Tag: Books (Page 2 of 5)

The Rosie Project

While waiting at the station in Malmö I browsed the PocketShop store. I often do that, browse a book store without intent to buy anything. Books matter to me and give me a lot. I noticed “The Rosie Project” book and picked it up. It’s marketed as fun and entertaining. A quick look inside supported that, I bought the book as a fun read. Little did I know that the book would mean a lot more to me.

Love isn’t an exact science – but no one told Dan Tillman. A handsome thirty-nine-year-old geneticist, Don’s never had a second date. So he derives The Wife Project, a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Enter Rosie – the world’s most incompatible woman – throwing Don’s safe, ordered life into chaos. Just what is this unsettling, alien emotion he’s feeling?

Don, the main character, is a control freak (in my eyes). He lives a very strictly planned life, routines are king. Don has for instance a weekly dinner plan that’s repeated each and every week. He has many logical reasons for that. Don also is socially awkward, he’s lousy at picking up cues and goes through life sometimes acting more like a robot.

When I discussed the book with a friend I realized what made the book itch. Don is an exaggerated version of how I’ve been (and sometimes still am). The book mirrored some of my own experiences in life. My friend suggested that I should read the book with that in mind. This turned the book into a personal development book for me.

The book shows me, again, the power of stories. Lessons included in a story are much easier to grasp than a more fact based approach.

What I took with me from the book

It’s OK to be wired differently.

Too much thinking complicates things and life.

Life works better when we drop the excessive parts of our planning.

What brightens our lives is often the unexpected events, people we meet because we open up.

When great things happen – trust your guts and enjoy them!

The Rosie Project

The Book Depository: The Rosie Project

Manuscript found in Accra by Paulo Coelho

Tonight I finished reading “Manuscript found in Accra” by Paulo Coelho. It’s a book that kept me hooked and i read it in only a few sittings. Still, when I’ve finished the book it left me pretty empty. I marked some parts and there are some great quotes but I found nothing new that will affect my life.

The important thing is to get back on your feet. Only he who gives up is defeated. Everyone else is victorious.

Dreaming carries no risks. The dangerous things is trying to transform your dras into reality.

The following two quotes focus on you – the only person you’re able to change.

You will only be loved and respected if you love and respect yourself. Never try to please everyone; if you do, you will be respected by no one.

What is success? It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.

Vagabonding

Michelle Clarke at Michelle Clarke Coaching quoted Rolf Pott:

Vagabonding is an outlook on life…it’s about using prosperity and possibility to increase your personal options instead of your personal possessions. Vagabonding is about looking for adventure in normal life, and normal life within adventure. It’s an attitude, an uncommon way of looking at life, a value adjustment, that makes a person an explorer in the truest, most vivid sense of the word. Vagabonding is about time – our only real commodity – and how we choose to use it.

Not just a plan of action, vagabonding is an outlook on life that emphasizes creativity, discovery, and the growth of the spirit.

I got so intrigued by the texts above, especially the second one, that I ordered the book Vagabonding (Paperback) from The Book Depository.

The book has an online companion at Vagabonding.

The Shadow Effect

During the weekend I have read The Shadow Effect – Illuminating the Hidden Power of Your True Self by Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford and Marianne Williamson. It’s a very interesting book and I recommend it.

The shadow exists within all of us. It is a part of us and yet we spend most of our life running from it. But far from being scary, our dark side holds the promise of a better, more fulfilling life. Our shadow makes itself known every day. It is the reason we get furious over a friend showing up ten minutes late, yell at our parents or kids when they have done nothing wrong, and sabotage our own success at the worst possible time. Until we are able to embrace our dualistic nature, we will continue to hurt ourselves and those closest to us and fall short of our potential.

Combining the wisdom of three experts, The Shadow Effect is a practical and profound guide to discovering the gifts of our shadow.

I saw the book at The Power of Slow, ordered it and then read it as soon as I got it.

The Shadow Effect has an official site. I like the text on the front page, it hits home with me:

Make peace with yourself, others and the world.

Find the courage to let go of all that holds you back.

Reconnect with the life you were meant to live and the person you were meant to be.

The book made me realize that I do kick myself too much. Instead I should focus more on the good things in life, self-love and self-respect is key to progress.

Marianne Williamson is the author of Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate which goes well with this book.

This quote by Mary Anne Radmacher will help me stay in (or bounce back into) the light:

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

Living Naked (eBook)

Dayne Herren over at TheHappySelf.com has released a free eBook titled Living Naked: Personal Transformation Through Bare Simplicity.

“Living Naked” is a philosophy of living that strips down living to reveal our natural state of happiness. It is about “getting naked” or simply, back to the basics of BEING. The aim of this philosophy is invigorate your life, your senses, and most of all…your GENUINE and NATURAL HAPPINESS. Living naked is living naturally mentally and physically to unleash your inner joy and happiness.

It’s a nicely formated 40-page eBook that gives good advice on simplifying life. The book has eleven short chapters covering topics such as:
• Strip away life-added toxicity.
• Bring forth clarity to the mind.
• Listen to your internal navigation. Feel. Follow its lead.
• Inject your personal passions.
• Succeed at failing.
• Live happy and be content.

