I was listening to Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod last night on my walk, and he said that 95% of people who read books, never implement its teachings. That's CRAZY! I know for myself how difficult implementing new strategies and habits into my life can be.
Accountability is sorely undestimated. How much does accountability matter? According to the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), people have a 65% chance of reaching their goal if they have an accountability partner. If you want to raise that to a 95% chance, make a specific time to have an appointment with your accountability partner(s) on a regular basis.
Ok - now for the books - there are so many great books out there - here are my three recommendations:
Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
I'd never heard of this book until January 2018 but it was recommended to me by a mentor of mine and it's really helped me widen my awareness of what's possible and how my mind is much more powerful than I had ever imagined. It is instructional - setting out a clear method in which to achieve the life you really want to live. I have studied this book in a group - reading it chapter by chapter weekly, and then going back through it again, a chapter a month, to fully implement the instructions to the best of my ability. It was written in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Napolean Hill had studied the habits and thought processes of some of the wealthiest men on the planet during his lifetime and this book presents the findings.
The fascinating thing for me, is that the underlying lessons are still relevent for people today. For me, I now understand that one must be PASSIONATE about whatever it is one seeks to do - so whatever it is one is passionate about, one needs to explore further. The passion you feel for what you are doing, will compel you into action. Napolean Hill sets out the 13 principles of success: Desire, Faith, Auto-suggestion, Specialized knowledge, Imagination, Organized planning, Decision, Persistence, the Power of the master mind, the Mystery of sex transmutation, the Subconscious mind, the Brain, and the Sixth sense.
This book has helped to create many successes for millions of people and if you haven't read it yet, there is no time like the present.
You Squared, by Price Pritchett
I first came across this book a couple of years ago also. The lessons in it are life-changing - again it's all in the application. I bought a copy for everyone on my business team for Christmas last year. It's really an outstanding book that takes you through the process of exponentially improving your performance by applying the 18 concepts in the book.
We are conditioned, in our society to think in terms of incremental steps upwards, but this book puts across a convincing case that we do not need to take this approach. We can quantum leap our success. The front cover says it all: “A High-Velocity Formula for Multiplying your Personal Effectiveness in Quantum
Leaps." And it's a very short book, consisting of only 36 pages - but boy, does it help you realise just what you are capable of, IF you make that quantum leap!
The chapters in order are: The Promise, Quantum Leaps, You2, Change Your Personal Rules For Success, Quit Trying Harder, Ignore Conventional Approaches, Think Beyond What Common Sense Tells You, Suspend Disbelief, Focus On Ends Rather Than Means, Rely On The Unseen Forces, Choose A Different Set Of Risks, Trust In The Power Of Pursuit, Seek Failure, Get Uncomfortable, Open Your Gifts, Fall In Love, Make Your Move Before You’re Ready, Look Inside For The Opportunity.
All of the lessons in here are invaluable, but my favourite right now, at this moment in my life, was Look Inside for the Opportunity. If we listen to our inner voice - if we quieten our minds and really listen - the answers are all inside.
You2 shares valuable insight into overcoming our self-limiting beliefs. We are conditioned to allow outside influences to shape our self-image, but with the direction set out in You Squared, you can really set yourself on that higher plane, fast. If you want to go from you to YOU SQUARED - if you want to accomplish far more in much less time, get the book, read it. Implement the principles.
You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor
You Were Born Rich is one of those books that I read over and over. As soon as get to the last page, I start at the beginning again because by the time I've got to the end of it, I've learned so much more that I need to update everything again. It's also an instruction manual type-book. Laid out in 10 chapters in a very methodical way, I have no doubt, that if properly followed and implemented, you will see great change in your life. (Click on the pink link above for the free PDF version). Bob Proctor does a great job of letting us realise that we have so much talent within us - every single one of us - and that we are all capable of expressing these talents and passions, bringing real value to the rest of our world. We are all unique and we all have something different to bring. Yes - we do - every single one of us.
Bob Proctor clearly lays out for you, a new way to view money as something that serves you - we are not meant to be slaves to money (do you feel like a slave to money?) - money is an energy that serves us. He instructs you to get clear on what you want and how much money you want to earn. He teaches you to build your persistence muscle, and how to let go. He teaches you to expect good in your life, instead of the negative. He teaches you to be of service to others and be a becon of light in this world. He teaches you to take risks - not silly risks but healthy ones - that may seem scary - exciting risks. He teaches you to be the best version of you and how a little difference can serve you a lot. He teaches you to think about how you can accomplish anything you want - whatever that want is inside of you - and finally, he teaches you to let go of the old, to make room for the new.
I thoroughly recommend reading these books - and actually implementing the suggestions/instructions in them. Are you the - it's a nice book, but you didn't change your life, person? Your life is still the same, pretty much and you're wishing something was different. (You can change that.) Or are you the - Oh my God, this is such an amazing book! My whole way of thinking has changed and I'm so much better off for it, person? Read these books and really implement the lessons into your life. You will create real, measureable change. Do you remember those books (if you're a similar age to me, you might!) the Pick-a-Path books? Which path are you going to choose?
Have you read these books already? What have you been reading during the lockdown period? What are your recommendations?