Books I Love

Every so often, I’ll absolutely, positively overload life’s plate. My eyes will write checks my calendar can’t possibly cash. I’ll line up a billion and one things that I just can’t live without, then stand around wondering, “How did I ever think I could manage all that?”

Hmmm, there’s an unsettling similarity in my approach to budgeting, too…

My desk is covered, literally covered, with amazing books I’m reading. I’m honestly in the middle of 5 right now - a personal best. The two I just finished, How to Think Like a Millionaire and The Emotional Lives of Animals (Click the link to read my review of this beautiful book) were each great books. I’ve been on a real roll this year. One Can Make a Difference, Strength for Life, and Why the Wind Blows (review in the works) are just three that come to mind as being super special and life-changing.

I’m nearly halfway through another beautiful book titled, “The Hero With a Thousand Faces.” It’s by Joseph Campbell and I honestly get hand cramps from all the note taking. But I just stretchit out, pour more coffee, and get back to something I dearly love - getting lost in a great book with a great author.

People don’t read enough books lately, if you ask me. Sure, we read blogs, e-mails, and online articles - and, when we have time, we even read the newspaper. We should all (oh no I didn’t just include myself here) make a point of reading more books.

There’s just nothing quite like curling up with a cat, a cup of coffee, a homemade cookie, and a great book. Or five.

I just finished reading How to Think Like a Millionaire by Mark Fisher and Marc Allen and my brain cells feel like a million dollars.

The common theme through all success stories is a positive inner attitude. The role of the subconscious mind can’t be stressed enogh.  In fact, as the authors point out:  It is responsible for an individual’s success or failure.  That’s why I love the title they chose for the book so much - How to THINK Like a Millionaire, because that’s where it begins.  In the think tank!

We are the creators of our own happiness or misery. - “How to Think Like a Millionaire” Page 28

The book details common obstacles and mental blocks that we all face at one time or another. Then it tells us, specifically, how we can turn these negative feelings and/or feedback into something positive that can HELP us get ahead rather than to continue holding us back.

How to Think Like a Millionaire is a small book, with just a little over 100 pages. But those 114 pages have the potential and power to change the reader’s life forever. Not only is the book relatively short, it’s written is such a way that makes for very fast reading. HOWEVER, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’d read it slowly, allowing every word to weave itself into your life’s fabric.

I began reading it weeks ago, but realized, from page one, that there was an overwhelming amount of great information, advice, and motivation. So much so that the authors even include a Summary and Recommended Action section at the end of each chapter as well as a three page Conclusion at the end. They want, very much, for the reader to “get it” and get it all.

The subconscious mind is best represented by the image of the iceberg: The small, visible part is the conscious mind while the submerged and much larger part is the subconscious. The role of the subconscious in our lives is much greater than most of us understand. It’s teh seat of our habits, complexes, and the limitations of our personalities. No matter what we think, the subconscious - not outside circumstances - is responsible for an individual’s success or failure. - How to Think Like a Millionaire Page 29

This was one of the easiest to read and most motivating books I’ve ever read. I’ve always known about the importance of the subconscious mind, but I never knew how much power we have over it. Once we take control of the wheel, we can pretty much steer it in any direction we want to. If that sounds, to you, like a trip worth taking, make the next ten minutes of your life ten of the most important ones ever. Click through the link and order your copy right away.

On Amazon:
How to Think Like a Millionaire

The belief that dreams are impossible to achieve prevents most people from getting what they want. Their experience certainly seems to support this belief. They get exactly what they expect from life: boredom, frustration, obstacles, and small incomes. People are what they believe themselves to be, no more, no less. - How to Think Like a Millionaire Page 75

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We all need positive feedback!

I’m about halfway through a wonderful book, How to Think Like a Millionaire (the review will be up before the weekend).  It’s one of those books where you find yourself, not only taking notes, but closing the book every now and again just to sort of soak everything in.  After this morning’s reading, I was a sponge - I guess it made me Sponge Blogger No Pants (I still had my gown on).    

I just finished a section on Positive Feedback vs Negative Feedback and the impact they have upon our subconscious mind and the absolute power our subconscious mind has over our lives.  Everything rises and falls according to the strength of our subconscious mind, so keeping positive and life-affirming thoughts therein could make ALL the difference.

