I am back om my book readings summary. I just finished “How to Really use LinkedIN” by Jan Vermeiren. I got to this book by a recommendation of one person in my network list. If you really want to understand how the biggest business network on the web work I highly recommend this book.

He starts talking about the value and benefits of networking. There is a big list, but you should have your own motive, don’t you?  His first fundamental principle it is called “Networking Attitude” is a very valid one. “Sharing information in a reactive and proactive way without expecting anything immediately in return” . This is a very true principal that aplies to all aspects o life.  You will receive more as you do more.

The second fundamental principle he calls “The golden Triangle of Networking” that is: Give, Ask and Share.  He also advise you to be specific when asking for help, this way you will be helping other to help you.  It is a chapter it does worth reading.

There are some chapters that explains every aspect that you can find on LinkedIn, also you can find very specifics instructions depending on what you want to achieve.

Some of the Basic Strategy begins with the right profile, that is you most important item to increase your visibility as well additional information like your website etc.

You can make LinkedIn work for you.

You can find out more at www.janvermeiren.com

July 20^th all news were celebrating the 40 years anniversary since Neil Armstrong did his first step on the moon. This happened after President Kennedy announced on May 25^th1961 he was going to conquer the space before the end of that decade. At that day it was nothing more than a “definiteness of purpose”

Napoleon Hill open his book with “ TRULY, “thoughts are thing” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches or other material objects”

When President Kennedy ask Von Braun what would require to put a man on moon, his answer was “the will to do it” , there was no detail plans but the most important it was DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE.

He techs us that nothing big can be achieved without a clear definiteness of purpose of what you want.

So first thing you need to find is WHY. Why do you want to achieve such?

One of the most famous quotes is a research that  was done among the Yale students’  and find out  that 3% of them wrote their goals and objectives worth financially more than the other 97%  that had not written their goals some years later on.

Find out what is your main porpoise,what is your main objective. What do you really want?

I will be writing some articles base on Napoleon Hill most famous book and how can we use some of this principles on our life.

A very interesting article was published on “The Economist” magazine this week it is about the aging of world population. When first establish by Otto von Bismarck it was for workers over 70, yes you read it right workers over 70. At that time they did not have Wal-Mart.  The life expectancy of Prussian was 45.

When America set up its Social Security system in 1935 the age was 65 and life expectancy at that time 62.

Canada first pension plans were available for government workers and rail workers. Even though Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) were drawn from 1957 to 1963 it did not started until 1964. It was concluded by Actuary’s study of April 2007 that it is expected to run out by 2015.

Today a person who retires at 65 can expect to live for another 16 years. We are all getting older, but very few governments are accepting this fact. That pension as know now it will not exist anymore.

In 1950 there were 7 people between the ages of 20-64 for every one of 65. Now is 4 to 1, and if we keep the course it is going to be 2 to 1 by 2050. There is no pension system in the world that can provide the necessary funds.

I prefer not to rely on any government to provide for my old day. I decide to take this under my control, and you should do the same. If you would like to know what else I am doing add a comment to my blog and leave your email, it is not going to be published, and I will answer to you.

If you want to read the article published by “The Economist” just use this link:

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13900145 

Although my blog is about self-development books, leadership and similar subjects I found this  web site that is so cool that I decide to publish this post  so you can check it out.

World Builder is a short film that received several awards; it was created by Bruce Branit and the story is about  a guy who builds a virtual world to his beloved one. It took one day to make the movie and two years on post production works. It is very cool.

http://vimeo.com/3365942

Let me know what your thoughts are.

Last week I went to Los Angeles, California to attend  “2009 Convention of Champions ” at LA Convention Center, and had the opportunity to listen to some very powerfull speakers. Among them John C. Maxwell an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold more than 16 million books. His organizations have trained more than two million leaders worldwide. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP and JOY Stewardship Services. Every year he speaks to Fortune 500 companies, international government leaders, and other audiences as diverse as the United Sates Military Academy at West Point, the National Football League and ambassadors at the United Nations. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell was named the “World’s Top Leadership Guru” by Leadershipgurus.net, and he was one of the only 25 authors and artists named to Amazon.com’s 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame. Three of his books, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, ” Developing the Leader Within You”, and “The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader” have each sold more than one million copies.

Here are my notes after his speech:

• Your success is determined by your daily agenda
• Every day he reads his laminated card with his major decisions he had made, and he encouraged us to do the same
• Write down what are the actions you need to perform every single day, just the ones you should do that day.
• Every New Years Eve a lot of people do their resolutions, as example he mentioned that most of gyms are fully booked on the first 14 days, after that people start to desappear. The problem they stop managing those resolutions.
• He proposed two questions that we should make every day:
  1. What are you doing to develop yourself?
  2. What are you doing to develop others?
• You have to like people
• Everybody has a dream very few achieve them
• He has on his web site a “monthly CD club”
• Succes is adding value to other people
• Who can I add value to?
• Leadership is influence, you influence people adding value to them
  1. VALUE PEOPLE
  2. YOU HAVE TO KNOW AND RELATE TO WHAT THEY VALUE
• Mangers treat everybody the same and leaders treat everybody different

 So this are some of my notes I hope you enjoy so I can also add some value to you.

During one of my recent trips to USA I was just killing some time waiting for my next connection flight. I went to my favourite spot “ a book store”  and try to find some interesting book that can help me improve my skills so I can recommend to my web visitors.

I found this little black book that calls my attention. I went over quickly and decide to buy. It is another good acquisition.

A lot of people complain about price on books, I paid $19.95 plus taxes, this is a bargain for all the knowledge that you can acquire by reading and applying what you learned. As matter of fact it can be priceless.

