Book Reviews

Peaks and Valleys: Making Good and Bad Times Work for You-at Work and in Life
by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Here we find another of those very popular “mini-books” (103 pages) aimed at those readers craving a powerful message via a short read. Who better to grant that request than author Spencer Johnson, who did exactly that in Who Moved the Cheese, The Present, and his solid contributions to the One Minute Manager series? More than 46 million copies of Spencer Johnson’s books are in print worldwide in more than 47 languages.

The timing couldn’t be better for this story. If you’re a person who has been trying to survive or just make it during these tough times, this narrative may just provide that valuable clarity that you need right now.

This tale focuses on a man who is struggling in his life. A friend tells him a story about another man in a similar situation. He lives unhappily in a valley until he meets an old man who lives on a peak. That meeting changes his work and life forever.

Initially, the young man has no idea he is talking with one of the most peaceful and successful people in the world. However, through a series of conversations and experiences, the young man learns that peaks and valleys are all a part of life. The key to living a richer life is how you perceive and address the peaks and valleys and what you learn while you are traversing the peaks and valleys.

He realizes he can use the old man’s remarkable principles and practical tools in good times and bad times to make a difference in his life. As a result he becomes more calm and successful and takes more control of his life.

While the messages may be somewhat basic, they are indeed powerful if properly applied. For instance:

• “You can have fewer bad times when you appreciate and manage your good times wisely.”
• “The pain in a valley can wake you up to a truth you have been ignoring.”
• “The path out of a valley appears when you choose to see things differently.”

Understand and apply this wisdom to successfully navigate the peaks and valleys of your life at work and at home. Recognize and utilize the positive that is so often hidden in the bad times. Appreciate and capitalize on your good times. This book will provide you with the clarity to do just that.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

50 Prosperity Classics: Attract It, Create It, Manage It, Share It (50 Classics)
by Tom Butler-Bowdon

I’ve already reviewed the acclaimed trilogy written by this particular author. You might want to revisit those three reviews as they are certainly very valuable resources that should be kept at arm’s length of your personal office and/or home library. Simply click on the following links for these reviews:

• 50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life
• 50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom for Work and Life from 50 Landmark Books
• 50 Spiritual Classics: Timeless Wisdom from 50 Great Books of Inner Discovery, Enlightenment and Purpose

The author now follows up those terrific resources with 50 Prosperity Classics. I should again alert you to the fact that you more than likely will not find these titles on the shelves of your local book store but can certainly order them very easily from your favorite store or online from Amazon.com.

This fourth book focuses on the great works on wealth, entrepreneurship, personal finance, investing, economics and philanthropy, providing guidance and encouragement to develop the millionaire mindset, become a wealth creator, make wise investment decisions and―once you’ve made it―give a little back.

Butler-Bowdon follows the same reader-friendly format here that was so successful in his trilogy. I’ll explain that template here and then share the individual content under each title. Each classic has its own chapter which is reasonably short and to the point while extremely revealing. The first page of each chapter begins with a few notable quotes from the classic followed by a feature titled “In a nutshell.” This profile summarizes the entire classic in one or two sentences followed by another interesting feature, “In a similar vein,” which lists several other classics that address the same subject. Thus far–one page.

The author then offers the main idea, context, and impact of the book itself followed by a short, interesting biography of the author.

The author has organized his content into four elements for easier access to this reader-friendly material.

• Attract It: Master the inner game of wealth and abundance with books such as Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling The Secret, Charles Fillmore’s Prosperity, Napoleon Hill’s The Master Key to Riches.
• Create It: Learn from the secrets and strategies of wealth creators such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Conrad Hilton, Anita Roddick and Donald Trump.
• Manage It: Discover the nuts and bolts of personal finance and investing such as Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, Suze Orman’s Women and Money, Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Revisited and Peter Lynch’s One Up on Wall Street.
• Share It: Understand the flow of wealth and how to give something back with inspiration from Andrew Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth, Paul Hawken’s Natural Capitalism and Lynne Twist’s The Soul of Money.

This book is loaded with wisdom in the form of interesting quotes from some of the greatest minds in this area.

The book concludes with five pages of “Prosperity Principles” and recommendations for 50 additional prosperity classics.

