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by David DeFord
Motivation
isn't enough
Much good can be accomplished if we have the right motivation. This
motivation often spawns from a defining moment that triggers us
to say, "Enough!"
However,
motivation alone will not always get us to our goals-vision, planning,
action, and discipline must be employed.
Skill
building
Imagine setting a goal to double your income in five years. There
are many paths to achieving that goal-new job, start a business,
write a book. You could choose dozens of actions to get yourself
there.
Most likely,
you'll need to learn and build new skills. You will, at least, need
to improve and broaden your existing skills.
Balanced
learning
To enhance our opportunities, we can spend our entire lives building
our learning and wisdom.
Study a
variety of subjects. Don't confine yourself to one area of learning.
If you have good knowledge in several areas, you can adapt your
career to meet the market demands.
Through
balancing your study, you also become a more engaging conversationalist.
You'll also better understand world events.
Building
a library
Business philosopher Jim Rohn suggests that we should leave three
important things behind for our families:
our life in pictures
our life written in our journals, and
an abundant library
Building
a library is a wonderful labor of love. We not only build up ourselves,
but also our families as we build our libraries.
Areas
of study
Rohn also suggests some sections for your library:
History
Philosophy
Biographies and autobiographies
Law
Fine literature
Accounting
Economics
Culture (Art, music, dance)
I would
add the following sections:
Spirituality
Business
Personal development
As we build
our skills, seek balance in our learning, and build great libraries,
we position ourselves for success in all areas of our lives: our
personal lives, our family lives, our spiritual lives, our business
lives, and our financial lives.
Balanced
success through balanced learning.
Related
Quotes:
"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make
you a fortune."
Jim Rohn
"Learning
is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health.
Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning
is where the miracle process all begins."
Jim Rohn
"Never begrudge
the money you spend on your own education."
Jim Rohn
"To earn
more, you must learn more."
Brian Tracy
"None of
us...knows enough. The learning process is an endless process. We
must read, we must observe, we must assimilate, and we must ponder
that to which we expose our minds."
Gordon B. Hinckley
Related Reading
History
A
Short History of the World - Geoffrey Blainey
From the back jacket: Brilliantly narrated by a
distinguished historian, this is the story of the world's people
during the last four million years, beginning before the human race
moved out of Africa to explore and settle the other continents.
Geoffrey Blainey concentrates on the development of technology and
skills, the rise of major religions, and the role of geography;
he is concerned not only with major transformations but also with
what people ate and how hard they worked in order to earn their
bread, and with how they saw the universe. His narrative casts an
unmistakable spell.
Don't
Know Much About History : Everything You Need to Know About American
History but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis
Philosophy
The
Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time by Will Durant
From Publishers Weekly
This engaging, accessible book of essays from Pulitzer Prize-winning
philosopher and historian Durant, author of the authoritative 11-volume
Story of Civilization, should be essential reading for anyone interested
in the evolution of thought. Little, the founder and director of
The Will Durant Foundation, includes in his slim compendium such
works as "The One Hundred 'Best' Books For an Education" and "Twelve
Vital Dates in World History." Durant's "The Ten 'Greatest' Thinkers"
details minds as enlightening as Confucius and as influential as
Darwin, whom Durant says "reduced man to an animal fighting for
his transient mastery of the globe." "The Ten 'Greatest' Poets,"
charts a course from Homer's brilliance to Dante's haunted heart
to Whitman's "frank and lusty" originality, in prose peppered with
biographical bon mots and excerpts of the world's loveliest poems.
Lay folks especially will find this a delightful introduction to
Durant's irrepressible style. What else would one expect from Durant,
an intellect who, when asked, "Whom in all of history would you
most like to have known?" drolly replied, "Madame de Pompadour."
Copyright
2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Basic
Teachings of the Great Philosophers by S.E. Frost
From the Publisher: A complete summary of the views
of the most important philosophers in Western civilization. Each
major field of philosophic inquiry comprises a separate chapter
for greater accessibility. Includes Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant,
Hegel, Dewey, Sartre, and many others.
Philosophy:
The Basics by Nigel Warburton
Philosophy: The Basics is the book for anyone coming to
philosophy for the first time. Nigel Warburton's popular book gently
eases the reader into the world of philosophy. Each chapter considers
a key area of philosophy, explaining and exploring the basic ideas
and themes.
