The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey

Funny to think this book is now really a classic. It was originally written 20 years ago and then updated 5 years ago. Think about how many times you had heard the word synergy or synergize before 1989. Some of the ideas in this book have made generational ideas go throughout business. It is almost laughable when I hear someone talk about synergy in a business environment today. It is kind of like using groovy. The word has now worn out its welcome in todays culture. This is not to say that any of the ideas in this book are now outdated, but just that we as a culture move forward and call old ideas by new names.

The seven habits:

1. Be Proactive

2. Begin with the End in Mind

3. Put First Things First

4. Think Win-Win

5. Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen the Saw

Are really timeless ideas, not necessarily new even 20 years ago. Best sellers are made of self help books because people want something new. Even though most everything in self help books are regurgitations of previous works, the key is that people want to and need to be motivated. Reading provides an opportunity for folks to internalize things they may already know. They can make note of a nugget of wisdom. It could be life changing and the nugget they needed to move forward. It is not always purely the content, but the presentation that can lift someone out of their own funk to move past the hurdle standing in their way.

For me the book was a bit of a tough read. A little too much psycho-babble maybe, or a little too much thoughts that this info is the holy grail to your success. All in all it was a worth while read and carries some nuggets for me to refer back to later.

Quotable Quotes:

There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living. - David Starr Jordan

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

I know of no more encouraging fact that the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. - Henry Dave Thoureau

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. - Goethe

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. - Samuel Johnson

We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life. - Edwin Markham

The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of. - Pascal

I take as my guide the hope of a saint:

in crucial things, unity -

in important things, diversity -

in all things, generosity.

Inaugural address of President George Bush

Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things...I am tempted to think...there are no little things. - Bruce Barton

You can pretty much summarize the first three habits with the expression "make and keep a promise" You can pretty much summarize the second three habits with the expression "involve others in the problem and work out the solution together." - Stephen Covey

Other Nuggets:

-Make your focus on the circle of influence. The larger your circle of influence the more you can accomplish. Your circle of concern is simply a distraction, since you have no control over it.

-Production vs Production Capacity relationship

Will you read this book again? No

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Leave it at the library. It is worth a read, but not necessary to own it IMHO.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt

On Bullshit is an exploratory look into bullshit as it is unto itself. It is a short read that enamors you as the reader into really seeking the truth about bullshit. Frankfurt uses references from The Prevalence of Humbug by Max Black to illustrate how humbug is similar, but does not portray the essence of bullshit. Harry Frankfurt wraps a nice bow around some of what Ludwig Wittgenstein portrayed giving what he considers "a more accurate appreciation of the central characteristics of bullshit". To conclude his exploration into bullshit, he looks to the Oxford English Dictionary. With his diatribe of explanation, his conclusion to the book offers the ultimate gift.

"Our natures are, indeed, elusively insubstantial - notoriously less stable and less inherent than the natures of other things. And insofar as this is the case, sincerity itself is bullshit."

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Personal

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Right To Lead - a book of quotable quotes by John C Maxwell

Quotable Quotes

Men are alike in their promises. It is only in their deeds that they differ. - Moli`ere

Resolved: never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. - Jonathan Edwards

Your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks. - John C. Maxwell

You will never do anything worthwhile in this world without courage. - James Allen

The time is always right to do what is right. - Martin Luther King

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. - Billy Graham

Men grow making decisions and assuming resposibility for them. - Bill Marriot Sr.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Most of the significant things we have done in the world were done by persons who were either too busy or too sick! There are few ideal and leisurely settings for the disciplines of growth. - Robert Thornton Henderson

A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. - John C Maxwell

God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men. - Thomas Jefferson

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. - Margaret Thatcher

He who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exemplify the highest things. - Gregory the Great(450-604)

A life isn't significant except for its impact on other lives. - Jackie Robinson

No man's credit is ever as good as his money. - Edgar Watson Howe

Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. - William Shakespeare

Some men succeed by what they know; some by what they do; and a few by what they are. - Elbert Hubbard

It is wisdom to use your influence...it is criminal to sell it. - Ed Cole

We don't need more strength or more ability or greater opportunity. What we need to use is what we have. - Basil Walsh

The harder your work, the harder it is to surrender. - Vince Lombardi

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all? - Joe Namath

If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself. - Dwight L Moody

Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones. - Philips Brooks

It is never too late to be what you might have become. - George Eliot

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal

It is a short sweet book of quotes and stories to remind you of what it means to lead well.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals by K. Dennis Chambers

This book is not a how-to, handholding, write your business plan from A-Z. Although it does show some basic business plans and structure. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals is more of a roadmap to reaching your goal of writing a good business plan. K. Dennis Chambers is a writer first and foremost. He is secondarily a business plan writer. This book provides good insight to the mechanics of conveying your message properly, identifying with your audience. Tailoring your writing to the recipient(s).

