The DV Weekend Pickup #39

First, I want to apologize for leaving you high and dry all week!  I was slightly out of sync but I own it, no excuses, ha!  Below is the book I read while traveling last weekend...

The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes

What I like best:  Lewis is a great example for anyone and everyone who is aspiring to be more, to be great.  Lewis speaks to an audience of over 1 million people EVERY week with one of the top podcasts in the country of the same title, The School of Greatness.  He interviews TOP performers from many different walks of life - star athletes, successful entrepreneurs, top selling authors - the list is long, impressive, and insightful.  The book features those podcast lessons through his 8 greatness principles...

1. Clarify your vision
2. Embrace adversity
3. Cultivate a champions mindset
4. Commit to the hustle
5. Master your health
6. Practice positive habits
7. Realize you need a team
8. Live a life of service

As Lewis says, "We only have one rule. You can't stop. You can go as slow as you need to go, but you cannot stop. You can never drop out."  The book highlights stories from olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, the Braun brothers (Scooter - the music management mogul and Adam - the founder of amazing non profit Pencils of Promise), and the downright amazing double amputee Kyle Maynard.  If you're in need of a pick me up then this is the book for you - very positive and easy to read.  Grab it and let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "Greatness is the result of visionaries who persevere, focus, believe, and prepare.  It is a habit, not a birthright."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #38

The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster by Darren Hardy

What I like best:  Uh, inspiration.  This book oozes it.  "Don't miss the point. Spend your day pursuing the things you want said in your eulogy," says Darren Hardy.  I've many times accredited Hardy for helping me turn a corner in my life with his best seller The Compound Effect.  Therefore this was an automatic read immediately upon it's release (last year.)  I am now in the middle of reading it again...for my third time!

This book is a blueprint for what's REQUIRED emotionally, physically, and mentally to go into business for yourself.   Darren is hands down one of the best communicators out there whether he's writing or speaking which makes the book very easy to take in. Not to mention but I will anyway, ha, the list of testimonials on this book is downright ridiculous...

....Seth Godin, Barbara Corcoran, Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki, Grant Cardone, John Assaraf, Peter Diamandis, Maria Shriver, Jeffrey Gitomer, Derek Sivers, Brendan Bouchard, Donald Trump, Frank Kern, Tony Hsieh, Daymond John, Brian Tracy, Joe Polish, Simon Sinek, John Maxwell, Dan Pink, Les Brown, and the list keeps going on and on.

Here's the long and short of it, it's a must read if entrepreneurship interests you...at all.  Pick it up and let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "If you want to have more, you have to become more. You have to grow into your goals."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #37

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

What I like best:  Essentialism is not a time management strategy or a productivity technique, it's a way of thinking.  This book helps you to understand that if it isn't a clear yes, then it's a clear no.  If you've ever felt stretched to thin, busy but not productive, or like you're living on someone else's agenda then this is the book for you.  It is laid out in four easy to comprehend parts:

1. Essence - What is the way of the essentialist?
2. Explore - How can we tell the difference between the trivial many and the vital few?
3. Eliminate - How do we remove the trivial many from our lives?
4. Execute - How can we do the vital few with ease?

"A non-essentialist thinks almost everything is essential.  An essentialist thinks almost everything is non-essential," say McKeown.  He forces us to realize it's not necessarily about doing more, it's about doing less, but better.  Getting more done in less time by only doing the right things, what actually matters.  Highly recommend this one - As always pick it up and let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "If you don't prioritize your life, someone else will."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #36

The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

What I like best:  For starters, this one is near and dare to my heart!  I heavily feature - the 80/20 Principle, Pareto's Law, The Law of the Vital Few - whatever you want to call it in my work today with groundupSALES.  I just think it is absolutely crucial to our success - for a multitude of reasons.  It states that 80% of effects stem from 20% of causes.  It easiest to understand like this - only a small percentage of what you do actually matters, ha.  As Koch says, "a few things are important, most are not."

In the book Koch has set out to put the principle on high display, showcasing where it exists, and why it works.  Most importantly he discusses the critical differences between 80/20 Thinking vs 80/20 Analysis and why both should be implemented regularly in our lives today.  I like to refer to this as the productivity principle because it is the ultimate guide to maximizing your time, effort, and finances.  As always pick it up and let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "People who achieve the most are selective as well as determined."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #35

Take The Stairs by Rory Vaden

What I like best:  The take the stairs mindset - focus and self-discipline - to achieving the success you desire is the only route worth taking.  Despite contrary belief it is also the fastest route even in a society obsessed with taking the escalator.  This is an easy to read personal development book.  I often find this genre the most impactful because you can take in so much in such a short period of time.  It's almost like it pushes you into action.

