Can everyone who has ever been driven and passionate
towards a singular goal only to have that dream sidetracked and you left
standing by the side of the road wondering what’s next, relate to Lewis Howes’
story? Howes had the burning desire to be an elite athlete; an All-American and
an injury sidetracked his dream.
Left sleeping on his sister couch, Howes was left with
trying to pick up the pieces of his life and chart a course to what was next.
He relates that his first and what would prove to be his most fruitful steps
including reaching out to leaders he admired in search of guidance and
mentoring.
Along the way Howes developed not only a team of
leaders but applied what he learned to launch a successful online business and
took his hard earned education and used it to help others as a business coach
and speaker. Now Howes continues that process by sharing what he learned and
how you can apply it to your life and business in his new book, The School of Greatness: A Real-World Guide
to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy.
Howes anchors each chapter of the book buy illustrating
a lesson he picked up from those mentors. Is it earth shattering or ground
breaking? Probably not, but it does gather under one set of covers a broad base
of knowledge and actionable guidance which makes it worth adding to your
bookshelf.
Money
Making Mom: How Every Mom Can Earn More and Make a Difference – Crystal Paine
(Thomas Nelson)
While I am always willing to lend a helping hand to
those in need, I am always a little taken aback by folks who’s first play is to
look for a hand out and in this day and age of tough economic times and all too
often it’s we are confronted by a sob story and a request to “go fund me.”
While I am not saying this to be mean spirited or hard
hearted, I have always chosen to confront adversity by digging deep and working
harder and that’s what makes Crystal Paine’s book Money Making Mom: How Every Mom Can Earn More and Make a Difference, so
inspiring.
My small cheer when I read the line, “No matter what,
never give up. Winners aren’t quitters. Keep going, keep pressing forward, keep
learning, keep experimenting, and someday soon, you will start to see the fruit
from your efforts” drew some strange looks from my family, but I could relate
to that process of forging ahead and reinventing myself.
While Paine clearly directs her efforts towards
inspiring women to higher achievement her advice and guidance can be a much
needed shot in the arm for anyone striving to succeed. While much of this will
be familiar territory to folks who read these kinds of books, Paine succeeds in
the sense that all too often women must try to adapt “good old boy” approaches
to their needs. Paine gives women permission to be successful. This one would
be the perfect gift for not only your wife, but also your daughter.
The
Entitlement Cure: Finding Success in Doing Hard Things the Right Way – John Townsend,
PhD. (Zondervan)
Quick show of hands…who has heard this from a family
member, friend or co-worker, “it’s too hard.” You can add your own level of
whininess. Let’s face it, we now live in a world that moves at a high velocity;
we are confronted both at how and work with doing more, with less and stress is
maxed out.
At the same time we have evolved into a society that
really doesn’t understand what hard times and sacrifice really are. We want
things to be easy and we’ve been sold a bill of goods that if we just had this
or that it would make our life easier. That process has created a generation of
whimps who don’t understand work ethic and are easily overwhelmed.
All this as created an a sense of entitlement in our
culture that Dr. John Townsend, a psychologist and leadership expert examines
and offers up his solution for breaking the cycle in The Entitlement Cure: Finding Success in Doing Hard Things the Right
Way.
Townsend examines the entitlement dynamic in our family
life, our business life in society and in government and the detrimental impact
it has on us all. He takes the next step by offering steps that we can take to “cure”
the problem and develop the habits that will truly improve all of our lives.
Will it be an easy process; probably not, but then again is anything worth
truly doing ever really easy?
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