“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all.” – Henry David Thoreau

Since the beginning of 2009, I’ve read about 50 books on different subjects in the realm of self-help, business, time management, leadership, teamwork, relationships, blogging & social media and of course, finance.

Most people in my age group, (18-25) wouldn’t touch a book with a ten-foot poll. I find any kind of material on these subjects fascinating! How many more books will I read before next year? Most likely another 50-100. All the extremely wealthy people I look up to say they read at least 10-20 books a year. Most of the wildly successful people I know, read upwards from 40-50 per year. This is 500 by the end of the decade.

After being subjected to thousands of hours of material like this, and keeping such a commitment, you can’t possibly go on living without being effected in some major way.

From personal experience, I would say that reading has not only made me more knowledgeable but also it’s given clarity, a boat load of tools for personal change, and an understanding for “mysteries” in life most people repeatedly get wrong. Reading has given me an advantage over people who are in the dark about certain critical key areas. It’s a fact that you can’t out earn your personal development.

The following are 12 books that have changed who I am!

Believe me, this is a hard list. There are so many books out there that deserve to be on my top 12. And I’m sure within 3 years from now, I’ll have a whole new load of books to add to this list. Everyone who reads a lot has a top X list of books they feel have made a significant change in their life. Take Sid Savara’s list, The Best Personal Development Reading List. Sid has Og Mandino’s, Greatest Salesman in the World,  as one of his top reads. Or how about Vlad’s 6 Personal Development Books That Have Changed My Life. Many of the books on Vlad’s list are on mine as well. Henrik Edberg, a well respected blogger, has read 100’s of books and posted what he believes are the best of the best in the niche, 10 of My Favorite Personal Development Books. He has books by Wayne Dyer, Tim Ferris(author of 4-Hour Work Week) and Ekhart Tolle. We can cut down the time we waste on reading by finding the best of the best.

In time, we all create our own top 10, top 6, top 12 lists and eventually who we are and what we become rests upon what we constantly put into our minds.

1. The Magic of Thinking Big by David Shwartz

One of the first personal development books I ever read and continue to read to this day. Magic of Thinking Big teaches you how to change your attitude, think like a leader, build confidence and destroy fear. Magic of Thinking Big goes into everything from using a big vocabulary to dressing for success. A quick read that is simple enough to be understood by anyone at any age.

2. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

A thorough book of timeless principles covering priorities, empathetic listening skills, seeking first to understand before being understood, sharpening the saw. Covey talks about the importance of the inside-out approach and how centering your life around principles is a smart choice. One of the earlier of my personal development reads as well. A book that has helped me create a base for my philosophy for personal effectiveness and proactivity. Stephen R. Covey is probably one of the best authors in his feild. This book will change your view on life and prompt you take your priorities into careful consideration.

3. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

If there’s one book you MUST read on wealth and finance, it’s Think and Grow Rich. Even though this book was first published over 70 years ago, the timeless laws will continue to live on for centuries. Think and Grow Rich was based on the Law of Success, a 16 lesson course that goes into much more detail then the actual Think and Grow Rich book. The only reason why I don’t put Law of Success above this book is because I haven’t fully read it yet. If you plan on accumulating wealth sometime in your life, Think and Grow Rich needs to become a permanent cornerstone in your personal library.

Once you start reading the first few chapters, it will be difficult to put down. Napoleon Hill brings up some of the most intriguing topics I’ve ever read. For instance, the concept of the Master Mind group, something which I had heard about before but not understood. I have to admit, one of the highlights of the book was reading the chapter on Sexual Transmutation. This was an eye opener and got me researching how to channel sexual energy into getting more accomplished in one day than I usually could.

Napoleon Hill explains multiple other techniques such as visualization to direct your subconscious mind in guiding you to create wealth in your life. One of the most amazing books, especially for being over 70 years old.

