motivational

This website is about motivational slogans, and also contains resources about motivational research , motivational enhancement , and motivational quotes .

Title : The Richest Man in Babylon
Author : George S. Clason
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Simple and effective

I've been hopeless with money since I first laid hands on it. I was in debt up to my eyeballs and spending whatever I earned and more. But with the simple concepts in this book, I am paying off my debt steadily and actually have savings for the first time in my life.

I highly recommend this easy/quick read as a life changer.

Title : Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments
Author : Muriel James
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : The meaning of life.....

If your searching to understand people, or why you are like you are then read this book. Parent, Adult and child is in us all. Look back to when you were young to see why you are like you are today - your blueprint - there from the age of 5! If your into reading information like this then I suggest you also read the original Born to Win by James and Jongeward, or I'm OK your OK, Thomas.

Title : Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Author : Robert Cialdini
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Excellent content somewhat marred by impractical conclusions

3rd edition/publication (2007), Collins Business Essentials, 320 pages (of which 280 pages for actual book)

Influence is another of the twenty books Charlie Munger recommends in the second edition of Poor Charlie's Almanack. Its content is excellent (and sometimes even hair-raisingly remarkable - as when he shows that media reporting of suicides actually causes more of them via the social proof bias) but I think Cialdini could have done a much better job of turning the research evidence into useful/practical advice. (The same problem manifests itself in Gilbert's book `Stumbling on Happiness' - though Cialdini's is the better book.)

I was discussing this book with a friend who had also read it and I thought he put it very well: Cialdini is one of those clever people who is not very wise. That is also why Poor Charlie's Almanack is so good and unusual: Munger is both clever and has deliberately attempted to distil a lifetime's worth of reading over a broad subject matter area into practical advice on how to live a successful/useful life.

In particular, Cialdini shows us clearly that a significant number of our psychological biases work completely unconsciously. (By that I mean it can be demonstrated that a certain bias has affected a group of individual's actions/conclusions whilst they strenuously deny they have paid any attention to or are even totally unaware of the biasing factor.) For example, Cialdini quotes one study where "men who saw a new-car ad that included a seductive young woman model rated the car as faster, more appealing, more expensive-looking, and better designed than did men who saw the same ad without the model. Yet when asked later, the men refused to believe that the presence of the young woman had influenced their judgements."

He then goes on to suggest various complicated ways to try to monitor ourselves to see if we are being affected by some of these biases - in order that we can attempt to limit the damage from faulty decisions (often in situations deliberately set up to cause our faulty decisions to be detrimental to us and advantageous to some other). For example, he highlights the "extreme caution" needed in auction situations where one encounters the "devilish construction of scarcity plus rivalry" - and suggests that we watch ourselves for signs of arousal so that we can stop short.

Well, I think Munger and his partner Warren Buffett have a much more practical and simpler way of dealing with that problem, based on the wisdom of the rustic that Munger likes to quote: "all I want to know is where I'm going to die so can avoid going there." The whole thrust of Cialdini's book is that these biases are often unconscious and are in any case often very strong (and usually much stronger that we believe/expect) - which is another way of saying you're unlikely to have good results fighting against them.

Much better to simply bypass the problem where possible and do as Buffett does and refuse to get involved in auction situations. Using rules like this, to paraphrase Munger on a different subject (tax shelters): if you always avoid auction situations you might miss out on the odd good deal, but overall your life is likely to be better.

This is also why I consider Taleb (Fooled by Randomness) to be much wiser than Cialdini: he understands that being aware of biases doesn't make them go away. You need tricks and methods to live successfully with them.

I also think the advice in Cialdini's epilogue is very poor. He suggests that we rise up to fight people/organisations who misuse our psychological biases for their own ends: "In short, we should be willing to use boycott, threat, confrontation, censure, tirade, nearly anything, to retaliate."

This is crazy advice: the effort and time required to do it would leave little for anything else and would also guarantee a miserable life focussed on negativity. It also shows Cialdini's lack of familiarity with good training principles (an excellent book on the subject is Karen Pryor's `Don't Shoot The Dog'). Plenty of research now shows that positive reinforcement (rewarding behaviour you like) is at least as effective as negative reinforcement and much more so than punishment. It also has the huge benefit of leading to a much more pleasant life.

However, even with those caveats (essentially that you have to do your own thinking about how to cope with the biases that Cialdini does an excellent job of laying out) it is still a very useful book.

Title : Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play
Author : Neil A. Fiore
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Good book but didn't help me.

Although there's nothing really wrong with this book, it didn't help me at all. I read through it, found some interesting stuff, but my procrastination habits remained the same. Although I didn't seriously follow any of the suggestions, because my procrastination problem is rather serious, that's why I still gave it 4 stars, because in my situation I think it's hard for a book to really help me. So, if you have a slight to moderate procrastination problem this book may help you. Otherwise, the best is to see a therapist.

Title : Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised
Author : Napoleon Hill
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Think and Grow Rich

5* to the author of this 'Success Bible'

You must be the captain of your destiny and control your single most valuable asset ...your thoughts, and never let fear control you!

Title : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Author : Stephen R Covey
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Might change your life #8211; or sit on the shelf

This is a powerful guide to self-improvement. The "habits" are common-sense: be proactive, or "seek first to understand, then to be understood". The writing is clear, presenting each habit in a way which is easy to apply to oneself. If you're looking for a self-help guide to living a more focused, targeted life, you can hardly do better than this.

The downside is that this is a massive, densely-written book. Just reading it, let alone internalising and acting on it, is a major project. Many readers will dip into it; lose interest; and let it gather dust on the shelf.

Summary: excellent self-improvement guide, won't work for everyone.

Title : Be Your Own Life Coach: How to Take Control of Your Life and Achieve Your Wildest Dreams
Author : Fiona Harrold
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Life will never be the same again!

Fiona's book is just the inspiration that you need if you are procrastinating over whether or not to take that step into the unknown, - whether it's starting your own business, or going for the promotion you've been working towards.

It is clear from reading this book that Fiona has taken part in motivational courses, such as those held by Tony Robbins. She uses many similar quotes and examples throughout the book. This does not mean that her work is not original however. Fiona's book is a brilliant summary on the subject of self improvement. It is full of enthusiam and stimulus to make the reader think that they can achieve a better life if they are willing to come out of their 'comfort zones.'

This book is the driving force that encouraged me to make several changes in my life and I would definitely recommend it to anyone needing the encouragement or incentive to make that change.