This is a first time I read a book written by Jeffery Gitomer. I was his hometown and didn’t know.  Later on I find out that he put this colors name to his books. In this case “Little Black Book of Connections” it is a reference to our regular address books normally small and black.

Like he mentioned in his book it is dedicated to connections and connecting. If you want to make a good network or improve yours this is the right book to read it. Like I mentioned earlier on my blog trying to teach what I learned it is one of the most efficient ways to learn.

The 4 connection questions that unlock the answer to growth and success! – Jeffrey Gitomer

•  Who do you know?

• How well are you connected?

• Do you know how to make a connection?

• Who knos you?

If you want to know the answer for this questions go a head and buy the book don’t way for my nuggets.

I have already mentioned at my introductory post at this blog that after I moved to Canada I started reading and listening a lot. I heard several times the expression “University On Wheels” used by several motivational speakers, they have urged us to use the time we are driving to learn new things, and develop new skills.

I become addict to this practice; such way that now it is a habit. I think it is a good advice; that not only can motivate you but also help you to develop yourself.

There is a several packages known as “Audio Success Series “ and the last one I bought from this series is the one I mentioned on the title above.

It is a series of 13 CDs and 2 DVDs with Several different speakers. Here are some of my favourites:

• CD2 Creating Multiple Streams of Income – Robert Allen

  Very good! It goes over how can we build wealth using multiple sources of income.

• CD3 Twenty-One qualities of Self-Made Millionaires – Brian Tracy

  Practical step by step formula to become a millionaire starting from where you are today.

• CD5 through CD9 Living your Dreams – Mark Victor Hansen This guy is co-author for Chicken Soup for the Soul with Jack Canfield; he goes over several subjects like: Your mind is the Most Powerful Tool, Believe It Achieve It, Positive self-talk, Turning problems into opportunities etc.

  Very good

• CD11 Under Paid and Over Taxed – Sandy BotkinIt is a lot of good information that the majority of people doesn’t know. How can you get your taxes down to the legal minimum and deduct everything you can.

• DVD Bonus 2 – Financial Independence & Goal Setting – Jim Rohn. It does worth watching. Discover your own philosophy of economics and learn the ability to live from the income of your personally invested resources.

It did worth every dollar I paid for it. And of course it is tax deductible if you are doing the right thing.

Give it a try. I hope you enjoy it.

 

I got to the end of Jack Canfield’s book and the last principle taught was ” Empower Yourself by Empowering Others”.

There are so many North Americans currently live in a state of resignation or despair. This time of the year when everybody reflects about what had happened during this year that is almost over and look to the new year that is approaching with hope for a better future. It is time to turn that around. We all have the power to change our destiny.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – W. Clement Stone

Yes you can change, you can become a better person, you can achieve all your dreams and everything starts with you taking 100% reponsability for your life. Decide what you want. Start this new year writing down what you want to achieve in the next year. Write down for the following seven ares of your life:

1. Financial
2. Career
3. Recreation and free time
4. Physical fitness and health
5. Relationships with family and friends
6. Personal goals ( learning, spiritual growth, personal achievements)
7. Community service, contribution , legacy

You must read your list every day and pursuit what you want. If you buy this book at the end of it there are several instructions you can follow and download some very good stuff from Jacks’ Internet site. Dont forget:

“You can’t hire someone to do your push-ups for you.” – Jim Rohn

May this New Year bring many opportunities your way to explore every joy of life and all your dreams turn into reality and all your efforts into great achievements.

P.S. The new book I am going to comment is: Little Black Book of Connections by Jeffrey Gitomer’s 

I will start my comments about this book rephrasing Harvey Mackay’s comments: “If you could only read one book this year, this is it” read this one.

I am almost at the end of this book, but definitely this is one of the best I read this year, 2007. I am following the instruction mentioned at the introduction I am reading this book through once just to get a feel for the total process, but I am going back to work with the principles that are presented and apply them to my life.

Once you start reading motivational and self-improvement books you will see that a lot of the principles mentioned are very similar, most authors will repeat some subjects that are fundamental. And a very important one is “TAKE 100% RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE”. This includes all you achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and even your physical fitness, your income, your debts –everything.

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the season, or the wind, but you can change yourself.” – Jim Rohn

Everything you experience today is the result of choices you have made in the past. Sometimes this might hurt, but we have to agree that is true. So let’s take the opportunity of this new year that is very close to decide we want to change we want to improve. Change your negative thoughts to positive ones. Change your habits. Change what you read and listen. Change YOU.

This book is divided into six sections”

1. The Fundamental of Success – 24 principles that you can apply.
2. Transform Yourself for Success
3. Build your success team
4. Create Successful Relationships
5. Success and Money
6. Success Starts Now.

One of the most important thing is ‘TAKE ACTION”, nothing happens until you take actions. So what ever you want to change, take massive actions to make it happen. Do it now!

Merry Christmas

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
JOHN F. KENNEDY

My life has change so much during last few years, that I can hardly believe that it was possible to overcome so many habits and achieve a complete different way of life. Changes are part of my life all the time like everybody else, but what I am talking here is a complete new experience. I have been blessed in many occasions during my life with so many good people that God has place in my way a wonderful family, friends, and many others.For the last few years I started a journey to improve my skills, to change my behavior, to improve my family life, my business. For the last four years I have read at least one book a month, listened to many CDs, attended many seminars and associated with great people.

My purpose is to use my enthusiasm and positive view of life to support and inspire others to achieve their goals and dreams and to overcome their challenges and fears to become a better human being.
So this blog is my way to share with you what I have learned from my readings!

“People who have more information have a tremendous advantage over people who don’t.”
  Jack Canfield

“LEADERS ARE READERS”