4. The Power of Focus by Canfield and coauthors Mark Hansen and Les Hewitt

Jack Canfield is a well known author of the Best-Selling and largely famous Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Canfield and coauthors Mark Hansen and Les Hewitt became instant heros of mine after I finished reading this. Why did I put this book on my top 12? Well, because it just about one of the best books I can honestly say I ever read. One of the most thorough peaces of material on goal setting, strength finding and staying focused. I have never read such an eye opening book on focus and discipline. Power of Focus is a book you may want to read and re-read, at least every year. This could very well be a complete success manual, even if you never read another book in your life.

5. Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray

You might wonder why I list a relationship book as one of the best personal development books I’ve read. Well, because everyone who lives and breathes should read this over and over, own a copy and review it on a yearly basis. John Gray published Men Are From Mars almost 20 years ago and since then has been recognized as the “relationship guru.” Gray reveals some major differences between men and women in their communication and how major disputes and confusion can arise when we’re not aware of these differences. This is not a book on being a “pick-up-artist.” To be honest, relationships are ten times more important than one-night-stands. Pretty much all of us generally have an idea of how to get what we want as far as sex goes. Most of us are poor when it comes to relationships, of any kind.

Half way reading through Men Are From Mars, it dawned on me. If only they’d teach this to kids in High School. If only we were educated to handle relationships (add finance on top of that), education would be worth something.

Men Are From Mars is not only for couples. It can also be a helpful guide to understanding the differences between men and women and what each want and how they go about getting it. This is a great guide for every day life, and the work place, even for solving disputes or for better communication. If you don’t read another book on relationships, this is a good one to start with.

6. Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley

Who are the rich, what do they look like? The Millionaire Next Door is a revelation of who rich people really are! For the most part, the book focuses on Self-Made Millionaires. Millionaire Next Door left me both, shocked and inspired. Stanley presents some surprising data revealing the real lives of the every day millionaire.

7. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

Another must read for wealth accumulation. T. Harv Eker’s 17 lessons of the difference between the rich and poor. “Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people
want to be rich.” Eker explains that the definition of Poor and Rich people in the context his book are people who Think Rich and Poor.

8. Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Like, Think and Grow Rich, Win Friends and Influence People is another work of art published over 70 years ago that survived the test of time. Carnegie is known as the grandfather of all people skills, a well deserved reputation held long after his death. “Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated.”

I’m not going to tell you what Win Friends and Influence People covers or give you a run down. There are more online reviews on this book than most people have braincells. Carnegie has had a life long lasting effect on millions of people in the world for the past 70 years. This should be one of the first books you read as far as people skills are concerned.

9. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

My brother-in-law lent me Rich Dad Poor Dad when I was 17 and it inspired me to start building businesses. Though this book is simple, to the very depth of the word, it’s a book that should be a requirement for every child to read before they reach High School.

10. Built To Last by Jim Collins

If you’re serious about business at any level, whether you’re an MBA student, or just a regular Joe getting into entrepreneurship, this is a sound read. Jim Collins has authored other Best Sellers like From Good To Great and How the Mighty Fall. I suggest this as a good start to learning and researching the key factors in business longevity and what keeps successful giants successful over many centuries.

11. 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class by Steve Siebold

Mental toughness is the base of all great achievement and performance. Steve Siebold packs 177 lessons of high performing world-class individuals at all areas of life, whether sports or business, into this one invaluable masterpiece. 117 Mental Toughness Secrets is a road map for correct and clear thinking in your path to high performance and achievement in all areas of life. In short, Steve Siebold has created a profound and inspiring manual to mental toughness and higher thinking.There are few books out there that have the privilege of being an equal.

12. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

Seriously, John C. Maxwell has published so many winning books on leadership, decision-making, ethics and everything else a leader should know that it’s hard not to put more of his books up here. The 21 Irrefutable Laws, The Law of the Lid, The Law of Navigation, etc, are the stepping stones to every great leader. Once you read 21 Laws, start on more of Maxwell’s books. Everything he writes has never failed to inspire me. His passion and love for teaching and leadership, and for helping other people change their lives shines through his work. Leaders at all levels and in all positions can benefit from his invaluable and unforgettable lessons on solid leadership. What did I learn from 21 Laws? Strong leadership is not an overnight process, it’s not a decade long process, it may even take you 30 or 40 years to develop yourself as a strong leader.