Presentation Zen is a great book

I have read Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds. It’s a beautiful book in itself and terrific when it comes to its topic. The book gives lots of examples, it is inspriring and very well written. Presentation Zen is the kind of book one returns to for reference as well as for new ideas.

I have made some notes while reading the book, things that stuck this time.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Leonardo da Vinci

Communication is about getting others to understand why you are excited. Communication is the transfer of emotion.

Make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them.

What’s your point? Why does it matter?
If the audience remember only one thing, what should it be?

Simplicity is the essence of clear communication.

Bring everything back to the core message.

You have to believe in your message completely or no one else will.

Garr Reynolds has a blog with the same name, Presentation Zen, that I suggest you subscribe to.

Marion Chapsal recommended this book to me. We talked about books around presentations and she wrote If I could recommend only one this would be THE ONE! I am glad I followed her advice since I really love this book.

Get Presentation Zen at The Book Depository.

How to develop self confidence and influence people by public speaking

I have read How to develop self confidence and influence people by public speaking by Dale Carnegie. Here are some of my notes based on the book.

The book has this reassuring quote by Cicero:

All public speaking of real merit is characterized by nervousness.

Dale Carnegie gives this advice: See yourself as a messenger, the message is important. In other words, content is important.

Preparation
Preparation means assembling your thoughts, your ideas, your convictions, your urges. Preparation means selecting, polishing, working them into a pattern, a mosaic of your own. A speech is a voyage with a purpose and it must be chartered.

Outlines
The book lists some types of outlines.
1. State your facts
2. Argue from them
3. Appeal for action

1. Here is a situation that ought to be remedied
2. We ought to do so and so about the matter.
3. You ought to help for these reasons.

1. Secure interested attention.
2. Win confidence.
3. State your facts, educate people regarding the merits of your proposition.
4. Appeal to the motives that make men act.

How to open a talk
The book lists these alternatives:
• Arouse curiosity
• Begin with a story
• Begin with an illustration
• Use an exhibit
• Ask a question
• Open with a quotation
• Tie your topic up to the vital interests of your audience

How to close a talk
The book lists these alternatives:
• Summarize, restate, outline briefly the main points covered
• Appeal for action
• A terse sincere compliment
• A humorous close
• A poetical qouotation
• The climax

This book overlaps in parts with Dale Carnegie’s The quick and easy way to effective speaking. I prefer that one.

The quick and easy way to effective speaking

I have read The quick and easy way to effective speaking by Dale Carnegie. The book is outdated in examples, copyright is in 1962. Still, there are useful tips about public speaking in the book. Here are some of my notes based on the book.

Every talk has one of four major goals. Pick the one that suits you, the audience and the occasion.
1. To persuade or get action.
2. To inform.
3. To impress and convince.
4. To entertain.

Notes about preparation and delivery.
• Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.
• Be sure you are excited about your subject.
• Be eager to share your talk with your listeners.
• The listeners shall feel that what you say is important to them.
• Talk in terms of your listeners’ interests.

Ask yourself how knowledge of your subject will help your audience solve their problems and achieve their goals. In other words, “What’s in it for them?” Then proceed to show them that, and you will have their full attention.

If the purpose of your talk is to inform then make the talk easy to listen to and easy to remember.

If your aim is to convince, remember that it is more effective to stir emotions than to arouse thoughts. Feelings are more powerful than cold ideas.

The book mentions the classic recipe for a talk: First tell them what you are going to tell them; then tell them; then tell them what you told them.

If you ever get to introduce a speaker, follow the T-I-S formula:
+ T stands for topic (of the speech).
+ I stands for importance, connect topic and audience.
+ S stands for speaker, introduce him/her.

279 Days to Overnight Success (eBook)

279 Days to Overnight Success is an interesting free ebook.

It tells the story of this web site, but more importantly, it offers 11,000 words of free advice on how to create your own success with your own project. I offer this information freely, but please use it wisely.

Who It’s For:
Bloggers, writers, online artists, and anyone otherwise interested in creating a new career or expanding their influence using social media. If you want your online presence to grow far beyond what it is now, read and apply.

I have taken a quick look at the ebook and will get back to reading it, it has useful content.

Free 52 Page Complete Blogging Guide

Dan Schawbel with his Personal Branding Blog has created Road to Me 2.0: Free 52 Page Complete Blogging Guide! Dan writes:

If someone asked me how I became successful in the past two and a half years, I would point to this blog, without even bothering to mention anything else. After writing about the process of going from a beginner to intermediate to advanced and then expert blogger, I wanted to create a single resource for you to have all of this information in a simple and consumable format.

The guide goes from beginner to expert:

1. Beginner
* Learn the basics to jumpstart your blog
* RSS, widgets, Technorati, posting, logo & theme

2. Intermediate
* Formatting, pictures, links & pages
* Forum, email and comment marketing

3. Advanced
* Blog hosting, custom themes & plugins
* Social network integration & SEO

4. Expert
* Podcasting, lifestreaming and mailing lists
* Make money blogging and more!

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