Do You Love Antique Fairs? Travel and Shop the World for Free by Debra Palmen:Quick Book Summary

Have you ever wondered how you can combine international travel and shopping at antique fairs in Europe with business deductions and a side business that can pay for your international travel year after year?  If so,  this book is for you - especially if you enjoy shopping at antique markets for home decorations and jewelry like I do.

In Travel & ShopThe World For Free: How to turn antiques and vintage shopping into free international travel, Debra Palmen,  has written an easy to follow guide on  how you can replicate her business plan that allows her to take two trips to Europe yearly without costing her any money out of her own pocket. Palmer uses the profits she makes after selling the antiques that she buys to finance her next shopping trip. 

Palmer reveals tips garnered from over 30 years of experience  to help you get started as an antique merchant as well.  You will learn the exact locations of the best antique fairs and antique markets in England and France.  Palmer explains how you should decide what you should buy by attending local antique fairs and looking at which items are selling.  Palmer explains why Fall and Spring are the best times of year to travel to Europe. Once you have found and purchased lovely antique home decorations and other unique items from the best antique fairs in London, France, and other European countries, Plamer explains  how to package the goods to send them home. Once you are home, Plamer explains the different methods you can use to sell your antiques so you can earn a profit and finance another trip. You will learn also learn how to not get taken by merchants selling replicas and how to bargain for the best deals .

Palmer is from Australia and is writing to an Australian market but almost everything she writes applies to an American going on a European shopping trip as well.  The main shopping centers are in England and France but she provides advice on side trips into many other countries as well, including Turkey, China,  Belguim, Morroco, etc.  

Rating: $$$$$ out of five.  I love this book. For less than $3, you will learn tips that can help you pay for many years of enjoyable international business travel, all tax deductible, to go shopping at the best antique fairs in Europe.  You might even learn tips that help you earn extra spending money as well. 

This book was purchased from Amazon Kindle while the book was selling for free, but I would have been pleased to pay $2.99 for the wealth of information that is included here   

Copyright @ 2016 Christine Esser 

This book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the first link below. Disclosure: We may receive a small commission from your purchase, but this will not raise the amount you pay. Thank you for reading this review. Comments are welcome.  We have not received anything from the author or publisher in exchange.

What Do Successful People Do Differently From Failures? 9 Things Successful People Do Differently Free Book Summary

What makes one person in an industry a success and another a failure?  If you want to know what successful people do differently, these strategies found in 9 Things Successful People Do Differently may provide you with an answer. 

In 9 Things Successful People Do Differently, 2012, Harvard Business School Publishing, Heidi Grant Halverson studied successful people and concluded that they were successful based upon specific strategies they used to accomplish goals, not who they were.  Halverson identifies nine strategies successful people use to increase their odds of winning. 

(1) Set specific goals;

(2) Use if-then planning to insert goals into a schedule.  For example, if it is 9 a.m. on Tuesday, then make 10 sales calls;

(3) Use metrics to chart progress and identify where they are in relation to achieving a goal;

(4) They are optimistically realistic in setting goals, identifying the time, effort, planning and persistence needed;  

(5) They focus on getting better, not getting good.  By focusing on getting better, mistakes and setbacks are less likely to derail them;

(6) They persist in achieving goals when faced with difficulties - they have grit;.

(7) They build their self-control muscle so that their willpower grows stronger.  Willpower diminishes with use throughout a day. Rest before tackling a new project that requires a lot of willpower.

(8) Don’t tempt fate by taking on too much at once or being where temptations are likely to derail them from achieving a goal.

(9) Direct attention to replacing nonproductive habits with productive habits to achieve goals.

Rating: $$$$$ out of five.  This handy reference guide can help anyone set and achieve a business goal.

This book was purchased, not a gift.   

This book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the first link below. Disclosure: We may receive a small commission from your purchase, but this will not raise the amount you pay. Thank you for reading this review. Comments are welcome.  We have not received anything from the author or publisher in exchange for this review. 