You may also want to check out the author’s website at www.butler-bowdon.com.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell

The author of #1 international bestsellers The Tipping Point and Blink is a staff writer for The New Yorker and was formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post. Malcolm Gladwell’s one of the very few authors kind enough to consider his readers by offering a definition of his chosen title in the first paragraph of the book. I’ll do the same for you in my second paragraph.

Out-li-er \ noun 1. something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body 2. a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample.

After reading several chapters, I found myself identifying outliers as those men and women with skills, talent, and drive who do things out of the ordinary. We’ve all known someone like this from school, work, church or the neighborhood. We knew them—we just didn’t always understand them or how they managed to reach such levels of performance so effortlessly. It left us wondering why some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential?

Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t appear in their cribs as aggressive life changers ready to take on and conquer the challenges of the world as we know it.

The author claims: “They are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.”

In this book the author continues to do what he does best—illuminating secret patterns behind everyday phenomena. He does so while sharing examples from every aspect of our lives.

He examines the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, building the convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”

He asks the question: What makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Read this book if you’d like to learn:

• Why most pro hockey players were born in January.
• How many hours of practice it takes to master a skill (10,000 hours).
• How a pilot’s culture impacts his/her crash record.
• What Bill Gates, the Beatles and Mozart had in common.
• Why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York.
• How a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math.
• The reasons for school achievement gaps.

Malcolm Gladwell expounds on how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential.

Like his previous work, Outliers is a thought-provoking, category-defying book. It is also available in audio form read by the author.

(This book review was originally published in 2009 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 20.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Know Can Do!: Put Your Know-How Into Action
by Ken Blanchard, Paul J. Meyer, and Dick Ruhe

Here’s another of the marvelous “mini-books” (112 pages) on the shelves today aimed at inspiring readers to greater achievement via a business fable offering wisdom, strategies, and tools. This one comes to us from a trio of well-known authors who have each made a name for himself in his own right … Ken Blanchard (author or co-author of more than 40 books), Paul Meyer (founder of Success Motivation Institute), and Dick Ruhe (popular motivational speaker, consultant and trainer).

This book addresses an issue that seems to be getting a lot of attention in this day of economic crisis, global competition, and the dire need for enhanced performance. We’ve focused on this very concern a great deal in our blog as well as our seminars and keynotes. The co-authors focus on the often obvious “knowing-doing gap” and how it can affect your staff and organization.

The co-authors use the fable format to focus on the gap between what people know: all the good advice they’ve digested intellectually from books, seminars, and training courses and what they actually do.

The story focuses on a well-known author who is troubled by this “knowing-doing gap” and searches for a solution to this growing challenge. During his journey he meets a legendary businessman who has discovered the secrets of putting knowledge into action. The businessman teaches the author the three reasons people don’t make the leap from knowing to doing and the key to overcoming these roadblocks.

You’ll immediately recognize the roadblocks:

• Information overload … which increases annually. Learn the “Less-More Philosophy.”
• Negative Filtering … solved by Listening with a Positive Mindset and utilizing Green Light Thinking.
• Lack of Follow-Up … the toughest hurdle of all. The solution here, while simplistic, will amaze you.

This book lays out a straightforward method for learning more, learning better, and making sure you actually use what you learn. As simplistic as that may sound, closing the “knowing-doing gap” is an endless source of frustration for individuals and organizations as well. At last, here’s an answer to the question, “Why don’t I do what I know I should do?”

Know Can Do! teaches people at all levels how to apply life-changing techniques to reach their fullest potential.

I’m giving serious consideration to making Know Can Do! required reading for all of our future seminars in the hope that we can close that challenging and ever-growing “knowing-doing gap.”

(This book review was originally published in 2008 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 18.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Mastering the Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success: An Owner’s Manual to The Traveler’s Gift
by Andy Andrews

Referred to as a companion volume or owner’s manual to The Traveler’s Gift, this book is a refresher course and excellent follow-up fortifying the original message with letters from established “successes” who share their enthusiasm for the author’s revelations. Andrews provides stories, examples and revisions of the wording of his first book that helps extend the reader’s ability to incorporate Andrews’ ideas.