Quotable Quotes:

If you can't outplay 'em outwork 'em - Ben Hogan(pro golfer)

My three Secrets of Success: Get up early. Work Hard. Find oil. - J. Paul Getty

Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home Plate don't move - Satchel Paige(Hall of Fame Pitcher)

The best headlines are those that appeal to the readers self interest, that is, headlines based on the readers' benefits. They offer the readers something they want-and can get from you. - John Caples(Copywriter's Hall of Fame)

It's supposed to he hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. - Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

Its not money that brings happiness. It's lots of money. - Russian Proverb

Just hold them for a few innings fellas. I'll think of something. - Charlie Dressen(Former Brooklyn Dodgers Manager)

When you play this game for 20 years, go to bat 10,000 times, and get 3,000 hits, do you know what that means? You've gone 0 for 7,000. - Pete Rose

If things seem under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti

Writing a Business Plan:

Whats in it for me?

-Your plan is only going to be as good as your excitement for the plan.

-Identify why you are writing it and for whom

-Planning is valuable

-Your mission statement is the foundation on which to build your company

Whats in it for them?

-Create your reader profile

-What does your reader need to know. Focus on being succinct.

-We are in a new era, the business plan needs a new order

1. Customized Cover Letter

2. Table Of Contents

3. Executive Summary

4. The Financials

5. The Company

6. The Landscape

7. The Market

8. The Competition

9. Personnel

10. Sales and Promotion

11. Appendix

The First Draft

-Writing in general should follow the approx timeline

--Preparation 50 percent

--First Draft 20 percent

--Clean Up 30 percent

-Cover letter examples

-Subheadings guide the reader to the major points and make summary easier for the reviewer.

Editing: The Hard Part

-An editing checklist

-Active vs Passive voice

-Transitions for Flow and polish

-Parallel sentence structures

-Cliches and other writing pitfalls

-Graphics to enhance the reader's understanding of your ideas

Develop a Realistic Marketing Plan:

-SWOT

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

-Market Segments

-Prospects

-Competition

-Products/Services

-Pricing

-Promotion

-Objectives

Demonstrate Financial Credibility:

-How much money do I need?

-What type of financing do I need?

-How do I pay back my creditors?

-Think monthly

-Forecasting

-A fairly in depth look at how to create a P&L and balance sheet

Todays Mechanics in writing:

-Utilize a style guide

-Utilize handbooks to help with Punctuation and Grammar

-Dictionary

-Say what you want to say succinctly.

Writing a Business Proposal:

What are you really proposing?

-Number one secret about writing a proposal--Write about them.

Why your proposal makes the Prospect so nervous

-Dictionary definition:

An offer or suggestion of marriage.

-For a company to bring in big ticket propositions is just like getting married.

-Ten Commandments for writing a killer proposal

1. No Boilerplate. Not even one paragraph.

2. Begin with the assurance of compliance.

3. Describe in your own words, the exact outcome that the prospect is seeking in vocabulary the prospect understands.

4. Deal with Money up front.

5. Avoid writing about your company for ten pages longer than you can stand.

6. Follow all my rules for twenty-first century grammar and punctuation.

7. Let one writer create the entire first draft, and let it be original to this project.

8. Avoid all cliches

9. Create a work breakdown structure or Gantt chart for your proposal project.

10. Do not delegate a proposal to junior people.

Convince your readers to see it your way

-The price has to be right

-Success in the life of your company depends on how the customer feels about you.