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Twelve Pillars by Jim Rohn and Chris Widener: Free Book Summary and Review

If you can master the twelve tips disclosed in Twelve Pillars, you can improve your business and your life. 
Jim Rohn and Chris Widener wrote this book to synthesize 30 years of business acumen into a short story that could help others. 

In Twelve Pillars, 2005, Jim Rohn International and Chris Widener International, Rohn and Widener share these fundamental principles of business success in a short story about a fellow named Michael who has a chance encounter with a millionaire who teaches him to improve his life by implementing these 12 principles.   

(1) Work harder on yourself than you do on your job - go to seminars, read books, and apply what you learn to your business, profession or trade.  

(2) Make certain that the outside of you is a good reflection of the inside of you with regular exercise, even walking 30 minutes daily.

(3) Make the most of the gift of relationships by constantly improving your important relationships. 

(4) Achieve goals by deciding what you want to do, writing it down, breaking the goal down into the steps needed to achieve it, and getting started. 

(5) Spend each day wisely - manage your time. 

(6) Surround yourself with the best people who have high standards. 

(7) Be a life-long learner. 

(8) Anyone who wants to succeed must learn the art and skill of influencing others - aka -  all life is sales. 

(9) Income seldom exceeds personal development. If you want more, you have to become more. 

(10) When communicating really listen to the other person, try to find common ground, and understand the situation from the other person’s perspective. 

(11) To lead others is to help them change their thoughts, beliefs and actions for the better . There is always room for another great leader. Leaders talk about what could be and help others to achieve that vision. 

(12) Leave a legacy by living a life that helps others spiritually, intellectually, physically, financially and relationally.  

Rating: $$$$$ out of 5.  Mastering these 12 principles can help everyone improve in business and in life.


This book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the first link below. Disclosure: We may receive a small commission from your purchase, but this will not raise the amount you pay. Thank you for reading this review. Comments are welcome.  We have not received anything from the author or publisher in exchange for this review. This book was purchased, not a gift .   

Four 4- Hour Workweek Principles - The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss: Quick Book Summary

The title alone, along with the cover photo of a person lounging in a hammock among palm trees swaying in the wind, almost guaranteed best-seller status for this book. Who wouldn’t want to work for only four hours a week and still earn a very good living?  This book will deliver the implied promise for some people after they put in a lot more than four hours a week in planning, marketing, and preparation to set up an online business and after they find others to help them run it, but a 4-hour work week is probably not on the horizon for most people.  

Producing a product of value or a service of value will likely take up more than 4 hours a week of the creator’s time. Ferris acknowledges this. But once all the hard work is done and others can be put into place to manage the marketing and production of the product or service on a day-to-day basis, I think a shorter work week is a possibility for many.  Look at Richard Branson and all of his businesses. Certainly, he does not spend much more than four hours on any one of his many enterprises.  

In The 4-Hour Workweek, Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich, Expanded, and Updated, (2009), Crown Publishers, Timothy Ferriss outlines how he was able to generate money from his business after he had largely outsourced day-to-day operations to others. Ferriss used this income to finance an exciting life of travel and adventures. But to his credit, Ferris acknowledges,”life is a cruel, hard, b*tch” [sometimes.]  This book has four parts. 

"D" is for Definition 

In part I, “D” is for definition, Ferriss defines his ideas on who the new rich are and how they differ from the old rich. For example, rather than having as a goal to retire early, a new rich principle is to have mini extended retirements throughout life instead of waiting until the end. 

"E" is for Elimination 

In part II, “E” is for elimination, Ferriss shares some tips that can be useful for everyone. For example, respond to voice mail by email, thereby training everyone to be precise. Also, there are some tips about how to avoid meetings that may or may not work. There are also some automation tools listed here that look interesting and useful. 