Mastering the Seven Decisions guides readers to a profound understanding of how to fully integrate seven life-changing decisions into their daily lives. One way in which Andrews freshens his approach is to “rename” the seven decisions. In this book they become the following:

• The Responsible Decision: The buck stops here. I accept responsibility for my past. I am responsible for my success. I will not let my history control my destiny.
• The Guided Decision: I will seek wisdom.
• The Active Decision: I am a person of action.
• The Certain Decision: I have a decided heart. Criticism, condemnation, and complaint have no power over me.
• The Joyful Decision: Today I will choose to be happy.
• The Compassionate Decision: I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.
• The Persistent Decision: I will persist without exception.

The author provides you with an in-depth understanding of The Seven Decisions, exercises on how to integrate each, and authentic messages from celebrities, business leaders and athletes. The celebrity profiles include: Jimmy Dean, Bob Hope, Stan Lee, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Amy Grant, Norman Vincent Peale, and Joan Rivers.

You’ll also appreciate the many thought-provoking exercises offered throughout the book such as:

• The Death Bed Exercise … Write a glowing, incredible eulogy that you would like to have read aloud at your funeral. Andrews also provides some key questions to encourage your creativity in this exercise.
• 24 Hours to Live … What would I like to do with the next 24 hours of my life? Several leading questions guide you to what might be a surprising answer.
• Others include Crafting Your Ultimate Vision, Harnessing Your Inner Circle, Capitalizing on Your Strengths and many more challenging exercises.

I personally appreciate the presence of dozens of inspirational quotations sprinkled throughout the entire book. You’ll find yourself often pausing to contemplate some pretty deep observations such as: “There are generations yet unborn who depend upon the choices you make, because everything you do matters—not just for you, not just for your family, not just for your hometown—everything you do matters to all of us—forever.”

The author certainly knows how to communicate his thoughts and ideas as he relates his information in a reader-friendly manner, allowing even the most doubting reader to grow from the experience. Motivational books, audio tapes, and seminars are obviously inspirational and simply make us feel good. However, reading, listening or attending doesn’t necessarily insure a behavior change which is what we truly desire and often need. Andrews offers exercises, techniques and encouragement to master that challenge of actively changing attitudes and behaviors. This is a book you’ll want to keep in a convenient location as you’ll find yourself returning to it regularly for an additional dose of inspiration and guidance.

(This book review was originally published in 2008 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 18.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success
by Andy Andrews

This is the first of two book reviews that deal with the works of a very unique author who deals with an extremely relevant subject.

Today’s worldwide environment is tremendously chaotic. Every newscast and/or newspaper presents us with a new challenge to add to a rapidly growing list of controversies we must deal with. Stress levels escalate as we contemplate the task of facing new decisions every day—many of which can be life-changing.

If there was ever a time for positive thinking, this is it. However, none of us wants it shoved down our throats at a time when we have so many negatives to deal with. Enter Andy Andrews. He may have been a bit of a futurist in 2002 when he offered us a very unique blend of fiction, history, allegory, and inspiration in his wildly successful parable, The Traveler’s Gift. It’s as though he was predicting the chaotic decisions we’d be facing in 2008 while presenting a variety of tools which can be used to make those critical decisions.

Rather than simply providing steps or another typical formula, Andy knows and respects the power of story-telling and therefore utilized that format by combining entertainment and education within the pages of what is destined to become a classic.

If you enjoyed It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, you’ll want to add The Traveler’s Gift to your library of favorites. Author and motivational speaker Andrews effectively combines self-help guidelines with fantasy fiction to catch your interest and sustain momentum while simultaneously passing on excellent information that can change how you view and deal with the world, and ultimately, how the world deals with you.

Many will find it easy, indeed, to identify with the hero of this compelling story, the likable David Ponder. He’s facing many of the trials and tribulations that have become commonplace in today’s challenging society. David loses his confidence and his drive to survive as events beyond his control deprive him of money and his job … so much like so many of today’s citizens facing constant chaos. With a wife and daughter to support, he becomes seriously distraught and contemplates suicide.

David is rendered unconscious after a car accident and experiences an imaginary (or is it real?) journey into seven key points in history that form the bulk of the book. At each stopping point, he is met by historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Anne Frank, King Solomon, Harry Truman and Christopher Columbus, each of whom imparts one of the seven key decisions that the author contends are essential for personal success.

We’re sometimes so overwhelmed by the volume of decisions we must face that we don’t even consider the fact that decisions can be categorized for better clarification and understanding of the choices we face. I’ll share those seven critical decisions in greater detail in the following review of  Mastering the Seven Decisions.