Biographies
James
Madison: (The American Presidents Series), by Garry Wills
From the inside
cover: In this concise and marvelously readable examination
of Madison's life and career, the renowned historian Garry Wills
outlines the confluence of unfortunate circumstance, misplaced temperment,
and outright poor judgment that bogged down Madison's presidency.
Though a brilliant theoretician and effective legislator and collaborator,
he was not a natural leader of men, and the absence of leadership
was keenly felt during wartime.
Benjamin
Franklin : An American Life, by Walter Isaacson
From Amazon.com: Benjamin Franklin, writes journalist
and biographer Walter Isaacson, was that rare Founding Father who
would sooner wink at a passer-by than sit still for a formal portrait.
What's more, Isaacson relates in this fluent and entertaining biography,
the revolutionary leader represents a political tradition that has
been all but forgotten today, one that prizes pragmatism over moralism,
religious tolerance over fundamentalist rigidity, and social mobility
over class privilege. That broadly democratic sensibility allowed
Franklin his contradictions, as Isaacson shows... Ben Franklin regularly
went without food in order to buy books. His example, as always,
is a good one--and this is just the book to buy with the proceeds
from the grocery budget. --Gregory McNamee
Sam
Walton: Made in America: My Story
Law
Inc.
Yourself: How to Profit by Setting Up Your Own Corporation by Judith
H. McQuown More than two decades ago, when former Wall Street
portfolio analyst Judith H. McQuown first sat down to write the
inaugural edition of Inc. Yourself, the incorporation of a small
company was a fairly simple procedure undertaken by relatively few
refugees from the then-burgeoning safe haven of big-time corporate
America. But while the appeal and the underlying need for striking
out on one's own have increased markedly in the interim, the continual
passage of major tax-law changes has ensured that incorporation
is no longer such an uncomplicated process. Accordingly, in this
ninth edition of her bestselling primer, McQuown still outlines
the core information necessary to turn any enterprise into a separate
legal entity replete with all of the rights, privileges, and liabilities
that such a move entails. But she also updates those suggestions
for today's small businesses whenever appropriate, and bolsters
them with important details on newly available options for pension
plans, organizing the venture, and sheltering its income from taxation.
--Howard Rothman
The
Law of Corporations: In a Nutshell by Robert W. Hamilton
Calvin Coolidge said: "The business of America is business." From
the mom and pop store to giant international companies, today's
form of business is typically the corporation. This Nutshell will
tell you why, and it will introduce you to the unique characteristics
of this modern creation: corporate autonomy, transferability and
even a kind of immortality. This text will get you literate enough
in the language of the corporation to be comfortable with this fundamental
part of business law. Once corporations become familiar figures,
you'll be able to address exam questions more quickly and accurately.
Taxes
and Business Strategy: A Planning Approach by Myron S. Scholes,
et. al.
A text for those interested in investment banking, corporate finance,
strategy consulting, venture capital, and money management, providing
topical coverage of tax arbitrage, employee stock options, estate
planning, mergers and acquisitions, and international expansion.
Previous edition: c1992. DLC: Business enterprises--Taxation--Law
and legislation
Fine
Literature
Les
Miserables by Victor Hugo
For me, this great work represents the most inspiring story in all
literature. Hugo teaches us much of doing right in the face of great
challenge. He also teaches us of the conflict between justice and
mercy. -- David
DeFord
The
Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas
Alexandre Dumas was already a best-selling novelist when he wrote
this historical romance, combining (as he claimed) the two essentials
of life--"l'action et l'amour." The Man in the Iron Mask climactically
concludes the epic adventures of the three Musk3ateers: here, Athos,
Porthos, Aramis, and their friend D'Artagnan, once invincible, meet
their destinies.
Cry,
the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully told and profoundly compassionate
story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set
in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s. The book
is written with such keen empathy and understanding that to read
it is to share fully in the gravity of the characters' situations.
It both touches your heart deeply and inspires a renewed faith in
the dignity of mankind. Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic tale,
passionately African, timeless and universal, and beyond all, selfless.
To
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression,
To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old
Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three
years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black
man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big
themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child.
