Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Question Everything and
Find a Better Way
To Do Anything
Chapter Two
What Do You Want Most?
Chapter Three
Be Nice No Matter What
Chapter Four
It’s The Tough
Things That Teach You
Chapter Five
If You Don’t Like
What You’re Doing, So What?
Chapter Six
Seek Improvement Everywhere
and In All Things
Chapter Seven
Stand Out From The Crowd
Chapter Eight
Take People With
You On Your Journey
Chapter Nine
Work-Life Balance
Chapter Ten
If You’re Going To Do Anything,
Do It All The Way
Chapter Eleven
Give Back To Everyone You Can
Chapter Twelve
Heal Yourself With Your Mind
Conclusion
Chapter Twelve
Heal Yourself With Your Mind
This is a statement that I have often made. And no, I don’t think you can cure yourself of cancer or other terrible illnesses just by thinking them away. But I absolutely believe in and have practiced this concept many times in many situations with great success. I am positive that you are who and what you are because of what you put in your mind. Please note that I heard that while listening to the Zig Ziglar audio cassette of See You at the Top. He believed—and I agree —that if you’re tired and keep telling yourself you’re tired, then you will be tired. I’m not saying you can’t be tired—what I’m saying is that if you are feeling tired, you could get up, drink some cold water, or go for a walk or a run to wake your self up.
When you are on that walk, tell yourself, “I have so much energy,” “I feel great,” “My legs feel light, my lungs are full of air, and I could walk forever.”
Don’t say, “I don’t feel tired,” but say instead, “I feel energized. I feel ready for a big day.”
The positive spin you put on the words you say to yourself will convince your brain that you are full of energy and propel you out of the cycle of being tired. I have done this many times while running marathons, and it absolutely works.
If you have seasonal allergies and the weather report says the pollen is high today, and you go outside expecting to be affected by the pollen, then you will be affected by the pollen. You’ll walk outside and start sneezing, and your eyes will get red and itchy. But if you know that the pollen count is high today, you can put an allergy eye drop in each eye, start your car remotely, start the air conditioning early, and set yourself up for success. You’ll go outside, knowing that the pollen can’t beat you.
I have a cousin who is a thoughtful, wonderful, and loving person, but he has convinced himself that he is sick. His parents, aunts, uncles, sister, and cousins have all tried to convince him that he is okay. When I spend time with him, he is delightful, humorous, and quick with his wit and charm. In all ways, he is ready to participate in society, but he has convinced himself that he’s unwell. In the quiet moments of his life, he tells himself he is sick. Until he finds a way to put something different and more positive in his mind, his mind will always remind him that he is sick.
You can be sick, sad, mad, or frustrated, and that’s normal, but with knowledge and practice, you can choose not to let these things become who you are. It is often said, “If you think you can or think you cannot, you are probably right.” I believe this is the most important message I can give you.
Pop’s Recommended Reading For You Kids
As I mentioned earlier, you can find information in many ways, but I recommend that you read or listen to these books to put this information in your brain.
The Little Store on the Corner by Alice P. Miller
This is one of my very favorite children’s books. It’s the story of a small local store run by an owner who understands the concept of giving people more than they expect. His college educated son pitches in to run the store for a while so that his dad can take a much-needed vacation, and he realizes the store can be more profitable if he gives away fewer peanuts, less candy, smaller scoops of ice cream and stops giving away free balloons. These changes were meant to make the store more profitable, and it was—until the customers decided to stop coming. This is a valuable lesson for every business owner.
See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar
This book crystallized for me the things that my parents instilled in me. My father lived a life of positive reinforcement. The idea that anything you do in life is easier if you take on that project with a positive mindset. If you believe you can achieve it, you will have a better chance of achieving it. Zig Ziglar’s most famous and often-quoted statement, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want,” clarified how I was already thinking. I don’t believe I could have said it as well as Zig, but it agreed with who I was and wanted to be. We live in a negative world, and you will be surrounded by negative people, but you can leave that negativity where you found it and not carry it with you for the rest of your day. The things that happen to you or for you can be taken in a positive light or a negative light. You get to decide. But don’t take my word for it. Read the book, and you’ll learn more about how your Pop and his father tried to live.