After his travel through time, David regains consciousness in a hospital and discovers he is holding letters given to him by the various heroes. The letters offer familiar self-help counsel: accept that the buck stops with you, become a wisdom seeker and a person of action, determine to be happy, open the day with a forgiving spirit, and persist despite all odds.

Although Andrews writes from a Christian perspective, his overall message (trust that God is sovereign but do your part in making your future happen) will ring true with a broad spectrum of inspirational readers. Andrews does an exemplary job at providing positive suggestions for overcoming life’s obstacles.

Footnote:

After conversations with a number of friends and associates, I found that few were familiar with this author’s previous work even though his talent is known worldwide. Therefore, I feel compelled to share a bit of his background in the hopes that you’ll want to learn even more about Andy and his influential offerings. Check out our blog for a captivating bio on this best-selling author as we have added him to our “Meet The Authors” feature.

(This book review was originally published in 2008 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 18.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

The Key: Celebrated People Unlock Their Secrets to Life
by Linda Solomon

The vast majority of the books I choose to review deal with some aspect of the business world for the most obvious of reasons. However, from time to time, I like to share a book I think you might find useful or simply enjoyable in the hopes that diverting your focus can certainly serve as an asset in refreshing your mind and spirit. Therefore, when you return to your business challenges, you’re actually more productive than ever.

This is one of those books you don’t necessarily have to read page by page or chapter to chapter. You can find comfort in knowing you can open the book to most any page, read as much or little as you like, and discover substance that provides a “recess” for your senses. After even a brief sampling of this invigorating content, you can return to your work refreshed, relaxed and satisfied that your time and energy was well spent.

The author, Linda Solomon, is an award-winning photo-journalist and the photographer whose unique work has been featured on Good Morning America, World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and The Today Show, as well as in galleries around the country. She’s also the photographer of The New York Times best-selling book People We Know, Horses They Love. Don’t panic if you’re not into horses. This woman focuses her talents in a variety of areas and, in this piece, she focuses on two aspects of keys.

To begin, she searched the entire country to unearth a rare collection of vintage keys, nowadays considered among the most collectible of antiques. Each key protected a precious belonging … a private estate, a family’s first car, an antique clock, a treasure chest, an heirloom locket, a secret hiding place, etc. In her strange pursuit, Solomon discovered that the keys we treasure the most are actually those that bring us peace of mind.

In this interesting book, the author marries beautiful black and white photographs of intricate, antique keys with words of wisdom from some of the world’s best-known entertainers, politicians, athletes, CEOs and other luminaries. Each dignitary is allotted two pages … the first is a distinguishing full-page close-up photo of a unique key, which lends credence to the words of wisdom shared on the adjoining page. Linda has always believed photography teaches us to not just look, but really see. The words engraved on keys communicate certain qualities. The key is a metaphor and, if matched with the right person, each key has a soul. It is the author’s hope that the photographs of each key will provide a different way to see the real person by opening our eyes to their words.

You’ll find more than fifty celebrities, some of whom rarely grant interviews, offering insights that have made a lasting impact on their lives. Among those you’ll discover are:

• The Key to Winning by Tiger Woods
• The Key to a Timeless Look by Christie Brinkley
• The Key to a Lasting Career by Tony Bennett
• The Key to Respect by Aretha Franklin
• The Key to Character by Sidney Poitier
• The Key to Being the Perfect Apprentice by Donald Trump
• The Key to Being Cool by Samuel L. Jackson
• The Key to Making Music by Burt Bacharach
• The Key to Laughter by Tim Allen
• The Key to Courage by Peggy Fleming
• The Key to Getting a Great Score by Arnold Palmer

These celebrities also share another quality—compassion—since their words will benefit the continuous research to cure breast cancer. This perfect little gift book also includes enlightening entries from famous women who have fought breast cancer and survived. Proceeds from The Key will be contributed to breast cancer research.

The Key will certainly be an excellent addition to any collection of coffee table selections.

(This book review was originally published in 2008 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 17.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Acres of Diamonds: All Good Things Are Possible, Right Where You Are, and Now!
by Russell H. Conwell

You may have to search a bit to find this classic, but the effort will certainly provide great dividends. While a new copy can easily be found online for as low as $5, it may very well be the greatest addition you’ll ever find to both your business and personal libraries. In my opinion, it should be required reading for every high school student in the nation.

