It's fall and that means less time outside, more time inside on the couch with a good book. The Julie Kinnear Team is a team of bookworms, so we've decided to share our favourite books on this list. The books on this list are focused on helping you improve your business strategy and build great relationships with both your colleagues and your clients. So put the kettle on and start reading!
1. Outliers - The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
There is a thin line between success and failure and Malcolm Gladwell will help you find it. In this book, he presents the logic behind successful people. He goes beyond just looking at their education and talents, he "spends more time looking around them" and explores the connections behind their birth dates, their family, birth place to understand why some people are more successful than others. The whole book consists of short stories about successful people, the first one being a memorable story that appeals to Canadians, and that is about hockey and birthdates of the most successful players. If you have a chance, read this book, it will change the way you think about success.
Favourite quotes from the book:
Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.
The particular skill that allows you to talk your way out of a murder rap, or convince your professor to move you from the morning to the afternoon section, is what the psychologist Robert Sternberg calls "practical intelligence." To Sternberg, practical intelligence includes things like "knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for for maximum effect.
The tallest oak in the forest is the tallest not just because it grew from the hardiest acorn; it is the tallest also because no other trees blocked its sunlight, the soil around it was deep and rich, no rabbit chewed through its bark as a sapling, and no lumberjack cut it down before it matured.
See the reviews on Goodreads.
2. Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
by Napoleon Hill
This book is a manual for taking a positive attitude to the next level. And this is not a book you can read only once and forget about it. I assure you, if you read it, you will keep going back to it and use it as a reference throughout your life. Our team regularly remind each other of keeping a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) - the "talisman" this book is based on. From remembering that you are unique and the most important person, to learning the power of attracting happiness, this book covers the right ground to harnessing a powerful attitude that will change your experiences.
Favourite quotes from the book:
There is very little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.
Develop an obsession — a Magnificent Obsession — to help others. Share yourself without expecting a reward, payment, or commendation. And above all else — keep your good turn a secret. And, if you do this, you will set in motion the powers of a universal law. For, try as you will to avoid payment for your good deed — blessings and rewards will be showered upon you.
One of the surest ways to find happiness for yourself is to devote your energies toward making someone else happy. Happiness is an elusive, transitory thing. And if you set out for it, you willl find it evasive. But if you try to bring happiness to someone else, then it comes to you.
Read the reviews on Goodreads.
3. Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop
Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
by Brian Tracy
Procrastination - we're all guilty of it. We all have soooo much to do. And living in our technology worled of the supposed "paperless" society, the to-do list just keeps on expanding. I for one needs lots of help in this area, so this book seemed like a great choice. And it was a great choice. "Eat the frog" has become one of my mantras.
It's an easy read kind of learning book – big print, short chapters, and helpful homework at the end of each chapter to help you implement the idea as fast as possible. There is all kinds of hints on how to keep technology at bay, how to prioritize, easy time management help – with the constant reminder to get the most important things done and everything else will fall into place. If you need help identifying your key results areas, a bit on goal setting, concentration, focus, then this might be right up your alley. If you want help in getting more stuff done in a shorter period of time, this might be a helpful resource for you. Pick up this book, implement some of the ideas and you too will be excited to "eat that frog".
Favourite quotes from the book:
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first." This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first.
Everyone procrastinates. The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what they choose to procrastinate on.
Say no to anything that is not a high-value use of your time and your life.
Read the reviews on Goodreads.
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen Covey
I first read this book when I first got into the real estate business in 1992. Since then many important points have stayed with me.
Who can forget the rule to focus on the Important not the Urgent matters? Stephen Covey’s easy visual of understanding the time management matrix and working from Q2 is a habit that separates the best from the rest. This is especially poignant nowadays with technology making everyone and everything so accessible, it is easy to get caught up in the "busy".
So many other successful principle centred life forming habits are found in this gem, and are explained very clearly, which apply not just for businesses. This is not a quick fix read, you will get back to this book.
There are nuggets of wisdom throughout the book and another that sticks out for me, is that the most successful people visualize their desired outcome before even beginning the task. I think this is the key to being successful at anything. It helps us to remember the important roles we have in life. It helps us stay focused on things like prioritizing work outs, sticking to a schedule and being the best wife/husband, friend, mother, sister daughter, pet parent you can be.
Favourite quotes from the book:
If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control - myself.
Courage isn't absence of fear, it is the awareness that something else is more important.
Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.
Read the reviews on Goodreads.
5. The Go-Giver - A Little Story about
a Powerful Business Idea
by Bob Burg and John Mann
This book tells a story about Joe, an ambitious young salesman, who wants to become more successful. He meets a man called The Chairman and over the course of a week he learns 5 new lessons, one each day and commits to practicing each of them at least once each day. The Five Laws of Stratospheric Life changed Joe's life and they will change yours too.
This is a book everyone should read, no matter what industry they're in. And this isn't a business book, you can apply the lessons learned to almost every aspect of your life. Don't be discouraged by its size. It looks like a very light read, but the lessons you learn from it will stay with you for a long time.
Favourite quotes:
As long as you’re trying to be someone else, or putting on some act or behavior someone else taught you, you have no possibility of truly reaching people. The most valuable thing you have to give people is yourself. No matter what you think you’re selling, what you’re really offering is you.
Most people just laugh when they hear that the secret to success is giving....Then again, most people are nowhere near as successful as they wish they were.
SURVIVE, SAVE and SERVE. They are the three universal reasons for working. Survive—to meet your basic living needs. Save—to go beyond your basic needs and expand your life. And serve—to make a contribution to the world around you.
Read the reviews on Goodreads.
What books are on your reading list this fall? Share them with us in the comments, we're always searching for something new to read!
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