Quotation: “Cusswords are pure ecstasy when you are twelve, buzzing in the mouth like a battery on the tongue.”

Publisher’s Summary

“I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. . . . I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.”

In Donald Miller’s early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.

©2003 Donald Miller; (P)2008 Hovel Audio

Quotation: “” this concept simple enough to remember and flexible enough to use in many different situations.”

Publisher’s Summary

Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?

The primary obstacle is a conflict that’s built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed best seller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems, the rational mind and the emotional mind, that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.

In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people – employees and managers, parents and nurses – have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:

The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients.

The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping.

The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service

In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

©2010 Chip Heath; (P)2010 Random House

Quotation: “You don’t become indispensable merely because you are different. But the only way to become indispensable is to be different. That’s because if you’re the same, so are plenty of other people.”

Publisher’s Summary

There used to be two teams in every workplace: management and labor. Now there’s a third team, the linchpins. These people invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there’s no rule book. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.

Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. Like the small piece of hardware that keeps a wheel from falling off its axle, they may not be famous but they’re indispensable. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom. Have you ever found a shortcut that others missed? Seen a new way to resolve a conflict? Made a connection with someone others couldn’t reach? Even once? Then you have what it takes to become indispensable, by overcoming the resistance that holds people back.

As Godin writes, “Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. It’s time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map. You have brilliance in you, your contribution is essential, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must.”

©2010 Seth Godin; (P)2010 Random House

Quotation: “...in living a great story, we defy a dark force propagating what I believe to be a lie, that a human life is not worth living, that the story you have living within you is not worth living.”

Publisher’s Summary

Full of beautiful, heart-wrenching, and hilarious stories, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details one man’s opportunity to edit his life as if he were a character in a movie. Years after writing his best-selling memoir, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and Don was unsure how to start another. But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When they start fictionalizing Don’s life for film – changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative – the real-life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges listeners to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.

©2009 Thomas Nelson; (P)2009 Thomas Nelson

Author Video: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2500INV3K9Y4L

Fortunately, when things look the darkest, a mysterious old man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up.  A man of indiscriminate age and race with white hair and wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul with angelic-like qualities.  Communicating what he calls “a little perspective,” Jones explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things about life that others miss. In his simple interactions, he speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what they can do about it.

I picked up the audio book, “E-Myth Revisited” the other day. This is a book I wish I would have read years ago.

The book is about starting your own business and the mistakes that most entrepreneurs make in the process. It gives some fascinating insights into different business startup methods and how many are destined to fail right from the start.

The book lists three “hats” the budding entrepreneur must wear. They are…

1. Technician
2. Manager
3. Entrepreneur

Author Michael Gerber says that the majority of new business startups are done by “technicians”, people that are good at a certain task such as a mechanic. The technician is the laborer, the one who produces the products or service. The manager ensures that processes and finances run smoothly and regularly. The entrepreneur develops the goals, and steers the company in the direction needed to attain those goals. Of these three dispositions, the entrepreneur is key… without it, the technician will end up overworked and underpaid. As the company grows, the business owner will want to draw away from the technician and manager work and delegate these jobs to others.

As someone who has been a “Technician” all of his life, this insight into the other necessary qualities of business planning has been very eye opening. The book gives many examples of business run from the “technician” perspective. In the past when I used to sell to auto repair shops I was always amazed at the mechanic who would start up a new shop and try to do all of the work himself. He usually had a phone in one hand and a wrench in the other. The difficulty of trying to do everything himself would soon lead to burnout and a quick return from businessman to employee.

In the coming months as we look at putting together a workable business plan the resources provided by this book and the comprehensive e-myth website will prove to be useful tools. For management resources we’ll look no further than our favorite management guru, Rosa Say, and her very informative blog, Talking Story. In the technician area, blogs such as lifehacker and lifehack.org will provide some useful tricks and tips, while fellow blogger Dwayne Melancon always provides real world business experience on his Genuine Curiosity Blog.

If a business startup is in your future be sure to pick up this book or get the audio version

I’m a huge fan of David Allen’s best selling book, “Getting Things Done.” This book has given me a whole new outlook on time management and personal productivity. I am always recommending it to colleagues and friends and it is consistently in my top ten book list. It is usually the first productivity book I would recommend to someone… until now.

I have recently found a book that should be a precursor to GTD. A book that should be read before undertaking any time management or personal productivity program. A simple but profound read that can make all the difference in your personal development success.

Entitled, “It’s All Too Much,” by Peter Walsh, this book will give you the understanding to overcome a major problem that our modern world has thrust upon us… clutter. Peter is the organizational guru from TLC’s hit show Clean Sweep. He understands how easy it is for clutter to creep into your life and how hard it is to get rid of it.

Peter will help you climb out from that pile of junk mail on your desk, throw away the 200 old magazines that are bowing your bookshelf and finally uncover a workable horizontal surface that you can work on. This book is far from the usual, “buy more storage boxes” solution. Peter gets to the root of the problem by asking a couple of questions.

What do you want your life to look like?

How do you want to organize your house so you can live the life you want?

It’s All Too Much shows you how to reexamine your priorities and let go of the things that are weighing you down. Simply and clearly, Peter gives you the tools you need to go through your home, room by room — even possession by possession — and honestly evaluate what adds to your quality of life and what’s keeping you from living the life of your dreams.

This book has given me new insights into clutter control and some great tips for overcoming all the “stuff” that seems to find its way into my life. I used to think that clutter was just my problem, but I now realize that we all suffer from “Stuff” overload.

From junk mail, endless magazine subscriptions, to the latest kitchen gadget, this stuff accumulates and causes stress. Soon we just throw our hands in the air and say… It’s all Too Much!

The bottom line… read this book, de-clutter your life, and then pick up David Allen’s, Getting Things Done

Author John Maxwell’s new book is entitled, The Difference Maker. The sub-title of the book is Making Your Attitude Your Greatest Asset.

If you’ve enjoyed John Maxwell’s books in the past, you’ll find this new book to be in the same voice. John is the master of making points. If you like an outline style, with multiple points one after the other, you’ll like this book.

The book contains 10 chapters, with the first four about attitude. Chapters 5 through nine contain the big five attitude obstacles. These include discouragement, change, problems, fear, and failure. Chapter 10 is about how this book can help you make a difference in the lives of others.

What I like about this book is its small size. It is easy to take with you in the car or on a plane. The wisdom contained in this book is easy to follow with stories and examples along the way. Since the book is small, It’s easy to make notes of the points in this book using a pocket highlighter. The book will teach you to…

1. Win over discouragement by getting the right perspective
2. Embrace change by determining that without change improvement won’t come
3. Overcome problems by defining, anticipating, evaluating, and embracing the problem as a potential opportunity
4. Defeat fear by admitting to fear; realizing fears limiting power; and converting fear into desire.
5. Move beyond failure by holding on to your sense of humor.

You can use this book as your personal coach. Its small size lets you keep it in your desk drawer or in your car for quick reference. Overall I enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.