In the book my favorite passage is Rory's philosophy on embracing imbalance or what he calls working "double-time part time for full-time free time."  In a nutshell this is your ability to apply highly concentrated amounts of focus and effort to your top priorities in short "seasons" until you achieve results.  It's best said like this, "balance is not equal time spread across all activities, it's the appropriate time spent on critical priorities."  

Rory is probably a better speaker than he is writer but that's not a knock on his writing, he is a former world champion speaker for Toastmasters International.  I highly suggest you YouTube a few of his talks, quite impressive.  This book is for you if you need a pick me up, quick reminder, or just a fresh approach on achieving the success you desire.  Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "Attitude is simply the way you choose to see things."

Crush the day!

DV

9 Peter Drucker Quotes That If Applied Will Surely Change Your Life

Peter Drucker was an Austrian born business philospher, educator at NYU for 26 years, and author of 25 books.  His work plays a major role in management philosophy today as well as being a large contributor in the establishment of the modern corporation.  I've curated my top 9 Drucker quotes that if applied will surely change your life...

1. What gets measured gets improved.
2. Meetings are by definition a concession to a deficient organization. For one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time.
3. Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.
4. If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.
5. Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.
6. There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.
7. People who DON'T take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who DO take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.
8. The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.
9. The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #34

You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen

What I like best:  Hot off the press!  Well the book isn't because it was originally written in 1980 but for me it's my most recent read.  Herb Cohen has taught classes at Harvard, UMichigan, and the FBI Academy.  He was an advisor to US presidents and widely considered a master negotiator.  He has participated in thousands of negotiations throughout his career from mergers and acquisitions to hostage and terrorist negotiations. 

In this book he breaks down the three most critical aspects to any negotiation - time, power, and information.  He teaches us how to identify different styles, what to avoid, and what to act on.  Personally I really enjoy how Herb conveys his message in such a simple and conceptually easy to understand manner.

Although you get to hear stories about past presidents like Nixon, Carter, and Reagan there is no political mumbo-jumbo or corporate BS.  It's the negotiator's book on negotiation - very straight forward.  If you want to read a book with negotiation principles you can put to work tomorrow then look no further.  Pick it up and let me know what you think!

Best Quote: "You and I do not see things as they are.  We see things as we are."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #33

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

What I like best:  This might be the best book I've read all year!  Seriously, if you're not a reader there is a corresponding Ted Talk (wildly popular since its release in 2009 with over 28 million views.)  Either way, engage further with this concept, you must - it's too important.

Whether you're leading your own life, your family, or an entire company starting with WHY is essential.  Sinek does a masterful job showcasing this throughout the book.  My favorite passage is when he discusses the critical differences between the two ways to influence human behavior - manipulation (bad) and inspiration (good) - so impactful.

He presents us with The Golden Circle...

...which is a concept that depicts how people should lead.  The most important leaders and innovators in history like Martin Luther King, the Wright brothers, and Steve Jobs all started with WHY.  The most important companies and organizations of our time all start with WHY.  I believe in The Golden Circle and so should you - lead with purpose, followed by process, and proved by results.  Pick it up and let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #32

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

What I like best:  This is another literary classic.  It actually holds the title for #1 best selling book of all time on Amazon.com with 26 million copies sold - that's impressive.  The best part is you can read it in one hour!  It is vastly open for interpretation.  However, the general theme is non-negotiable, a book that helps you deal with change.

It's an entertaining tale of 4 characters Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw as they embark on a journey through a maze to find cheese.  You will learn that when four individuals are impacted by the same situations they all seem to handle them completely different.  No matter YOUR cheese - career, money, health, relationship, the big house, etc - you immediately start drawing the correlations in your own life.  By the end your mind has no choice but to realize how you identify.  HIGHLY recommended.  As always let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "Smell the cheese often so you know when it's getting old."

Crush the day!

DV

The DV Weekend Pickup #31

The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz, Ph.D.

What I like best:  This book was first published in 1959 and has since sold over 6 million copies - wow!  I really enjoy reading non-fiction classics in general.  It interests me to see how many of the concepts are still relevant today - almost all of them, all the time!  In fact, I often think most ideas are presented in a simpler and more actionable form.  This book follows suit.  

In many ways it represents a lot of the work I am choosing to engage in today which was very inspiring.  Perhaps my favorite section from the book are the tips Dr. Schwartz gives on how to cure ourselves from the many forms of "Excusitis - The Failure Disease" - age, intelligence, health, and bad luck.  So true and so funny at the same time, ha.

Schwartz suggests, "When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to a solution."  He teaches us actionable concepts on how to get the action habit, make attitudes your allies, turn victory into defeat, and of course THINK BIG.  Pick this one up. As always let me know what you think!

Best Quote:  "The mind is what the mind is fed."

Crush the day!

DV