Decide to be Rich, Excellent and Healthy

I read the following quote today:

"If you have not consciously made the decision to be rich, excellent, and healthy, then you have unconsciously made the decision to be poor, mediocre and unhealthy." - Wallace D. Wattles, self-help author

Let's take a look at what Wattles was saying. I don't think anyone would consciously decide to be poor, mediocre and unhealthy. But isn't that what we are doing if we don't decide not to be?

I think Wattles is right. We must consciously decide to excel. We must decide we will make the most with what we have. We must decide to be rich. We must decide to be excellent. We must decide to be healthy. We must decide to prosper. First comes a thought and then comes the decision.

Next comes one of the most important ingredients. We must ACT on those decisions. Sure, we can decide to be rich. But are we ACTING on that decision? We must do the things to increase our fortunes. We can decide to be healthy. But are we ACTING on that decision? Are we exercising and eating healthy?

So yes, I agree with Wattles, we must consciously decide to be the best we can be in all areas. Then we must ACT and make those things happen!

Decide right now to be your best and then immediately do something to make that happen!

Trump 101: The Way to Success

One of my goals this year is to write a lot more reviews, so here is one I recently wrote:

Trump 101: The Way to Success is a quick book to read, and worth the time it takes to learn the simple but direct lessons Donald Trump and Meredith McIver included in this little gem.

Just because the chapters are short, does not mean they don't contain some valuable advice. Some of it seems to be common sense to many people, but then we must remember that sometimes common sense is not as common as we would like. A short reminder of certain principles or strategies for success can be motivating and the prompting needed to get up and succeed.

One criticism some may have with this book is the promoting of Trump University. I actually believe this is a hidden lesson one can learn. Right up front in the introduction Trump states that a purpose of the book is to introduce the reader to Trump University, so you should not be surprised that there are plugs for Trump University programs. One thing Donald Trump does phenomenally is promote. He promotes himself, his businesses, and other businesses, products and causes that he believes in like no other. This is an important lesson!

Regarding the chapters and the lessons Donald Trump shares in this book, they are all simple and direct, but very important. Following all or some of the advice in this book will doubt help a person increase their levels of success. These chapter lessons include:

1. Don't Waste Your Life On Work You Don't Love: Passion Will Help You Do Better.
2. Set the Bar High: Make People OOH and AAH.
3. Think Trump Scale: Bigger is Better
4. Tough It Out: Be Persistent
5. Without Knowledge, You Don't Stand A Chance: Gain and Use Information To Your Advantage
6. You're Fired! Words No One Wants to Hear - Or Say
7. The Proof Is In The Doing: Learn By Doing and Taking Risks
8. Your Gut Is Your Best Advisor: Listen To Your Instincts
9. Personalize Your Pitch: Know Who You're Addressing
10. Surround Yourself With Beauty: Enhance Every Aspect Of Your Life
11. Negotiate to Win: Use Diplomacy
12. Think On Your Feet: It's The Fast Track To Success
13. Work With People You Like: It Sure Beats Working With Enemies
14. Where There's A Will, There's A Win: Think Positively
15. Swim Against The Tide: The Comfort Zone Can Pull You Under
16. Money Is Not Always The Bottom Line: It Can Be a Scorecard, Not the Final Score
17. Learning Is Exciting: Each New Project Is An Adventure
18. See the Whole Picture: But Be Prepared For the Picture to Change
19. Wait For the Right Pitch: Business Success Is All About Patience and Timing
20. Avoid Fixed Patterns: Be Open and Flexible
21. Speed Kills - The Competition: Get Right To The Point
22. Do More - Always Do More: Constantly Try To Top Yourself
23. Leaders Set The Pace: Find Your Working Tempo
24. Results Matter More Than Routes: Let People Follow Their Own Paths
25. Approach Your Work As An Art Form: Work Brilliantly
26. Keep Your Mind In The Game: Pay Attention and Stay Focused
27. It Takes Courage To Persist: Business Pressures Never Stop
28. Join The Explorers' Club: Learn About the Mysteries of Life
29. Confidence Is a Magnet: It Will Draw People To You
30. Keep Your Momentum Rolling: But Never Lose Control
31. Is the Problem a Blip or a Catastrophe? Expect Problems and Keep Moving Forward
32. Reach Within To Rise Above: But Temper Your Reach With Reality
33. Concentrate on the Target, Not on the Weapon: Focus On What Matters Most

It is pretty obvious with the chapter titles as to what the lessons of each chapter are. And as I stated, the chapters are short and quick to read, but they do contain pearls of wisdom. I found the book very easy to read and enjoyable as Trump illustrated the lessons with his own personal experiences. Trump also included sections on a week of his life, as he has done in other books. I enjoyed reading these as well, and the week he included was the week his son was born, so you know it was a special week for The Donald.

