Nathan Martin

Don’t be thrown off by the bland cover and unimaginative title… Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford’s book is a fun fictional story about an entrepreneur and his daughter figuring out how to revive their restaurant from the brink of bankruptcy.  The Small Business Millionaire helped them achieve an unprecedented level of success in the business.  Throughout the process dad and daughter also found meaning and joy in their lives.

This quick read will give readers plenty of food for thought and some good reminders.  Here are some of the highlights I picked out:

• “Advertising is salesmanship in print.”  All salespeople should yield measurable results.
• DECIDE to make the business succeed.
• Sell the experience, not just a meal, book, or service.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
• People want to see you succeed.
• Win over your local market and watch word of mouth spread.

Go read The Small Business Millionaire.  I have more Chandler books to talk about in future posts.

In 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea, Suzy Welch shares a strategy for decision making.  When faced with a decision, Suzy asks:

1.  If I choose to do this, what will the outcome be in 10 minutes?

2.  If I choose to do this, what does the result look like in 10 months?

3.  If I choose to do this, how does my life change in 10 years?

As Suzy explains, don’t get hung up on exactly 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.  That’s just meant to be a catchy way to remember to determine the immediate, short-term, and long-term effects of our decisions.  I found 10-10-10 to be a great reminder of the Law of Cause and Effect.  Suzy puts her journalism background to excellent use as she fills the book with real-life examples of people from various walks of life that have used 10-10-10 in all sorts of decisions large and small.

The concept of 10-10-10 is simple and very practical.  You’ll pick that up quickly in the book.  Suzy’s storytelling makes the rest of the book worth reading.

Enjoy.

As a Thomas Nelson book reviewer, I had an opportunity to read through Max Lucado’s new book for a few weeks before it was released.  What grabbed my attention was the title and subtitle…Fearless:Imagine Your Life Without Fear.  I don’t consider myself to have an above average number of fears, but who doesn’t have some?!  At any rate I love the idea of Imagining Life Without Fear.  In other words, dreaming of what I would do if I weren’t holding back.

This is my first Max Lucado book and I did find value in Fearless.  Here’s what I liked:

Self Esteem

Lucado quotes scripture to say that you were “fearfully and wonderfully made”.  It is important to remember that we as humans are very complex and significant creations.  Remember when you give or receive criticism that “the fear that you are one big zero will become a self-fulfilling prophecy that will ruin your life.”  So true.  We become what we dwell upon.

Spell it out

“Left unchecked, [fears] metastasize into obsessions.”  Lucado advocates exposing our fears.  Write them down and look again.  Many fears in the light of reason don’t look so scary.

Doubt

One of the things I found comfort in was Lucado’s admission that he, a famous minister, sometimes finds himself facing “the fear that God isn’t.”  In my own spiritual journey, I’ve found it scary to admit such personal and seemingly heretical statements and I appreciate Lucado’s honesty and vulnerability.

In summary:

Max Lucado is a Christian pastor whose writing points toward God as the solution to problems.  If that philosophy offends you, I can recommend other books to deal with fears and live productively.  Overall, I found Fearless to be an easy read and worth the short time invested.

Brian Tracy sent the following out as his Quote of the Day email yesterday… “Time flies.  It’s up to you to be the navigator.” –Robert Orben  The email came at a perfect time for me.  This week has been extremely unproductive.  I needed a reminder to step back and assess what I’m doing with my time.  Jumping from one fire to the next doesn’t get me closer to my goals.  Sometimes those fires need to be put out, sometimes not.  The thing to remember is to set aside at least a little time to focus on longer-term goals and keep momentum toward those goals.  Back to the Rule of Five.

Speaking of Brian Tracy…a great time management book is Eat That Frog! Eat That Frog is based the concept of tackling your most dreaded task first thing then the rest of your day is easier.

Time Management advice by Brian Tracy:

• Continually ask yourself:  What is the most valuable use of my time right now?
• Say to yourself and others:  Back to work!  or Well, I’ve got to get back to work.