Ruthie’s Kids: Tough Love From a Tough Mom by
Bob Weir
This truly amazing story is about my father, who did not grow up with a father to teach him what he taught me. This book is called Ruthie’s Kids by Dad’s brother and my uncle. If you mwant to know how my father and his mom grew up, you can read that next. It’s the true story of seven kids being raised by a single mother and talks about how my father grew up in absolute poverty in New York City in the ’40s and ’50s.
Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson
This easy-to-read story perfectly illustrates how important it is to embrace change. It shows that when change comes, you can accept it, or you can die. And change is exactly what so many businesses—like Blockbuster or Sears or many others today that are fighting to stay afloat against the likes of online stores—fail to embrace.
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
This is an inspirational story of a young man who learns the value of putting money away. He discovers that you can become incredibly wealthy by consistently spending less than you make and doing the right things with your money. It seems simple, but most cannot do it.
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
A business book written as a story or an autobiography of the life of a young boy growing up with his father and his best friend’s father, each of whom has a totally different view of money. Rich Dad Poor Dad will help you clearly see what is an asset and what is a liability. The best part of this book is that it debunks the myth that a house is an asset. I can certainly tell you that my house constantly costs me money. Money that I could be investing in a much better place.
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée
Mauborgne
The Blue Ocean Strategy is a simple concept to understand but quite challenging to achieve. A challenge that is most certainly worth the time and effort. The concept is to take what you are doing now that has so many competitors and place your company so far out in front that you have moved beyond your competitors. When you go to the beach, you will see many people all over the place (your competition), but when you go into the water, you will see fewer people, and the further out into the ocean you swim, the bluer the water and fewer the competitors. Adding small things to your offerings or unique ways of saying the same thing could be all it takes to move you beyond the competition. I did it by guaranteeing the results of my advertisement. I always told people they could believe what I told them, but I started calling it a “guarantee.” I didn’t change anything—I simply said it differently and louder. No one had ever guaranteed results in their advertising before. I created a blue ocean, and we grew rapidly.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
This is a real-life story about the struggles of moving a business from nothing to success—the hard work, the decisions to be made, and the persistence and time it takes to get where you want to go. This book impressed upon me the benefits of doing business face to face, and since reading it, I have been on the road, meeting my customers in person, and my business is growing by leaps and bounds as a result. It’s interesting, too, that our company is the only mail company going out to meet our customers where they are, just like Phil Knight did.
Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman
This is part one of the Traction book I list below. It’s an over view of what your business should look like as you begin to understand the importance of hiring the right people and putting them in the right seat based on their natural talents.
Traction by Gino Wickman
Traction is a deep dive into every detail needed to structure your business in an organized, thoughtful approach, starting with you. Once I got out to visit big clients, instead of trying to make every decision in the office, my business started to grow. I don’t know what your personality will allow, but this book will help you identify your natural talents and begin the all-important process of hiring the right people and putting them in the right seats to match their natural talents. The strategies in this book provide a system to evaluate the success of each person in your company. Once put in place, you will be amazed at how happy your team will be, and the growth of your company will follow as mine did.
Money: Master the Game by Tony Robbins
Anything written by Tony Robbins is probably worth your time, but this one made my list because it digs deep into the minds of the world’s greatest money managers. Tony’s celebrity allows him to reach people that others cannot. Money will absolutely help you better understand what to do with money once you have it. If you’ve read the other books on this list and employed the concepts within, you will have money. You should understand how to keep it and how to grow it.
Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Question Everything and
Find a Better Way
To Do Anything
Chapter Two
What Do You Want Most?
Chapter Three
Be Nice No Matter What
Chapter Four
It’s The Tough
Things That Teach You
Chapter Five
If You Don’t Like
What You’re Doing, So What?
Chapter Six
Seek Improvement Everywhere
and In All Things
Chapter Seven
Stand Out From The Crowd
Chapter Eight
Take People With
You On Your Journey
Chapter Nine
Work-Life Balance
Chapter Ten
If You’re Going To Do Anything,
Do It All The Way
Chapter Eleven
Give Back To Everyone You Can
Chapter Twelve
Heal Yourself With Your Mind
Conclusion