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Personal. This book is a great reference for the current times and more relaxed writing style that has evolved since the internet revolution.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

This book is a pretty amazing look at the ideas of capitalism at its purest. At its brightest, the characters portrayed offer you a look inside the mind of extreme overachievers and gifted and talented people. At its worst, it shows the dark side of capitalism, since not everyone was born to be a leader, business owner, inventor, or even born to excel at anything. Some were born to work in and help a leader be successful. There is definitely a fine line between the emotional needs and desires of a leader and the needs and desires of a follower. This book seems to throw the followers by the wayside if they can't keep up. Who is John Galt by the way?

John Galt is a figment of the imagination. He has created something that everyone wants, but no one can get to. The element of utopian living with the ability to freely create and discover things without the intervening of the government. The happy place. It is pictured as a real place and looks like a parallel to what our society could become, given the chance to succumb to its own democracy.

Although a 1000 page book seems overwhelming, I must admit, this one tops my list of favorite books. The story although fiction, allows you to draw so many parallels to current times, whether you read it in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or 2000s for the first time, you can draw parallels to today. It helps you understand capitalism in a different way, and although I don't buy into it fully, I can appreciate my economic and political views better after reading it. It also helped me to understand that politics and economics are a prerequisite to understanding societal influence and how and why the world works the way it does. You can watch the world work, or you can get up and do something.

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal

Anyone interested in business and capitalism should read this book.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cites, MN

Going Rogue by Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin has produced a well written, easy to read autobiography that takes you on a journey from her simple everyday middle american upbringing to the front lines of DC politics and all the joy and mayhem in the middle. Overall, I have two opinions on this book.

On the one hand, even though she paints herself as a simple citizen, fighting for the rights of the everyman, she has made enough impression on enough people that all she says is suspect. To support this idea, I heard that the NY Times put as many as 10 reporters on this book to do fact checking. I am sure you will see any of their bashing of the book in the conventional media.

On the other hand, Sarah Palin has been given the shaft by big politics. She spends the lions share of the book giving full explanations to many of the media stories that have made her (in)famous. It is truly sad that politics in this great nation has become a popularity contest and if you are popular and don't have a lot of money backing you, you might as well go home to middle america and shut up. Because us the big dogs are going to sabotage any chance you might have at succeeding.

She was simply a neighbor wanting to make sure government was fiscally responsible when she became mayor. She was looking be fiscally responsible as Governor. She calls a spade a spade and doesn't apologize for it. She isn't looking to succumb to lobbyists and whiners. She has her own agenda which seems to be energy. I would think she would be a prize on any presidential cabinet dealing with energy and leading the charge for the country to utilize renewable energy and wean us off foreign oil.

I am biased. I am extremely fiscally conservative. I am also very socially conservative. Does this make me a republican, I wish, but our current parties are broken and both are fairly close when it comes to responsible government spending.

Will you read this book again? No

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Public Library. I don't think there is any need to review it or read it again. The only reason to buy it would be to loan it out to others.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

This book targets those who are debt burdened. It has some very good principles to live by and provides a good roadmap for people seeking to get out from under the burden of their debt. Dave Ramsey relies heavily on student success stories to keep the reader interested and motivated through the book. The back of the book provides even more success and motivational stories from all types of people.

His basic premise is that if you are willing to live like no one else, you will be able to live like no one else.

The basic baby steps he suggests in giving your finances a Total Money Makeover are as follows:

Step #1: Save $1000 Cash as a Starter Emergency Fund

Step #2: Start the Debt Snowball

-Payoff the smallest balance first. This gives you motivation to keep going as you see progress quickly.

-Use the extra you have left after paying off the smaller balance to payoff the next debt faster, creating a snowball effect paying off the larger debts faster as you pay of each debt.

Step #3: Finish the Emergency Fund.

-Create an account with 3-6 months liquid cash reserves to help you if/when job loss or other surprise expenses occur.

Step #4: Invest 15% of your income towards Retirement - 401k, Roth IRA, Mutual Funds

Step #5: Save for College - 529, ESA

Step #6: Pay off your mortgage - Buy with 100% down or take a 15 yr mortgage.

Step #7: Build Wealth

When you complete these steps, you will be able to live like no one else.

Will you read this book again? Not likely. This is recommended for folks needing to get their personal finances under control. The principles here are timeless for sustaining control over your personal finances.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal, if you struggle with your finances. It is a great reference.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN