Andre Agassi Open

In the last month, two of the sports figures I've admired most as a casual sports-a-holic, have had 'coming out' parties.  One was forced upon him - Tiger Woods.  I'll probably write a post about him later.  For now, I want to focus on Andre Agassi.  The latest chapter in his story ends happily (which is how I think Tiger's will end too).  No news article summarizes how I feel more than this one from Rick Reilly.  I hope you'll read it. 

I first saw Andre in one of his first tournaments at age 16.  He went to the semi-finals and lost to McEnroe there, but I've been a fan of his ever since.  As a tennis player, I admired his return game.  And now, in real life, his return from a seemingly hopeless situation is inspiring.

I plan on reading "Open" by Andre Agassi over Christmas break. 

Thanks Andre - for modeling hope and true manhood in the face of no hope and adversity.

The Magic of Thinking Big

Excerpt from Dan Miller, 48 Days Newsletter:

"I don't know of anything that can inspire, encourage, motivate and release a higher level of success than reading good books. Many books are worth re-reading. Here's one written in 1959 that I like to read at least once every year. In his little classic book, The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz provides 5 simple actions to help us feel more confident and accomplish more:

1. Be a front seater. Sitting up front builds confidence.

2. Practice eye contact. Looking the other person in the eye tells him, I'm honest and confident."

3. Walk 25% faster. Psychologists link slovenly postures and sluggish walking to unpleasant attitudes towards oneself, work and the people around us. The extremely beaten people, the real down-and-outers, just shuffle and stumble along. They have zero confidence. The walk of a confident person tells the world, "I've got someplace important to go, something important to do." Throw your shoulders back, lift up your head, move ahead just a little faster and feel self-confidence grow.

4. Practice speaking up. As you speak up, you add to your confidence. It's a confidence building vitamin.

5. Smile big. Try to feel defeated and smile big at the same time. You can't do it. A big smile gives confidence. A big smile beats fear, rolls away worry, defeats despondency.

Lou Holtz says he was given this book as a 47 yr.-old unemployed high school coach. It transformed his thinking. He listed 100 things he wanted to do before he died. Last I heard he had accomplished 97 of those goals. I wonder what it could do for you.

Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25 and the Search for the American Dream

I just finished this book by Adam Shepard on my vacation to Michigan.  Here's a quick review.  

I was turned onto this book by Dave Ramsey, who recommends it on his website.  

It's the true story of a young college graduate who sets a goal after 365 days to go from homeless with only $25 in his pocket and the clothes on his back to having $2500 in savings, having a roof over his head and a car to drive.  It's an entertaining story, told from his perspective. 

It made me appreciate what I have and reminded me to stop whining and complaining when I begin to think about what I don't have.  The book restored my "make it happen" attitude.  It reminded me to get back to the basics, set goals, and do everything I can to achieve them.  I highly recommend it.  I won't ruin the ending for you.

Strengths

I bought a book recently called Strengths Finder 2.0.  It's an assessment test to help you define your strengths.  I took it a few months ago, but I'm reviewing it again this week.  When you buy the book, you receive a unique access code that gives you online access to the test and a bunch of resources to help you take appropriate actions towards utilizing your strengths in your every day - whether it be at work or home.  

Here are my Top 5 strengths:

FOCUS

EMPATHY

POSITIVITY

RELATOR

COMPETITION

None of these are a surprise to me.  If you've taken this test, I'd love to know what your Top 5 are.

Never Check E-Mail In The Morning

Here are some of the most important points I learned from the book "Never Check Email in the Morning" by Julie Morgenstern:

Dance close to the revenue line.  This was the most important tip I learned from the book.  It means, when deciding to do one task over an other, make sure the first task is one that is closer to affecting the revenue line of your business.  I've already seen positive results and better decisions made.  

Other tips include: 

Capture all To-Do's in one place

5 Q's and 4 D's when deciding how to prioritize

1. How long will it take?

2. What is the return on investment?

3. What is the deadline

Delete

Delay

Delegate

Diminish

Check emails at 10, 2 and 5pm only.

Move personal emails to evening or 5pm time slot if necessary.

Sort items in folders within arms distance.  File away things in permanent folders when finished with a task.  

My Son Is Reading 2 Pages a Minute

My son, Alex, called me last night while I was out buying paint supplies for this weekend's project.  He was proudly stating he just finished a 312 page book.  My son is 9 years old!  He loves to read; he particularly loves the Warriors and, now, the new Seekers series.  I encourage him all the way.  You go Alex!  Daddy's proud of you.

Succeeding Through Self-Discipline

One of the joys I have had since I started working for myself is working with a wonderful Englishman named Bill Williams (Sir William Williams as I like to call him). He's always been a source of wisdom, reason and laughter since I started my business. Mr. Bill, as the boys call him, has been a true friend. He's taught me a great deal about loyalty and honor in business and personal life. Not only is he my business partner in Europe, but he's also a good friend.

Mr. Bill has started a blog. I encourage you to check it out once in a while. It's chock full of info on books and music and the Christian walk. One blog he's recently written is an inspirational one titled "Succeeding Through Self-Discipline". It talks about Rick Warren's book called God's Power To Change Your Life and 6 keys to living successfully in God's eyes through self-discipline. The six things are:

Successful people master their moods

Successful people watch their words

Successful people restrain their reactions

Successful people stick to their schedule

Successful people manage their money

Successful people manage their health

For the rest of the blog, check out, my dear friend, Bill Williams', iconnectdirect blog. If you're in England, Bill runs a fine online Christian shop called IconnectDirect.co.uk.

Warrior Cats

My third grade son is really into these books - the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. It's about clans of cats and a main character cat named FireHeart. Other character names are Bluestar, Graystripe, Sandclaw and Tigerclaw. Alex and his third grade classmates love these books. He's already into book #4 of the series of 16 books. I think this might be the next craze after Harry Potter.

Back of the Napkin

This looks like a really interesting book.  I might put it on my wish list.

Check out Dan Roam's website.

Any of you read it yet?

Eric