Concluding Words

Once I started getting into reading really good books I noticed something. My outlook on life, my thoughts, my attitude and the compass of my future, very slowly, started shifting in a new direction. Until a little while ago I never realized the profound impact this has had, not until I listened to something John C. Maxwell said about how books have changed his life, the way he thinks, talks etc etc. Zig Ziglar said, “if you don’t like your output, change your input.”

It’s impossible to dive into the minds of authors like Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, John C. Maxwell and not become effected in some way, shape or form. This list proves, there is no one book you should read. Hell, read ‘em all! Maybe you read an entire book, and only learn a few new things…but you learn one thing that changes your life forever.

“Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends.” – Dawn Adams

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“We live in the age where text is one of the most common methods of communication. The people who know how to communicate the best are the ones who put into practice each technique in proportion to their effectiveness.” – Clinton Skakun

As a Gen-Y, I can text and use computer chats pretty fluently…and almost always get my point across. And as a Gen-Y I wish I could say the same about my verbal communication skills. Why is it that I can write fairly good blog posts but I find myself stumbling over words when trying to explain the same topic? One word…practice. What we don’t practice we loose.

I’ve been writing this blog for about 2 1/2 years and within that time period my writing communication skills improved by 40-70%. This is good considering I used to leave much to be desired in the writing department. And even if my writing isn’t still that great, I could give two flipping bricks what a English teacher would say about my writing now days. I can be the judge of that. These days I can spit out 3-4 posts without barely any effort, just pure inspiration. Once I get going I just keep going. But let’s take a closer look at other mediums, for example PodCasts and Vlogging, two methods of blogging that I’ve never delved deeply into.

Not only can using other forms of blogging, such as podcasting and video blogging, allow you to reach larger audiences but it can also develop some of your personal and professional skills if you’re still a relatively new blogger like me.

How can this help you out personally. Let’s take a closer look at some of these observations:

• Videos create curiosity and allow you to get a clearer point across by using tone and body language.
• People will fall in love with your videos before your text. Video, being a medium that reveals a lot of personal traits that people are curious about.
• A lot more people are using YouTube to find subjects of interests instead of blog articles. Videos are quick and to the point.
• People like to know you’re human, and even if you’re not a great speaker, many people prefer seeing you in a video instead of text.
• Most of our human relations skills depend on us expressing ourselves verbally and physically. We spend too much time already texting, e-mailing, chatting, blogging etc.

I’m seriously considering adopting a video blogging project onto my plate and posting less on this blog. Why don’t you consider doing the same thing? If the idea of 1000’s of people seeing you in video strikes fear into you, just view it as a way to expand your comfort zone. Also, it will improve your verbal skills therefor making you a better speaker giving you the basics to deliver powerful speeches.

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Some bloggers are dead set against monetization. They think it taints their content and ruins trust with their readers. I’m no expert but beg to differ:

1. Put more valuable time in blogging, create better content. If you could replace your income blogging, or even just replace a few days a month with the cash you make from your blog, it would be fair to say you could spend more time writing valuable content(and less time working.) Lets say you spend 10 hours writing and drafting a blog post. How many people have that much time unless they don’t have to work?
2. Get you more serious about blogging. If you’ve been blogging long enough, you’ve probably had times when you wrote up a blog post and published it off, later regretting the sloppy errors you made. Monetization demands a little more attention. Would you read a blog, that asked for money, and had sloppy content?
3. It takes little effort, if you already have the traffic and the dedication. It’s really simple, just copy the strategy of someone else who has a successful blog(successful in terms of helpful content and makes money) and if it doesn’t work, try a new approach.