The Live-Changing Power of Positive Feedback

When I got up from reading to make my husband some pancakes, I was still thinking about what I read.  I realized how, in my own life, positive feedback had a huge impact on me.  My mom and dad were forever telling me what a “good” child I was, how they never had to worry about me getting into trouble, and so on.  That early reinforcement, I’m sure, had a great deal to do with the fact that I never did get into any trouble.  When I was in my 30’s, a few months before I lost my father - my dad told one of his nurses that the only trouble I ever gave him or my mom was one speeding ticket.

I told him at the time that it was because I was perfect - but I’m pretty darn sure that’s not accurate.

I believe that the same scenario plays out for kids who are constantly told that they’re “bad,” “difficult,” or “spoiled.”  They live down to those words the way the lucky kids live up to the ones they hear.

As the pancake batter soaked up the buttermilk, I realized another area where positive feedback affected me.  I believe that one of the reasons I ever fancied myself a writer had to do with things my aunt told me years and years ago.  Penny (my mom’s sister and an aunt I’ve always been VERY close to) and her husband (Bobby - LOVE him!) had to move to another state when I was really young.  It was really hard on all of us, but Bobby had an amazing offer in Ohio that he would have been a fool to say no to.  He’s the master of corny jokes, but a fool he’s not!

When they left, I missed them terribly, so we started writing a lot of letters to one another - oh, to have e-mail then!  When they came home for Christmas, she went on and on about how much my letters meant to her and Bobby.  She said she always looked forward to them and saved each one.  When she said they “made her smile” because they were like visiting with me, I began to associate true power with words.

Many years later, when I got married and we had to move to Kansas, I had a lot more letters to write.  I still wrote to Penny, but I also wrote to my parents and my grandmother.  Each one of them always told me how much they loved reading my letters, how they kept them and often re-read them.  My grandmother even told me how she read them to her friends, and that they enjoyed my “way with words”.

Somewhere along the way, I came to believe they were right and I’ve had a fascination with words and writing every since.

When I handed my smiling husband his plate of pancakes, I was struck by yet another instance of positive feedback touching and shaping my life.  Early in my marriage, I fell in love with cooking.  I started collecting cookbooks and even began coming up with my own recipes.  When he was in the Air Force, he’d often have his single friends over to our house for supper.  I often overheard him talking about my “wonderful” cooking and it made me believe I was the greatest cook in the world.  The fact that he and our daughters are always so complimentary about my meals, desserts, bread, etc. only makes me love cooking more and more.

I am very, very lucky that the people I love most in this world have always made me feel like I could do anything.

A Lack of Positive Feedback

I wonder if one of the main reasons people become discouraged and give up is because they don’t get enough positive feedback. Think about the stereotypical scenario of the couple who has been together for several years. She begins to feel he doesn’t love her or think she’s pretty simply because he has stopped saying the words. The positive feedback, early in the relationship, built her confidence up SO high that when the words stopped, she came crashing down, bewildered and even wondering what she’s doing wrong.

The same could be said of children, co-workers, and just about anyone you could name. Children often “give up” becaue they don’t feel appreciated. Co-workers and friends get to the point that they quit trying because nothing they do is ever “good enough.”

The Pitfalls of Negative Feedback

The only thing more dangerous than a lack of positive feedback is a steady stream of negative feedback. When a spouse, daughter, son, friend, co-worker, etc. only hears negative comments - they begin to believe the words and come to believe that they are as worthless as the comments say they are. Many even tune the negativity out to a certain degree, after all, who wants to constantly hear how worthless, stupid, wrong, irresponsible, or bad they are?!?! But it goes much deeper than them tuning it out. They begin to believe it. When someone believes the worst about themself, they stop even trying.

However, if they get positive feedback - even if it’s for the smallest possible thing - their confidence and self worth begin to grow. After they’ve gotten enough positive feedback, they begin to give themselves MORE of the same feedback, then… look out!
 

The Most Important Feedback of All

As important as the feedback we get from others is, it’s not the most vital feedback. That feedback is the one we feed ourselves. The words we say to ourselves, usually inside our own minds, determine how successful we will or will not be. We are, basically, what we think we are.

The words below are just some of the words we use to cripple ourselves:

• I’m too old
• I’m too fat
• I’m not smart enough
• I never catch any breaks
• I don’t have enough money
• Nobody loves me
• I’m lonely
• I can’t do anything
• I’m so depressed
• I am so sick and tired of…
• My live sucks!