I was first exposed to this masterpiece very early in my business career. I found it in the form of a very small booklet and must admit that the package was certainly a disservice to the wonderful gift I found within the covers of this classic. “Acres of Diamonds” was originally written and delivered as a speech and was considered by many to be one of the finest lectures ever written.

I’m continually amazed by the large numbers of people I come into contact with who have read and been inspired by this book at some point in their career. My amazement may very well stem from the fact that this inspiring story was written by an author who was born in 1843 and died in 1925. Russell H. Conwell was a lawyer, a Baptist minister, a decorated Civil War officer, and founder and first president of Temple University, which opened as a college for working people in 1884. For more than 60 years Conwell was active as a lecturer. Conwell personally delivered his “Acres of Diamonds” lecture over 6,000 times and earned over $4,000,000 doing so (about $200 million in today’s dollars).

I’ve re-read this captivating lecture, inspired by a true story with an ageless moral, many times over the years. This intriguing story reminds me very much of Dorothy in L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. Only after a series of adventures far from Kansas did she realize that “there’s no place like home.” I also see correlations with the Disney Classic, Mary Poppins. Here we find a magic nanny who comes to work for a cold banker’s unhappy family. Mary opens the eyes of the banker and his wife as she helps them recognize their own “Acres of Diamonds.”

The story was about a farmer who lived in Africa and through a visitor became tremendously excited about looking for diamonds. Diamonds were already discovered in abundance on the African continent, and this farmer got so excited about the idea of millions of dollars worth of diamonds that he sold his farm to head out to the diamond mine. He wandered all over the continent, as the years slipped by, constantly searching for diamonds and wealth, which he never found. Eventually, he went completely broke and threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of a country egg and put it on his mantle as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and in viewing the rock practically went into terminal convulsions. He told the new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock on his mantle was about the biggest diamond that had ever been found. The new owner of the farm said, “Heck, the whole farm is covered with them”―and sure enough it was. The farm turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine … the richest the world has ever known. The original farmer was literally standing on “Acres of Diamonds” until he sold his farm.

This book will not appeal to those who think that one’s own surroundings offer no advantages. Acres of Diamonds offers a multitude of lessons about the rewards of work, education, and finding the riches of life in one’s own back yard. There are a multitude of gems to mine from Russell Conwell’s words, no matter what your walk of life. Acres of Diamonds remains a significant—and inspirational—lesson about where the true riches of life may be found.

(This book review was originally published in 2008 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 17.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Trust Your Gut: How the Power of Intuition Can Grow Your Business
by Lynn A. Robinson

Today’s top business leaders work with their “inner CEO” to win big accounts, elevate productivity, increase sales and profits, resolve critical issues, and grow their organizations. That “inner CEO” is better known as intuition.

As you probably know, intuition is one of the fastest spreading buzzwords in the business world today. It has become increasingly important to decision makers at every level who are inundated with an unfathomable amount of data in this technical age of instant info.

Best-selling books such as Blink, Megatrends and Winning focus on the “what” of intuition. In Trust Your Gut, business consultant Lynn Robinson gives us the “how” part of accessing this incredibly valuable inner resource to make quicker, stronger, better decisions on a regular basis.

I found a great number of brief, decisive features that were real eye openers, such as:

• A variety of “intuitive break” strategies.
• The strength of a “power nap.”
• “Freeze-Framing” as a strategy.
• You’ve Got “I-Mail.”
• 13 ways to inspire creativity and intuition in your team.
• The magic of metaphors.
• Why enthusiasm is a message from your intuition.
• The five questions to ask your intuition when you’re making a decision.
• The 90-second activity you must do every day to achieve your goals easily and effortlessly.
• How to motivate prospects to take action.
• How to recognize the “power hunches” that will direct you to success and add to your bottom line.

Throughout the book, Lynn Robinson sprinkles testimonials from corporate and small business leaders who actively use their intuition. These comments are helpful to those who would like to use their intuition but are afraid it’s too “out there.”