The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice,
and the pain of growing up. Like the slow-moving occupants of her
fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale;
we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at
school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the
summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting
scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town
bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the
alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent
white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then
Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon
Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding.
During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers
plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly
woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism
of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally
in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially
kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking,
To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to
new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix
Wilber
Roots
by Alex Haley
I have read this book three times. Each reading has brought to me
an appreciation for the heritage of our African-American friends.
The story mixes innocence and brutality, love and hate, peace and
war, wisdom and ignorance, triumph and defeat. It is a book of great
contrasts. The story of this people is reminiscent of that of the
Jews and Mormons. --
David DeFord
Accounting
Accounting
for Dummies by John A. Tracy
Not everyone is cut out to be a professional accountant. But thanks
to Accounting For Dummies, 2nd Edition you can get a handle
on the financial aspects of your business, investments, or taxes.
Accounting professor and author John A. Tracy sheds light on the
mysteries of
-- Generating income statements and balance sheets
-- Establishing budgets, controlling profit and cash
flow, stemming losses, and managing inventory
-- Evaluating profit margins and identifying ways
to increase them
-- Making financial decisions that keep investors,
creditors, and managers satisfied
-- Reading financial reports
-- Surviving an audit and using the results to improve
your accounting system
-- Putting the latest computer technology to work to
help you manage the bottom line
If you've steered clear of accounting because you thought it incomprehensible
by mere mortals, prepare to be enlightened. Accounting For Dummies,
2nd Edition empowers you with knowledge you can't afford to be without.
Accounting
the Easy Way by Peter J. Eisen
Useful as either a self-teaching guide or a supplement to classroom
textbooks, this book presents the fundamentals of accounting, starting
with the accounting equation, then explaining financial statements,
recording daily business transactions, using special journals, accounting
for receivables and payables, and accounting for assets, inventories,
and payroll from the viewpoint of a sole proprietorship form of
business. Final chapters cover partnership and corporate accounting.
Within every chapter, self-testing exercises follow each topic with
detailed solutions presented at the back of the book. Barrons Easy
Way books focus on both practical and academic topics, presenting
fundamental subject matter in clear, understandable language. Equally
popular as self-teaching manuals and supplementary texts for classroom
use, they are written to help students improve their grades and
review subject matter before tests. They are also useful for introducing
general readers to a new career-related skill. Easy Way titles cover
virtually all subjects that are taught on advanced high school and
college-101 levels. Subject heads and key phrases are set in a second
color.
Economics
Basic
Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell
Frugal
Living for Dummies by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Tips to help get the whole family involved in saving money. The
helpful guide to living the good life on less. Need help keeping
that New Year's resolution to eliminate credit card debt and live
within your means? Then Frugal Living for Dummies is for
you! Packed with tips on cutting costs on everything from groceries
to gifts for all occasions, this practical guide shows you how to
spend less on the things you need and save more for the things you
want.
Personal
Finance for Dummies by Eric Tyson
Do you need help managing your financial priorities? Relax! This
friendly guide, now updated to include changes to the tax code,
gives you just the information you need to take control of your
finances, buy the right insurance coverage, and weather economic
downturns. Guide to saving more, investing wisely, and planning
for the future. Revised and updated to include changes to the tax
code.
Culture
Art:
A New History - Paul Johnson
In ART: A NEW HISTORY, Paul Johnson turns his great gifts as a world
historian to a subject that has enthralled him all his life: the
history of art. This narrative account, from the earliest cave paintings
up to the present day, has new things to say about almost every
period of art. Taking account of changing scholarship and shifting
opinions, he draws our attention to a number of neglected artists
and styles, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, Russia and the Americas.
Paul Johnson puts the creative originality of the individual at
the heart of his story. He pays particular attention to key periods:
the emergence of the artistic personality in the Renaissance, the
new realism of the early seventeenth century, the discovery of landscape
painting as a separate art form, and the rise of ideological art.
Opera
101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera by Fred Plotikin,
Placido Domingo
Just as the title says, this is a basic primer on what opera is,
what to look for and what to listen to. There is nothing stuffy
in Plotkin's style, which is clear and idiomatic. The book also
boasts a foreword by supertenor Placido Domingo.