When we feed ourselves words like this, we’re feeding ourselves poison, and we should kick ourselves.  If we feed words like that to another human being, we should be stomped.

Start thinking more about the feedback you give to others and to yourself.  The words you say to and about the people around you makes them better or makes them worse.  If you beat them down, that’s where they’ll stay.  If you build them up, that’s the direction in which they’ll grow. 

Now let’s change the pronouns a little:  If you beat yourself down, that’s where you’ll stay.  If you build yourself up, that’s the direction in which you’ll grow.  How far can you and I grow?  As far as we want to!

Sweeeeet.

I think people should express themselves, not someone else. I hear mothers say that they have to buy their teenagers the latest jacket or sneakers or Izon this and that so they can express themselves. I want to say, “How can you express yourself by wearing what everyone else is wearing, and by wearing a label that expresses the designer or the company that produced it?” It isn’t what you can afford that matters, it’s what’s inside that counts. Be you; express yourself, not someone else. -Barbara Adams quote from One Can Make a Difference: Original stories by the Dali Lama, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinch, Russel Simmons, Bridgitte Bardot, Martina … Dozens of Other Extraordinary Individuals

I recently finished reading the book you see to the left.  It may sound flowery (fortunately I love flowers, so that won’t slow me down) - but I believe this book will, in some way, touch every single one of my tomorrows.  I’d love to see millions of tomorrows similarly touched, because I believe the result would be a better world for everyone and everything.

So, you find yourself on the fringe of a post telling you why you HAVE to read this book.

One Can Make a Difference: Original stories by the Dali Lama, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinch, Russel Simmons, Bridgitte Bardot, Martina … Dozens of Other Extraordinary Individuals is a remarkable book, filled with information, inspiration, and motivation.  In its pages, you’ll read about real life heroes and heroines.  People who weren’t born remarkable, but through determination and compassion did their part in changing the world.  People just like you and me!

A Few of the Stories That Touched Me the Most:

• Carol Buckley cofounded The Elephant Sanctuary in 1995.  The acres and acres of land in Tennessee are home to elephants who had been in circuses or zoos.  Elephants.com has pictures of these beautiful elephants, as well as a web cam, a gift shop, opportunities for support, and addictively interesting stories about each of the elephants - with pictures to help you fall even more in love with each.   In One Can Make a Difference, Carol Buckley tells about one of her elephants that loved to make Orange Juice.  She also details the very special elephant that led to this amazing sanctuary.
• Kevin Bacon tells how, at first, he didn’t know what to think about the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  When he realized that it was, in fact, flattering to have a game named after you, he realized something else:  With a heart full of genuine care for the world around him, he wanted very much to do his part to make a difference.  Thanks to this game, he now had an “angle” or as he calls it a “brand,” to launch a charitable organization and website called Six Degrees.org.  This very talented actor and family man details how this all came about.
• Reverend Al Sharpton’s essay was also fascinating.  I especially loved his words of motivation:  The only person you ever have to conquer in life is not your enemy, it’s yourself.  And once you conquer yourself, your ego, your vanity, your misplaced overestimation - once you conquer yourself, then you can fight for a higher purpose and conquer what it is you’re supposed to conquer and realize that’s what your purpose is. 

We define success by what we have, not by what we did.  But the only success in life is what you did.  Because whatever you have, you could lose, and whatever you have, somebody else could have more.  But nobody can take from you what you did. - Al Sharpton

• Rebecca Hosking tells of the unbelievable impact plastic has on the environment.  I read her essay twice to make sure I was getting the full impact.  PlanetArk.com helps educate people about keeping our environment healthy, clean, beautiful and, frankly, about what we can to do keep from turning our earth into one big giant dump.
• Oliver Stone’s essay was another one that was spellbinding.  He, like every single essayist in the book, had me putting pen to paper - I put the words onto paper as they put the words in my heart.  Oliver Stone tells how he has been led by ghosts, how they encourage him to make a difference.  Interestingly enough, he was also one of the first people to sign a petition asking NASA to stop sending monkeys into space. 
• Petra Nemcova tells of her horrible ordeal after the tsunami struck Thailand (she lost the love of her life and suffered a broken pelvis).  The experience made her better rather than bitter and a lot of LOVE, literally came from the devastation.  She now focuses her life on helping children who have suffered loss and pain from hardships all over the world.  She’s a classic example of being as beautiful inside as she is outside - and that’s saying something in her case!
• Martina Navratilova talks about fair play, Russell Simmons talks about respect, and Willie Nelson addresses the subject of self-reliance.