I’d love to hear your opinion!

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I’m not the first person to come to when it comes to find your blog niche. Though I wanted to put in a word on the topic.

In my experience finding what you want to write about and who you want to write for is more of a process than an event.

It takes time and experience writing on certain topics until you find what you really love to write about. You don’t have to be a writer, but more of a communicator and a publisher.

I personally write really well when I know when I’m writing about. That statement might seem way too obvious to put in print, though it’s very true. Ever try starting a blog post about a topic you didn’t know a lot about and on top of that, didn’t really care about it? You didn’t feel inspired and didn’t feel that you could articulate well.

Unless you’re a professional writer who has years of experience writing about everything and anything you’ll probably have to start blogging about things that actually interest you and get you excited. There’s nothing worse than a blog post that makes you spit dust. Even a controversial post or one with opposing views can be rich and insightful and you even a thing or two about them. Why? Because the blogger had some great ideas and inspiration, and on top of all that s/he really cared about who was reading it. So many only advice for finding you niche in blogging is:

1. Start with what excites you.
2. Expand as you go and see if you can include other interests.
3. Blogging is about publishing content and communicating, you don’t need to know how to write. You need to know how to communicate.

Like I said, I’m not a professional consultant or an expert, and this is my experience.

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When was the last time you actually bought something after seeing it advertised on TV?

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Probably not in some time!

When was the last time you saw a commercial advertising a tooth bush or Aunt Jemima’s Muffin Mix and then ran to the store and bought it?

Maybe never!

How many advertisements really catch our attention, unless they appeal to hunger or our sex urges?

And if those ads did catch your attention, can you even remember what they were about?

…If you hang onto things that have less and less of a place in this world, you eventually die along with them…

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1. Write about other people/start-ups/businesses

While back I wrote a post about Maynas Eric Chua called Maynas Eric Chua on Building Trust Mask of the Ninja dvd Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia video The Hustler download . About an appearance he made on Singapore News TV station. I knew Eric for a while on Twitter and he was quite an inspiration, as well as one of my first users on my startup, PutFeed.com. I thought, what a great way to add value to my blog as well as send some hits his way. Eric is in the top 3 Twitter users in Singapore and has over 30,000 followers. This guy deserves a post written about him:)

2. Guest Posts

You may not be the most popular person in the world. But you may know a few other bloggers who have connections. Ask them to write a quick guest post on your blog. Chances are they will send hits to the post they just wrote via Twitter or FaceBook, thus giving you more publicity and some credibility in the blogging community. You become open to your Guest’s network, and hey they might know tons of people. It just opens up more opportunity plus adds some fresh ideas to your blog.

3. Interviews

Interviewing is another great way to gain credibility and to give others some publicity. There’s a lot of entrepreneurs, lawyers, brokers, real estate and web design experts that would be glad to participate in an interview. This shows that you have some connections in the blogging community and once again, opens up your blog to the networks of other people.

There are a few ways to undertake an interview:

• Video(post them on YouTube and other video sharing sites)
• Plain old blog post
• Podcast

(You decide the rest, be creative)

4. Ping Other Blog Posts

This is a great way to get ideas for new blog posts and add value to other blogs at the same time. When you see a blog post you like and that you could add some thoughts to, write your own blog post and ping them back(using the ping url). They will love you for it whether you agree or disagree with their views. The fact that you took the time to respond to their post is a sign of appreciation.

5. Stay Connected

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With all the great online and desktop tools we have the ability to stay connected with our community in half the time we used to. Stay connected with people in your niche by doing the following:

• Subscribing to their blogs
• Posting comments to their blog posts(people love it when you post sincere comments)
• Tweet their blog posts and let them know that you are by adding their @username in the tweet.
• Share their blog posts in your FaceBook statuses.
• Connect them with other people in your network.
• Share your own blog posts with them after you’ve added value to their blogs.
• Send a personal e-mail to new blog posters thanking them for their contribution. Give them the chance to reply.