What methods do you use to remain productive?

I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers.  The basic premise is that a series of fortuitous circumstances rather than amazing talent enabled the Beatles, Bill Gates, hockey stars, and others to reach high levels of success.  Gladwell believes that high levels of excellence require at least 10,000 hours of practice.  So far, so good.  Then Gladwell explained that unique opportunities were the reason those hours were available to the successful.  The case studies made very interesting reading, but didn’t help the kids at home who weren’t born in a certain month!

Ready, Set…

Aside from the 10,000 hour rule, I was disappointed by the lack of actionable points in Outliers.  I believe the subtitle should have been A Story of Success or Parts of Stories of Success rather than The Story of Success.  Gladwell seems to attribute the source of success largely to luck.  Kind of a downer to those of us not terribly lucky yet no less desirous of our own level of success.

What if?

While I enjoy stories like Susan Boyle, who just “needed a chance”, it seems that many success stories I hear and read about are of people who pushed through countless obstacles and made their own luck.  The stars did not just one day align for them.  What if we all have opportunities throughout our lifetimes that we are unprepared for or do not recognize that could move us closer to success?  Also, what could December-born children do to make it to the NHL?

What is the Rule of 5?

Recently I’ve been reminded several times of Principle 23 in Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles.  Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul, were overwhelmed by the many different ways they could market their new book, so they developed the Rule of 5 which is simply “every day, we do five specific things that will move our goal toward completion.”  By breaking the overwhelming task of creating a bestseller down into 5 things to do per day, they simplified their goal and, after a couple years, achieved bestseller status!

OK…I get it!

Sometimes it takes a while.  I read Success Principles several years ago.  John Maxwell retells the Canfield story in his new book, Put Your Dream to the Test which I just read a couple weeks ago.  This morning when I looked through my email and saw Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer”, talking about the Power of 5, I decided it was time to apply this little tool to my own goals.

Major Definite Purpose

My biggest goal at this stage in my life is financial independence.  Because there are an overwhelming number of ways one could achieve financial independence, this goal is a perfect candidate for the Rule of 5.  Beginning today, I will practice the Rule of 5.

Sorry.  I know it’s a blatant copy of Michael Hyatt’s Book Review Friday.  Call it borrowing best practices.  My Discipline talent/strength likes the routine and structure of assigning a day to book reviews.  This week, thanks to Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program, I got to read John Maxwell’s new book.  Put Your Dream to the Test hopes to help readers see their dreams and seize them.

What Dream?

One of the questions Maxwell asks is “What would you do if you only had five years to live?”  I found this question to be a unique alternative to the usual “What would you do if you had all the money you needed?”…I’ve been pondering…

Storytime

I love reading success stories.  John Maxwell always rounds up some good ones.

He tells a great Michael Hyatt story about when Hyatt became Publisher of Nelson Books.  I love that Hyatt got away from the day to day distractions for a couple days with just a notebook and pen.  Sometimes that’s the only way to connect with our big picture vision.

Another story that Maxwell included was from the early days of Chicken Soup for the Soul.  Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen did five things per day to move themselves closer to their best-selling book dream.  It’s easy to become overwhelmed and our big dreams get pushed out of the way by the daily “emergencies”.  Keeping momentum moving forward even by performing a few small steps consistently is good advice.

My absolute favorite book on personal finance is The Richest Man in Babylon.  It’s a good story which helps the financial principles stick.  I love the simplicity.  There are plenty of good books that get into the details of which funds are most appropriate in your 401k.  Richest Man is not one of those books.  This book gives basic steps that you can take now to move toward financial independence.

Some of the timeless advice:

1.  Decide to improve your financial lot in life.

2.  Save at least 10% of your income.

3.  Come up with a plan to pay back your debts while keeping your living expenses low.

4.  Make sound investments with your 10% savings.

I have read this book each year for the past several and will continue to do so.  Please join me.