There are far too many individuals and even more subjects to even think about covering in one post.  I guarantee that they’ll be mentioned in future posts, however.  Their stories have become a part of me.  I’ve always fancied myself one of the overly zealous “We can change the world” crowd… but now?   I think I might just be dangerous!

One Final Thought:

It’s wrong that, very often, people who are trying to make the world a better place are looked upon as eccentrics.  Believing (rightfully so!) that helpless animals shouldn’t be abused doesn’t make an individual crazy, it makes them compassionate.  The author of the book, Ingrid E. Newkirk, is also the founder and president of PETA.  So, she knows a thing or two about controversy. 

I admit that when people are on the front lines doing battle for what they believe in, they sometimes seem to go “too far.”  But I’d rather they go too far than to not go at all!   The next time a PETA ad generates a snicker or two, challenge yourself to think about all of the animals that have been saved because of this organization.. Of all the needless suffering and pain PETA has brought to an end.  If your own pet were being abused, wouldn’t you want PETA to ride in to its rescue?  I certainly would!

This book is one of the best books you’ll ever read.  So what are you waiting for?!  Order it today and, within a week, you will have opened a whole new world! 

One Can Make a Difference: Original stories by the Dali Lama, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinch, Russel Simmons, Bridgitte Bardot, Martina … Dozens of Other Extraordinary Individuals

“If you bang your head against a brick wall long enough, the wall will fall.” And once you start banging your head against that wall, others will join you. - Ingrid E. Newkirk, One Can Make a Difference pages xiv and xv

You know how you normally say, “I just read this book…” or “I just read that book.” In regards to the book this quote was pulled from, One Can Make a Difference, by Ingrid E. Newkirk, the appropriate quote is, “This book recently changed me.”

I’m working on my book review for this amazing book - hopefully I’ll have it up tomorrow. Amazing book.

“Eventually, there comes a point in every life where you can no longer ignore the enormous and expanding gap between the life you could be living and the life you’ve settled for…. Every day of your life that you’re not actively engaged in staying fit, eating well, and strengthening your body the gap grows.” - Stregnth for Life, by Shawn Phillips, page 10

To read my review of the next book you should read (Strength for Life, by Shawn Phillips), see Why You Should Read Strength for Life by Shawn Phillips This Week.

This isn’t a book you’ll read, shelf, and then forget - it’s a proven system that’ll help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

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Studies indicate a lack of sleep can be dangerous, causing significant mental impairment.

While looking through the newest issue of SUCCESS Magazine, the statement above pretty much jumped off the page and got in my face. Apparently it knows how much caffeine I drink, so it harassed me a little bit.

The article, “Sleep Your Way to Success,” by Lisette Hilton is a great read - albeit alarming (ironic pun intended). The author points out a very hard truth - most of us are sleep deprived. We’re filling out our to do lists so ambitiously that we neglect to figure in time for sleep.

We’re not doing ourselves any favors by skimping on sleep. In fact, as the article stresses, we’re doing ourselves a whole world of harm. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that most of us get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep each night. Sleeping less than this (on a regular basis) is associated with:

• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Hypertension
• Cardiovascular Disease
• A Shorter Life Span
• Weight Problems

At least one study suggested that decreased sleep time could lead, years later, to greater weight gain. - SUCCESS Magazine August/September 2008

The article included some great ways to improve your REM time or Quality of Sleep. A few are listed below:

1. Establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
2. Try to keep regular sleep and wake hours.
3. Get enough exercise durning the day but not too close to bedtime.
4. Get regular sunlight (or bright light) during the day

For more sleep tips, grab a copy of the August/September issue of SUCCESS Magazine and visit SUCCESS.com - Sleep Your Way to Success.   In the newest issue of the magazine (on page 26, to be exact!), you can find detailed information on how a lack of sleep leads to heart problems, immune deficiency, weight gain, and memory problems.

One of the best “Self Help” books you’ll ever hold in your hands is the one you write yourself.  It’ll help you more than all of the others put together and multiplied by a dozen.  After all, what good is a book with other people as the lead characters?  This one is all about you! 

Words in Action - A Journal to Inspire Change is for the person who has had it “up to here” with something in his or her life.  It might be a problem with weight, money, work, or relationships.  It might be a habit that they want to shake or a personality trait that they’re tired of lying down with every night and waking up to every morning.