If you stay connected with people they’ll return the favor and send some blog comments or recommendations your way. The rules are, ONE. be sincere, TWO. Add value before expecting others to add value to you.

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CALGARY, Alberta (August 27, 2009) — DMS Computers Inc. announced today the official release of their new online service, PutFeed.com, a micro-blogging platform for businesses and entrepreneurs. PutFeed is geared towards groups and teams on the micro-blogging level and is dedicated to improving collaboration and communication. The service is available to both individual users and businesses.

“Micro-blogging has opened up new opportunities to individuals who have a web presence. It has began to change the way in which we communicate online and how we view online networking. However, many of the services out there lack dedication to businesses, who are now adopting social media. PutFeed offers value to teams that want to use micro-blogging as a collaboration tool, and need something less main-stream.”

PutFeed provides a number of features that allow users to cut down on unwanted or unimportant updates. It also offers the ability to create private or public groups, causing updates to become better centralized around each team.

To sign up and use PutFeed’s basic features completely free. PutFeed VIP accounts start at $4.95(CAD) a month, these accounts will come with advanced features such as micro-forums, idea-sessions, update presentations, projects and more. PutFeed is offering VIP accounts at no charge to early adopters who sign up before the official release date, August 29, 2009.

PutFeed is available at http://putfeed.com/ Hindsight film The Rocky Horror Picture Show hd

. A mobile friendly version is also available at http://mobile.putfeed.com/

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Today I came across an interesting Mashable post about Why Teens Don’t Tweet.

It happens that my age group(18-24) is the second smallest on twitter, the first being(12-17). I only know a very small percent of users on Twitter that are my age or younger. In fact most of the people I know on Twitter are between the age of 25 and 50, which explains persons of the age group 45-54 that makes up the majority of Twitter accounts. Back in January my age group(being 18-24) was the highest, and the 39-45 being the second highest. Something happened between then and now, now 80% of Twitter users are over 25 years of age and middle aged people have been the driving factor of Twitter’s explosive growth since January.

The main reasons for teens not using Twitter is the fact that a lot of their friends aren’t on Twitter, like on FaceBook, MySpace, Nexopia and all those other annoying networking sites. Until peer pressure is strong enough and until Twitter has grown to where it’s more noticeable it may have a bit of difficulty attracting younger people.The Last Time I Saw Paris filmdownload Playboy: Celebrity Photographers

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“Writing is a lot easier if you have something to say” – Sholem Asch

Excellent photo by Esther_G

So why do I bother writing and blogging?

Blogging is like being an author without having to pay to publish your material. Blogging allows you to reach people and give you a chance to get noticed, for example being invited to speaking events or meetings etc. Everyone blogs for their own reasons for blogging. Even though having an online blog may not have all the monetary benefits the “pros” try to sell you, it still is one of the most powerful tools on the web, and I’d say almost just as powerful as the web itself. The Internet has changed many things, including people’s ability to exercise free speech openly to a lot of people.

The blogging community is powerful. Blogging is less journals and diaries and more commonly used as networking tools for businesses and individuals. Everyone from book authors, music artists and big business icons(like Donald Trump) are involved in blogging. Why? Because you can reach a different audience, information flows faster with RSS and now days, “everyone’s doing it”. But mainly the people who know why they use it, besides the fact that it’s popular, are the ones who get the most out of it.

Information is powerful, because that’s how human beings interact. You can imagine how powerful reaching large groups of people is. Having a loyal audience who read your articles on a daily to weekly basis is valuable. What you decide to write has become a part of these people’s every day lives. It may not be a big part, but if it’s a part at all, it’s something.