"A" is for Automation 

In part III, “A” is for automation, Ferriss discusses outsourcing and provides an important tip to a 4-hour work week: find a product you can get from manufacturers [preferably one that sells between $50 to $200] that can be drop shipped directly to customers and develop a good marketing plan to sell that product. As Ferriss observes, with cash flow and time, all things are possible and without them, nothing is possible. Also, Ferriss observes that filling an existing demand is easy but creating demand is far more difficult. Ferriss also shares some websites that offer help to people setting up a business [but this book was published in 2009 and at least one of these websites has changed names].   

"F" is for Freedom

In part IV, “F” is for freedom, Ferriss discusses ways to escape the office and find personal freedom. For some people, this will mean working at home, for others it may mean working in a remote location out of the country. After reading this book some people will want to quit their jobs and become self-employed. Ferriss offers strategies here that will help many different types of office workers obtain location freedom.  But my favorite tip was on packing lighter and what items should be brought for extended trips.  

In my opinion, this book is good because it can open your eyes to new ideas about time management and how to be more productive, even if you never achieve a four-hour work week. 

Rating $$$$ out of five.   Some will be able to put together a business and benefit from the ideas presented here but for most a 4-hour workweek will remain a fantasy.  But everyone can benefit from the time management ideas. Tim Ferris offers a summary of his book on YouTube if you are interested in learning more. 

Copyright @ 2016

This book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the first link below. The second link is for the audio book  Disclosure: We may receive a small commission from your purchase, but this will not raise the amount you pay. Thank you for reading this review. Comments are welcome.  We have not received anything from the author or publisher in exchange for this review. This book was purchased, not a gift.
  

14 Ways to Get Your Mojo Back.: MOJO: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back IF You Lose It, Quick Book Summary

Some of us have been toiling away and wondering where our Mojo went. If you are among the many who has lost your Mojo, this quick book review and summary of MOJO by Marshall Goldsmith can help serve as your guide to being energized again. 

“Mojo” is that moment we do something purposeful, powerful and positive and the rest of the world recognizes it.  It begins on the inside with a positive spirit toward what we are doing and radiates to the outside, according to Goldsmith. Thus, the tips here are more than career advice, by following the advice offered here you might achieve lasting happiness.  

In Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back, If You Lose It, (2009) Hyperion, Marshall Goldsmith, provides a mojo toolkit that encompasses 14 lessons to guide us to mojo.  Goldsmith explains that both our personal and professional mojo are impacted by four factors: (1) our identity, (2) our achievement, (3) our reputation, and (4) acceptance. The book is divided into four main sections.  

Section one explains the concept of mojo and its opposite, nojo. It helps us to determine not only what we bring to an activity but to examine what the activity brings to us as well.  It provides a chart to help us measure our mojo as we are performing tasks throughout the day. For each task ask yourself these two questions: (1) How much long-term benefit or meaning did I experience from this activity? (2) How much short-term satisfaction or happiness did I experience from this activity?   

A profound insight is that our default response in life is not to experience happiness, or meaning, it is to experience inertia - more of the same.  In other words, throughout the day, we will likely continue to do what we have been doing. 

Section two shows us the building blocks of achieving mojo: (1) identity, (2) achievement-what have you done lately, (3) reputation - who do people think you are, (4) acceptance -what can you let go? 

It also discusses some mojo killers: (1) overcommitting, (2) waiting for the facts to change, (3) looking for logic in all the wrong places - i.e., the world is not always rational, (4) bashing the boss, (5) refusing to change because of sunk costs, (6) confusing the mode you are in [successful people operate in two different modes, professional and relaxed.  There are four pointless arguments to never have : (1) Let me keep talking, (2) I had it rougher than you, (3) why did you do that, (4) It’s not fair. Finally, recognize that job is gone. Many jobs no longer exist and are not coming back. 

Section three is the mojo toolkit. It begins with the simple truth that you can only change what you can control: you or it.  It is everything in your environment.  