Overall, I recommend this book as a quick, easy, motivational read with some direct and practical advice on success. If you do more than just read the book, that is follow some of the advice that is given, you will increase the successes of your life.

A Kick In the Pants for the New Year - A review of Think Big And Kick Ass by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season!

To start the year out right and make 2008 great, here is a good motivational book to check out. I found my copy under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning and enjoyed it very much. Good motivation to kick off the new year thinking big.

General George S. Patton, Jr. was one of our greatest WWII generals, and I couldn't help but think of one of his basic principles when reading this book: "Grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the pants." That is exactly what Donald Trump and Bill Zanker did with Think Big And Kick Ass In Business And Life.

Anyone who has visited my website knows that I am a fan of Donald Trump and the reality show The Apprentice. I have received many favorable comments on my "Lessons From The Apprentice." I have also enjoyed all of Trump's books, and Think Big And Kick Ass is one I thoroughly enjoyed. It grabs you by the nose and kicks you in the pants with motivating stories and lessons. It is direct, easy to read, and contains many useful tidbits of advice. IF a person ACTS on the advice given by Trump and Zanker, they no doubt would benefit and achieve increased success. I personally have followed similar strategies such as presented in this book, and they have helped me obtain a level of success. I plan on taking the advice from Think Big And Kick Ass to jump start my year and make 2008 great. I think each of us should strive to do better each and every passing year. So do Trump and Zanker, so read this book and start thinking bigger and kicking more ass in business and life than you have ever done before.

The chapters and lessons presented start with Trump illustrating the key points with examples from his life and dealings, and then end with a segment by Zanker where he shares some of his story and how he took The Learning Annex to the multimillion dollar company it is today. While I enjoyed Trumps section a bit more, I thought Zanker was right on the money with many of the points he made as well, and his story is quite motivating in itself. I think the combination of both men's examples made the book much better than if it only contained stories from one of them.

Chapters include: 1. Do You Have What It Takes?: where the reader can take a short quiz that is obvious and illustrates success principles. (I'll give you a hint – if you are not answering d for every quiz answer, start thinking bigger and kick it up a notch); 2. Passion, Passion, Passion!: Trump is always talking about being passionate about what you are doing. This chapter will motivate you to find your passion and love what you do; 3. Basic Instincts: Great lesson on keeping your word, and learn to go with your gut; 4. Creating Luck: Trump believes in luck, but he also believes that the harder you work the luckier you will get; 5. Fear Factor: The world is brutal. Practical advice on not only surviving, but excelling; 6. Revenge: Trump is extremely loyal to those he is friends with, but you don't want to cross him. Some of his advice is when somebody screws you, screw them back in spades. This message is a good combination of when to forgive and when to go for the jugular with those that deserve it; 7. Big Mo: how to build momentum and keep it up; 8. Never Take Your Eye Off The Ball: You must learn to focus and success won't be easy. Take your work seriously and stay flexibly focused and you'll succeed; 9. I Love You, Sign This: This is chapter on prenuptial agreements, which Trump endorses 100%. I was recently listening to Brian Tracy and he was discussing prenups in just the opposite vein. As an attorney, I have drafted prenups for clients, however, I don't agree with Trump that they should be drafted for every marriage. Situations dictate and I personally think this was the weakest chapter of the book; 10. Think Big And Kick Ass In Business And Life: A chapter on what else - Thinking Big! Great ending chapter to motivate you to do even more than you are doing.

After those chapters is an Appendix that includes an interesting section of questions and answers by Donald Trump from Learning Annex Wealth Expos. There is also a suggested reading list. I've read many of the books on the list, but found a few that I want to read in the near future. There are also a bunch of testimonials that I could have done without, and some promotional things for The Learning Annex.

Overall I really enjoyed this quick read. It was motivational and just the thing to kick start 2008. I thank my wife and daughter for putting it under the Christmas tree for me.