Whatever “it” is, the individual has reached the point where they’re ready to make a life-altering change.  They’ve seen the past, they see the present, and they want even more from the future.  Heck, they demand more!  They realize that the answers aren’t going to come magically floating down from Heaven.  After all, if we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll always have what we have.

This journal is absolutely perfect for anyone who is on a self-improvement journey.  Each page has a different ”Action Word” (such as Intelligence, Denial, Accomplishment, Karma, Breakthrough….) as well as two great quotes to help drive the Action Word home.  There’s also a short and right to the point description of the Action Word.

There are also random short articles (sort of like blog posts) for some of the words.  I believe there are between 10 and 12 of these.  I’d check, but my Words in Action - A Journal to Inspire Change isn’t beside me. It’s lying on my favorite chair in the living room. I write in it everyday. But I do more than just write, I also read. When you go back through a journal and read what you’d previously written, you sort of catch up with what you were thinking “back there.” This gives you a lot of insight into where and how you ran like the wind in particular areas of your journey. Of course, it also gives you insight into where you slipped and fell on your face. A journal shows you the exact slippery spot, helping you to recognize it before you have to eat earth again.

Something else I love about this journal is that it contains no dates.  THere are 365 Action Words and pages for writing on - but it’s up to us which 365 days we use them on.  I’ve always hated journals that try to hold you to a particular schedulce.  What if I have nothing to say on Friday July 25th?!  What if I’ve spent too much time in the sun and can now be found amongst oooohs and ahhhhs as my husband slathers Noxema on my back and extols the virtues of sunscreen?  Am I supposed to feel guilty or overwhelmed on Saturday July 26th?!  Pffft.

This journal takes a much more laid back approach and realizes that we all march to a different beat.  Hey, as long as we march, right?!

Anyway, this beautiful, hardback journal is beyond perfect.  You will love the journey and the wisdom and insight you pick up along the way.  It just occurred to me, but this would be an ideal…and I mean IDEAL gift for a blogger.  Each Action Word could be very inspirational in launching your inner writer - it’d send your thoughts in a wonderful direction.  You could then use the blank space to write these thoughts down.  The thoughts would then, of course, find their way into a blog post. 

“All of life is a journey; which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us.  We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.” - Author Unknown (Too busy enjoying his or her journey to write their name, perhaps?)

This morning, over cup of coffee Number One, I began and finished a wonderful little book I recieved yesterday.  The first thing I did when I closed the back cover was think, “I want each of my three daughters to read this book.“  Then I thought, “I want everyone to read this book!“ 

The book is Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within. by Maria Shriver and would be an ideal gift for a graduate (either from High School or College).  You’ll want to be certain to do one thing, however, and that’s read it before you pass it along!  It’s of the utmost value for everyone, irregardless of their age.  Why?  I’ll let Maria Shriver’s own words explain:

I’ve learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we’re starting out in the world.  That’s because, in a way, we’re starting out fresh in the world every single day.   -  Maria Shriver, Just Who Will You Be?

The book includes a really inspiring and beautiful speech Maria Shriver gave to her nephew’s senior class. After the speech, students and parents, alike, came up to her thanking her for her words and telling her what they meant to them. Soon thereafter, the idea for the book came about - giving a much wider audience to the speech and it’s inspirational message.

If I were shopping for a graduation present for someone special, I’d go out and buy a great card, a bright gift bag, and some cool tissue paper.  Then I’d get a copy of Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within. and nestle it into the toilet paper.  Since the gift would probably be for a really young person, I’d also buy and add a great necklace, candy, a gift card, or money to the bag as well.   On the card I’d point out how the message inside the book will do them a lot more good than anything else in the bag.  Even if it’s something chocolate!

The really beautiful thing about this book is that it will touch the graduate not only on the day you give it to him/her but everyday for the rest of their life.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

**** Be sure you read the book first!  It’s beautifully written and the message is huge.

UPDATE:

I just discovered that this amazing little book is also available as a CD (pictured below). It’s read by Maria Shriver - how cool’s that? The  Just Who Will You Be CD would also make a remarkable gift.  It’d make it a little trickier to enjoy, yourself, before giving the gift, of course - unless you’re masterful at rewrapping plastic!  I’ll tell you what, buy a copy for yourself as well.  Then, the graduate will recieve a potentially life-changing message while you’re sitting on one of your own.