These are the fourteen tools: 

 (1) Establish your own criteria for what matters to you;

 (2) Find out where you are living [how much short-term and long-term satisfaction you get from your activities;

(3) Be the optimist in the room; 

(4) Ask the question, My life would actually be better if I took away___?

(5) Achievement - build one brick at a time but move quickly;

(6) love your mission in the small moments too;

(7) Swim in the blue water [go where no one else is competing];

(8) Know when to stay and when to go; 

(9) Be good at both hello and goodbye [don’t burn bridges], 

(10) Adopt a metrics system- measure both the good and the bad, 

(11) Reduce time on nonproductive topics; 

(12) influence up the chain was well as down the chain, 

(13) Name it, frame it, claim it [give a name to things to increase our understanding of the situation, 

(14) Give your friends a lifetime pass.  

Section four, connecting to the outside, advises that although this is a self-help book, many people may benefit by finding a mentor and seeking input from others.  In the final chapter, Goldsmith reminds us that if we want our children to be happy, we must set the example and be happy first. 

Rating: $$$$$ out of five. I love Goldsmith's tip to ask, "Is this task providing any short-term happiness or any long- term benefit" and to  modify that which isn't working..

Copyright @ 2016

This book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the link below.  Disclosure: We may receive a small commission from your purchase, but this will not raise the amount you pay. Thank you for reading this review. Comments are welcome.  We have not received anything from the author or publisher in exchange for this review. This book was purchased, not a gift  
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Learn to Master Your Emotions: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman - Quick Review and Book Summary

A person’s emotional intelligence is often a greater factor than that person’s IQ in determining success in business and in life.  And the good news is that even if you were not raised in a household that taught you to master your emotions, it is not too late. You can still learn emotional intelligence which is being in touch with one’s emotions, having empathy, being able to accurately read other people, and responding appropriately to others.  

In Emotional Intelligence, Why It Can Matter More than IQ, Bantam Books (2005) Daniel Goleman explains why emotional intelligence is important to success and that it is not fixed at birth.  We can develop our emotional intelligence throughout our lifetime.  When we take the time to get in touch with our emotions, we are better able to determine if we need to cool off and think about what is causing us distress and formulate a more constructive solution to the problem than if we just respond in kind to another person’s perceived provocative act.   
The book is divided into five sections. 

The biology of emotions 

Section one explains the biology behind the emotional brain. Goleman describes how the body responds to anger, fear, happiness, sadness and other emotions. Also, our emotions are a part of our primitive brain, not part of the neocortex, the thinking part of the brain.  

There is no correlation between emotional intelligence and IQ

Section two explains the nature of emotional intelligence. Academic intelligence has almost no correlation with emotional intelligence. People who are highly intelligent may lack basic emotional intelligence and be unable to control their impulses. For example, if we know that anger often builds on anger, when we observe something triggering an angry response in ourselves, we can defuse that anger by challenging the thoughts we are having about the perceived trigger. For example, ask yourself if you are missing information. Also, we can de-escalate anger by removing ourselves from the situation and going somewhere else to calm down. But, anger will not cool if we continue to ruminate on anger-inducing thoughts.

Applying emotional intelligence 

Section three shows how emotional intelligence is applied. Chapter four shows how emotional intelligence is developed in infants and during childhood but it can continue to develop throughout a person’s lifetime. Part five explains the high cost of having a large population of people who have failed to develop emotional intelligence.

Rating: $$$$$ out of five.  This book can save a person’s career if that person has not yet mastered his or her emotions and learned how to control basic emotional impulses. 

Copyright @ 2016 Christine Esser

This book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking the link below.  Disclosure: We may receive a small commission from your purchase, but this will not raise the amount you pay. Thank you for reading this review. Comments are welcome.  We have not received anything from the author or publisher in exchange for this review. This book was purchased, not a gift