Classical
Music 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Classical Music
by Fred Plotikin
From Library Journal: The latest of many introductory
books on Western classical music, Plotkin's is a fine addition to
the genre, though some may prefer Robert Sherman and Philip Seldon's
more traditionally organized Complete Idiot's Guide to Classical
Music or Michael Walsh's hilarious and opinionated Who's Afraid
of Classical Music? While most such books are at least partially
chronological, Plotkin's revolves almost entirely around the orchestra's
instruments and the listening experience. He presents material as
coursework, and his strictures about really listening (as opposed
to mere "hearing") are well taken and certainly apply to all kinds
of music. A valuable feature are the interviews with classical musicians
interspersed throughout. One weakness is that opera is not significantly
treated, perhaps because Plotkin covered that ground in an earlier
book, Opera 101: A Guide to Learning and Loving Opera. The discography
is organized by chapter rather than composer (which makes it a bit
awkward to use as a stand-alone source), but it is superior to the
one in the Idiot's Guide. Recommended for libraries desiring an
up-to-date and informative general introduction to classical music.
Bruce R. Schueneman,
Texas A&M Univ. Lib., Kingsville Copyright 2002 Cahners Business
Information, Inc.
Spirituality
The
Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren
From Publishers Weekly: Pastor of Saddleback Church,
a Southern Baptist mega-church in southern California with weekly
attendance of more than 15,000, Warren now applies his highly successful
"purpose-driven" framework, developed in the best-seller The Purpose-Driven
Church, to individual experience. The same principles Warren has
taught to thousands of pastors to help churches be healthy and effective
can also drive lives, he says. The book argues that discerning and
living five God-ordained purposes-worship, community, discipleship,
ministry and evangelism-is key to effective living. His 40 short
chapters are intended to be read over 40 days' time, giving readers
small pieces of his purpose-discovering program to chew on. Warren
certainly knows his Bible. Of 800-plus footnotes, only 18 don't
refer to Christian Scripture. He deliberately works with 15 different
Bible translations, leaning heavily on contemporary translations
and paraphrases, as an interesting way of plumbing biblical text.
The almost exclusively biblical frame of reference stakes out the
audience niche for this manual for Christian living. It's practical
yet paradoxically abstract, lacking the kind of real-life examples
and stories that life-application books usually provide in abundance.
The book has flaws editing might have fixed. People are quoted without
being identified, and subheads simply repeat lines of text, which
tends to make the prose sound too simple. This book is not for all,
but for those needing a certain kind of scriptural rock, it is solid.
Copyright 2002
Reed Business Information, Inc.
Mere
Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Back Cover: One of the most popular and beloved
introductions to Christian faith ever written, Mere Christianity
has sold millions of copies worldwide. The book brings together
Lewis' legendary broadcast talks of the war years, talks in which
he set out simply to "explain and defend the belief that has been
common to nearly all Christians at all times." Rejecting the boundaries
that divide Christianity's many denominations, C. S. Lewis provides
an unequaled opportunity for believers and non-believers alike to
hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith; it is a
collection of scintillating brilliance that remains strikingly fresh
for the modern reader and at the same time confirms C. S. Lewis'
reputation as one of the leading writers and thinkers of our age.
Standing
for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and
Homes by Gordon B. Hinckley, Mike Wallace
"Virtue is too often neglected, if not scorned or ridiculed as old-fashioned,
confining, unenlightened," laments author Gordon Hinckley, a 90-year-old
ordained leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Even as he enumerates all of America's social ills (including $482
billion a year spent on gambling, rampant child neglect and abuse,
school massacres, a pervasive deterioration of values) Hinckley
believes there is a remedy. Chapter by chapter Hinckley presents
10 old-fashioned virtues that will return America to the glory envisioned
by its founding fathers. These virtues include Love, Honesty, Morality,
Civility, Learning, Forgiveness, Thrift and Industry, Gratitude,
Optimism, and Faith. Hinckley makes a compelling case for every
one of these virtues, quoting extensively from the Bible but mostly
using convincing personal anecdotes (after all, he is an elder with
90 years worth of stories and wisdom). In his glowing foreword,
Mike Wallace (of 60 Minutes fame) writes that Gordon Hinckley is
an "optimistic leader of the Mormon Church who fully deserves the
almost universal admiration that he gets." Clearly, Hinkley has
struck a resounding chord with the American populace, including
dyed-in-the-wool New York cynics such as Wallace. Word of this book
is rapidly spreading across America as simple folk clamor to steer
their lives and country with a more virtuous compass.
