motivational

This website is about motivational theories, and also contains resources about motivational inspirational , motivational speakers uk , and motivational speeches .

Title : The Richest Man in Babylon
Author : George S. Clason
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Timeless good advice

This is altogether an excellent book on long-term wealth creation. If you would like a way of operating your finances so that you can build up a lump sum for the future, whilst enjoying your life, then this old classic holds the key. I have just given my copy to an old friend who is up to his neck in debt. Amongst his many justifications for his current predicament are 'I don't earn enough to save/invest' and 'my family uses all my disposable income'. As a friend I hope he reads and applies the timeless principles contained within this book and, as a result, his money worries should become a thing of the past.

With bankruptcy levels within the UK at an all time high 'The Richest Man in Babylon' has never been so necessary. Read this book, but more importantly, use it!

Title : Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Author : Keith Ferrazzi
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Masterful Networking Tactics

Author Keith Ferrazzi is a master networker who claims that his Palm Pilot holds the names of 5,000 people who will take his phone calls. That's a powerful claim. Starting as a self-made man of humble origins, Ferrazzi developed his social network by helping people and by developing and mastering the techniques for networking. Here, he shares his methods. His light, engaging and entertaining story will motivate those who want to enhance their social and business friendships. The author advocates generosity as the key to success. That's a radical business concept, but he claims it works. It's certainly worth a try. We recommend this book to people who want to be more social, make friends and expand their business connections. It should also prove invaluable for those who are sick of sitting at home on Saturday nights.

Title : Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play
Author : Neil A. Fiore
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Helps you understand and overcome a crippling habit

I've read hundreds of self-help books, but this blows almost everything else out of the water. This book helped me to understand the reasons why I procrastinate and showed how this habit leads to worry, loss of confidence and chronic underperformance - even in areas that I had not considered to be linked to procrastination. It's like suffering a mysterious illness and feeling that, at last, there is a proper diagnosis and cure. It even shows how the classic shaming and bullying tactics others use to 'spur us on' only serve to fuel the emotions which block natural performance and success. This is now available on audiobook, read by the author. Play it on the way to work and improve your performance!

Title : Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons in Life (Quick Reads)
Author : Sir Richard Branson
Rating : 2 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Get the full story!

I have read Richard Branson biography, Losing my Virginity only recently and so this book contains nothing new...too bad i bought this one. Although cheap it's not really worth the money i have to admit. Go for his book, Losing my Virginity and you will get your money's worth! I don't understand the marketing strategy, if they even had one with this one!

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 : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
Author : Stephen R. Covey
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Thought-provoking

This is a thought-provoking book based on clear principles that can guide us in managing our time. There are many wise ideas contained in the pages of this book.

As an example, I learned that efficiency is something that is appropriate with tasks but with people especially family members you can't be efficient and slot people in as you think best. Instead it is about effectiveness. So you have to give family members the time they need.

Another gem is that you can't balance life at times you have to prioritize according to your values. So a mother (or father) who wants to stay home with their kids when they are young, may need to focus on home instead of career until the kids are older. The goal of balance would be inappropriate for that situation. Mr. Covey also makes it clear the importance of following the compass instead of the clock.

This is an excellent book that people need to read because it gives business direction but from a higher perspective that you rarely find in most literature out there. I also recommend the "8th Insight" also by Covey, "Your Erroneous Zones" by Wayne Dyer, "Nexus" by Deborah Morrison Arvind Singh and "Lateral Thinking" by Edward De Bono. All these book offer unique insights.

Title : Unleash the Warrior Within: Develop the Focus, Discipline, Confidence and Courage You Need to Achieve Unlimited Goals
Author : Richard Machowicz
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Well, this book is the one I needed....

10 years of reading "I have the power". Hmm. This guy cuts straight through it to laser focus on what you need. It actually makes sense - being taught acheievement strategies by a military Navy Seal. He's had to make quick, good, tough decisions. He establishs his cred by telling you about Hell Week - the place where most wanabe Seals Break. Then he mingles his talks about fear and action with examples of how he's helped others get over them (not just himself). I listen (figuratively) to this guy because he knows what fear is so if he can overcome it then it's worth taking seriously what he says.
I'm only three chapters in and have noticed a significant improvement in the way I think about getting things done. Target - keep it simple - Weapons - what is the most effective way to get there (not necc the fastest) and Movement (be flexible about how you do what you need to to get the result). I have read literally hundreds of self-help books. This one I am using to not just read but get results. I reccomend it.