Title : A Lifetime of Secrets: A Postsecret Book
Author : Frank Warren
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Tell me a secret!
Until I read this book, I only knew PostSecret from Frank Warren's blog which is on my weekly must-read list. I had resisted buying the previous books in the series because so often what's intriguing a few at a time becomes cloying when presented in a book.
This was not the case with A LIFETIME OF SECRETS: A POSTSECRET BOOK. I couldn't put it down until I'd read it through, and it left me feeling introspective and deeply connected.
For those not familiar with PostSecret, it began as a community art project in which Frank Warren ("America's most trusted stranger") invited people to send in secrets on decorated postcards. Every week he posts twenty of these anonymous postcards on his blog, PostSecret.com; a collection has traveled internationally as an art exhibit; and this is the fourth book of collected secrets.
So many heart-rending postcards! People share their alienation, anger, fear, desire, and even pride. Why do they send their secrets to Frank? Would you? Have you? I haven't (and won't), but something about the secrets has huge sympathetic appeal. There's nothing new in human nature and we all carry the seeds of all these secrets. Some resonate in us more than others, but can you really say that any of the feelings expressed are completely alien?
A LIFETIME OF SECRETS is the fourth book in the series. It's arranged roughly by the age of the secret-sharer, and this theme is certainly effective; you can, however, open it to any page and count on feeling a sense of kinship with the writer. I hope to keep this book for a while and will probably turn its pages many times. It's inevitable that some day I'll hear a friend mention something and I'll say, there's this book I HAVE to share with you; and they'll share it with someone else and I'll never see it again. And that's as it should be. (My secret: I hardly ever return books people lend me!)
Title : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Author : Stephen R Covey
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Well read Bestseller
After the Bible, no other single book has shaped my leadership mentality and disciplines like this one by Covey. I first read it in 1991 and his recommendations brought it all together for me. Success in effective living begins with Private Victory (Be Proactive, Begin with the end in mind, Put first things first) then moves on to Public Victory (Think Win-Win, Seek first to understand...then to be understood, Synergize), and finally back into personal effectiveness by Sharpening the Saw. These concepts are essential to weeding through all the fluff of the information age. This book also contains fantastic practical advice on living out one's priorities ("Exercise integrity at the moment of choice") and teamwork ("Defend those who are absent").
Title : Getting It Done: How to Lead When You're Not in Charge
Author : Roger Fisher
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Enjoyed it
The book is good and it improved my knowledge. I felt a little was lacking in the implementation aspects of leadership skills. I also read a book that would fill this gap and I recommend it....."The Leader's Guide: 15 Essential Skills."
Title : It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be
Author : Paul Arden
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : good advice
Yes its a great little book that contains good advice, makes you think differently and motivates. But I wonder how many people read the book and then acted on it, any of it?! It would be better as a daily calender giving you 1 piece of advice each day which you might then actually act on.
Title : E-myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company
Author : Michael Gerber
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Zen and the Art of Entrepreneurship
The book is about the 'Self' as businessman/woman. The key is the, periodic, precisely ordered and focused exercises.
These are questions, Michael Gerber, aims at the heart and soul of being/becoming an entrepreneur. And so one is, if one is open to the questioning, able to pinpoint within oneself the barriers to becoming a truly creative person. Then, after self-reflection, one may come from a space, which was previously closed and oppressive, to an open and experiential one.
There is a storyline in the book showing clearly how the entrepreneur becomes so easily a robot and a machine in the current business ethos. So how does one stay alive and renewed in what is essentially a mechanised business world? Well, this book tackles this dilemma - by making one confront oneself and ones susceptibility, and then enabling one to recover integrity and creativity from within oneself. Because, ultimately, it is not the techniques and methods which make for success, but who one is and how well one knows oneself, and continues to discover oneself.
The book has its highest value in enabling self-knowledge as an entrepreneur.
Michael Gerber in the book does, however, always present the avenues and methods for success in the greatest of practical detail (for example on sales he covers internet portal, direct mail etc. etc. etc. etc. - it's all covered - with advantages and disadvantages and practical application). There are downloadable worksheets, all very ordered and practical where one can try out, test and keep records about ones experiments with oneself, the business and the marketplace.
I would have liked to say more on the practical side of the book, because it is hugely practical and applicable. But it is a year since I read a borrowed copy and don't have it in front of me. I am now ordering a copy for myself.
Entrepreneurship, in my view, is a difficult business. It is one of the greatest challenges to oneself. It can be a disheartening and even degrading experience. Thank you, Michael Gerber, for enabling me to know the dangers, and for giving me clarity and understanding at the beginning of my new business.
Finally, this is not a quick fix book, although because of the practical detail it can be used like one. But beware, for the book is about a journey one decides to make/take - and there are many adventures to be had along the way! :)
Title : A Lifetime of Secrets: A Postsecret Book
Author : Frank Warren
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Simply inspiring
Unbelievable. Read this book in one sitting. This is the second book of the postsecret series that I have bought and it didn't disappoint. A complete rollercoaster ride of emotion pours out of this book. Secrets that will make you laugh, make you cry, make you wish you could just give someone a hug and let them know it will be ok. While not a short book, I read it through really quickly because I just wanted to read about more and more peoples' secrets. I've visited the website every week for a year and can't get enough of this. Hard to believe this world-wide phenomenon started off as a small community art project...
Title : Goals! How to Get Everything You Want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible
Author : Brian Tracy
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : I read it seven times!
I've read about fifty self-help books and this is the best.
Brian Tracy can say in one page what other authors (notably anthony robbins) will spend a whole chapter on.
Other Related Resources:
1: http://blog.kicklikeagirlmovie.com/?p=27
2: http://cloud9balloons.com/gallery/
3: http://designbit.co.uk/2007/04/26/car-design-inspiration/
4: http://userpathways.com/2009/03/17/engagement-and-optimisation-success-metrics/
5: http://www.refidebts101.com/ignore-the-recession-and-fight-back-with-business-growth/
