety of subjects.
2. Each day’s reading is a quick read – just one page.
3. The things you learn can be a great way to start a conversation.  This is a lesson I learned from my teenage son.
   can always tell when he has been reading the book as he uses the things he learned to start a conversations with me.  He just revealed to me that one of his major motivations to reading it is to find something interesting to talk about, and interesting ways to start a conversation.  Personally I think that is brilliant, but then I think he is brilliant most of the time.  Interestingly the 2nd and 3rd book in the series uses the words “converse confidently” in the title.

One thing that would have improved the experience for me would be additional illustrations, particularly for the art subjects.  For example, when reading about the Lascaux Cave Paintings it would have been wonderful to have an illustration to look at.

Genre:  Daily Lessons/Devotional
Published by Rodale in 2006.
Hardcover;  364 pages.
List price is $24.00
ISBN: 1-59486-513-2

>>Currently available at Amazon.com for $16.32

Also from David. S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim

• The Intellectual Devotional: American History: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently about Our Nation’s Past (Hardcover)
• The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Converse Confidently with the Culturati (Hardcover)