There’s already tons of “bloggers” and writers on the Internet. Overall I think there’s more blogs than bloggers, meaning lots of blogs have been abandoned or forgotten all together. The regular person becomes bored and moves onto the next thing(like Twitter:D). Lots of people do blog however, a crazy amount. I’m amazed at all the “good” blogs there are out there on the web, how many blog writers there are. Some times I wonder where all these bloggers come from, how do they have the time?:D

There’s those who would be great at blogging but don’t think that what they have to say is worth anything and that they could never “write as good as so ‘n so does” … and there’s those who just don’t see the need to go on and quit. The ones who quit most likely had the wrong impression in the first place. If you’re reluctant to start a blog or share opinions with an audience you should know the RIGHT reasons and the WRONG reasons to go ahead:

WRONG Reasons(short term):

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• To make money.
• To get rich quick(popular, even now days).
• “Get more hits” to my site

RIGHT Reasons:

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• Share opinions and thoughts with friends and or a your community or groups of your readers.
• Talk about your hobbies and interests.
• Teach things you know about.
• A method in which to improve writing skills.
• Journaling, diaries
• Business networking
• Add your own personal touch to the blogging community.

Hot Shots! Why do I Write?

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Improves my ability to think

I think I’ve benefited in a few different ways from blogging. First I’m a better writer from writing about stuff I like. It’s helped me in school quite a bit. At one time I remember barely being able to write two paragraphs before I’d run out of ideas. Practicing writing through blogging has made quite an improvement since before I started, however I’m still not that great.

Overall I think writing is a great way to share what you’ve learned. And of course, my opinion is worth a lot:D:)Kiss Kiss Bang Bang trailer

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I was reading last night about Insider Secrets to 15 Second Marketing Landspeed movie full

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by Charlie Cook The Baker . I didn’t actually read the book. However this article by Steve Pavlina, 15 Second Marketing

gave me some new insight on how we market ourselves and our businesses to other people. Lots of people have heard of the Elevator pitch, a quick way to spread the word about your company to another person within the few seconds spent in an elevator(or rounded to 15 seconds). The concept can be applied anywhere to create interest and start conversations with potential clients and customers. In this article Steve mainly talked about how people are too focused on titles.

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Anyone can slap on a label. But labels aren’t too effective when it comes to making money or business growth. It’s what you actually do that’s important.

For example if you say, “Hi I’m Bob, I’m an Entrepreneur” it completely drains the conversation. So what if you’re an entreprenuer? But lets say you changed it around abit and said, “Hi I’m Bob, I work with mid size companies to find new ways to market to people.” This makes much more sense and it will help spread the word and maybe even increase the amount of referrals you have to your company. This should also help with word-of-mouth. For example if Bob uses the first technique, people are going to continue to pass the word along that he’s an “Entrepreneur”. That’s certainly not going to generate a whole lot fo interest. However if people pass around the word that “Bob finds marketing strategies for mid-size companies” there’s bound to be someone who owns a mid size company that this word finally gets around to. Maybe even a few. The little seed you plant through the 15 second introduction can make a big difference.

How you tell people what you do can be a Growth Factor for your business!

Last night I relized that I was going about this all wrong. I do a few things. I develop web sites and web applications for clients. I develop my own applications both on and off the web. I write a blog. I’m interested in technology. I look for new ideas on how to improve technology and make it work for my business! If you ask me what I am, I’m a Entreprenuer and tech developer. If you ask me what I do, I develop computer technology for people to use in their every day lives(see my bio above). The second one is much more interesting and actually gets across what I do. For the first time I had to think between what I do and what I am.

The problem was, I was showing the tip of the iceberg instead of describing the rest…

If you haven’t done this already. Stop. Think to your self for a second. Are you going by some label you’ve stuck yourself with or are you going by what you do? Labels are still important. If you’re a CEO, you’ve earned that title. If you have a masters degree, you’ve also earned a title. However lots of “CEOs” don’t know more than a few things about running a company. And lots of people with collage education are book smart and experience dumb.

Listen to your actions and your words. Do they benefit your company or do they bore people to teers. Chances are that your company can capture interest of almost any audience, but with the right words. If you want to learn more about this you can read Steve Pavlina’s post 15 Second Marketing

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