Our
Search for Happiness by M. Russell Ballard
Business
How
to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman
Back Cover: Whether interviewing, selling, networking,
or leading a team, success in business depends on connecting with
other people. Nicholas Boothman now brings his system of forging
instant relationships to the world of business. Beginning with the
simplest of tools--face, body, attitude, and voice--he shows how
to make a dazzling first impression. And then, when those first
90 seconds are up, how to master the people-top-people skill that
are essential to self-confident, ongoing communication.
Integrity
Selling for the 21st Century: How to Sell the Way People Want to
Buy by Ron Willingham
This book has made a big impact on me. I read it three times, using
the action items at the end of each chapter. From these readings,
I realized I needed to excuse myself from a business opportunity
that would have been extremely financially successful, but would
have put me in the integrity poor farm. -- David
DeFord
The
Integrity Advantage: How Taking the High Road Creates a Competitive
Advantage in Business by Adrian Gostick and Dana Telford
With The Integrity Advantage, Adrian Gostick and Dana Telford establish
a burning platform-that personal integrity is a proven competitive
advantage in business. Prominent business leaders from some of North
Americas most respected companies-including Don Graham of the Washington
Post, former Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke, and Hank Paulson,
Jr. of Goldman Sachs-discuss the role integrity has played in their
successes, and offer examples of the importance of integrity in
business today. Not merely a collection of essays, the authors also
share an effective system of decision-making designed to help anyone
implement integrity into every action. The importance of trust and
credibility within business relationships is examined and discussed,
as Telford and Gostick illustrate how to juggle wealth, power, and
responsibility-and be a person of character. Given the recent uncertainty
fostered by questionable corporate tactics, however, now is the
time to examine what role integrity actually plays in business today,
and whether employees are naturally compelled to practice these
values-particularly when the leaders they follow lack integrity
in their own professional behavior.
There's
No Such Thing As "Business" Ethics: There's Only One Rule For Making
Decisions by John C. Maxwell
Bestselling author and expert on leadership John C. Maxwell shares
the only rule that matters--in business and in life.How does a person
judge what is ethical? Sometimes it's clear. In the past year or
two, ethical lapses in corporate America have been well documented.
But is it always easy to see where the line is in life? What's the
standard? And can it work in all situations? John C. Max- well thinks
it can. In THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS BUSINESS ETHICS, Maxwell shows
how people can live with integrity by using the Golden Rule as their
standard--regardless of religion, culture, or circumstances. Along
the way, he delves into the desires of the human heart, reveals
the five most common pitfalls that throw people off the ethical
track, and teaches how to develop the Midas touch when it comes
to personal integrity.
Personal
Development
Create
Your Own Future: How to Master the 12 Critical Factors of Unlimited
Success by Brian Tracy
With this guide you can achieve your goals faster than you ever
dreamed possible. Discover how to skyrocket your success with twelve
solid steps you can take to dramatically increase your results almost
immediately.
Ready
for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life by David
Allen
Based on Allen's highly popular e-newsletter, Principles of Productivity,
Ready for Anything offers fifty-two principles to clear your head,
focus productively, create structures that work, and get in motion,
including:
* stability on one level opens creativity on another
* you can't win a game you haven't defined
* the value of a future goal is the present change it fosters
With wit, motivational insights, and inspiring quotes, Ready for
Anything shows readers how to make things happen with less effort,
stress, and ineffectiveness, and lots more energy, creativity, and
clarity. This is the perfect book for anyone wanting to work and
live at their very best.
The
Treasury of Quotes by Jim Rohn
I thoroughly enjoy this book. I use it often in finding quotes on
most any meaningful subject.--
David DeFord
Think
and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
First published in 1938, this personal development classic helped
spawn the motivational genre. The principles still apply. While
the title subject is about gaining wealth, the book, in fact, has
more to do with taking control of your thoughts, and therefore your
life.
-- David DeFord
To comment on this page, please email ddeford@ordinarypeoplecanwin.com
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