Lynn Robinson, M.Ed., is one of the nation’s leading experts on the topic of intuition. She’s a popular and widely recognized author and motivational speaker who works with businesses and individuals as an intuitive consultant, providing insights into goals, decisions and strategies, and teaching the use of intuitive skills for assessment of information. Lynn is the “Life Transition Expert” and advice columnist for ThirdAge.com, the leading Web destination for baby boomers.

For decades, successful leaders have recognized the fact that the gut never lies and should be believed first. They have fine-tuned this tremendous asset as they would any potential individual resource. You can and should do the same thing. What’s your “gut feeling” on that suggestion?

(This book review was originally published in 2007 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 16.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!
by Anthony Robbins

He’s back-k-k-k-k-k! As a matter of fact, he never left. My first exposure to this author’s work came from his first book, Unlimited Power, published in 1986. Six years later, in 1992, he published this book. It’s obviously stood the test of time and is as relevant today as it was almost 15 years ago. Oddly enough the public hasn’t changed much in that time either. They seem to be very much divided in their support and approval of this re-release of Tony’s best-selling book. Many continue to accuse him of overly simplistic psychobabble and fraud while others are claiming to enjoy their second reading of the book even more so than their initial exposure.

I’d like to address that very issue as it represents a growing problem at a time when we can certainly use any and all tips, tools, and strategies that may assist us in the constant challenges we find in today’s growing global business environment. However, I’ll use this space to review the book and invite you to visit our blog for greater insights into this growing dilemma.

As you work your way through these 540 pages, I highly recommend that you have a legal pad nearby as you’ll certainly be taking a lot of notes. If you’ve seen any of Tony’s many fast-paced infomercials—and you’re in the minority if you haven’t—you’ll find his book very similar. You can almost see his giant smile on every page and hear that booming voice challenging you to take control of your life as you read his words! He offers a cornucopia of material from belief systems and goal-setting to Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), personal finance, and relationships. In fact, he covers such a myriad of information that you might find it overwhelming. Don’t make the mistake of feeling as though every suggestion is the perfect fit for you. In fact, you may find some things that you simply aren’t comfortable with. Fret not as you’ll certainly find many other suggestions that will quickly move you to action and provide the success you’re searching for. In short, this book is a manual for life, a self-help classic. It’s every bit as applicable today as it was the day it was published.

I especially enjoy and appreciate the fact that while Tony eagerly shares his own personal and professional development system, “Personal Power,” he also shares the wisdom of dozens of other respected experts from a variety of fields as he shows you the importance of taking control of your life. There’s a reason why this man is an internationally best-selling author with five books published in 14 languages, has sold more than 35 million audio tapes worldwide, is one of the most sought-after speakers in the world, has spoken to more than three million people from more than 80 countries, and has met with, consulted, or advised international leaders, including Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, Mother Theresa and three U.S. Presidents. He serves as chairman of five private companies and vice chairman of two others, that together generate half of $1 billion in revenue per year. He has advised and counseled Fortune 500 CEOs, world-renowned medical doctors, championship sports teams (including America’s Cup Winner, America 3; Stanley Cup finalist, Los Angeles Kings; NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs; and other teams in the NHL, MLB, and NBA), elite athletes and coaches (including Andre Agassi, Greg Norman, and championship winning athletes in the NFL, PGA, USTA and NASCAR) and legends in entertainment (such as Quincy Jones and Anthony Hopkins).

Robbins is the founder of his own charity, know as the Anthony Robbins Foundation, which promotes helping prisoners to improve their lives, food drives (the annual Basket Brigade) and the empowerment of youth through schools. The Basket Brigade provides baskets of food and household items for more than 2 million people in 74 countries annually at Thanksgiving! He’s known by many as “The High Priest of Human Potential.”

So-o-o-o-o-o, listen to his critics. Some of what they say is certainly true. He’s arrogant, pushy, sometimes coming across like a used car salesman on the last day of a super sale. His 6”7″, 265 lb. frame is intimidating as his size-16 shoe boats carry him across the stage in leaps and bounds, harnessing the energy of the crowd. You may be less than enthused as he urges you to bare your feet and join him in a casual firewalk stroll across fire hot coals. However, whatever you think, whatever you do—read this book, follow his advice, and take control of your own destiny. You won’t regret it! Then do us all a favor and contact that critic and let him/her know how it went.

(This book review was originally published in 2007 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 15.)

Harry K. Jones is a professional, motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.