Tag Archives: learning

Goals, Learning, Philosophy, Practice

You Are Capable of Amazing Things!

“This is too hard. I quit.” What would happen if we got rid of that little but often persistent negative voice? How much more money would we make with the skills that we gave up learning? How much more fit would we be if we stuck with fitness or nutrition habits? How much better would our relationships be if we found ways to improve them?

We learn to walk and talk without doing years of research, reading books, watching videos, years of school or coaches. A baby wants to get around, sees people around them walking and figures it out. She hears her parents, family and others speaking and wants to communicate, so she starts to mimic them.

What if you gave up when learning to walk because it was too hard? What if you got so frustrated as a baby that your parents couldn’t understand your early speech and you decided to quit?

You’re capable of amazing things. Really think about it. You started with nothing, zero, and learned to walk and talk only by watching and listening to your very limited world around you. And we’re not even perfect at walking or talking as adults after decades of practice. I trip, stub a toe, mispronounce words, my voice cracks or I choose the wrong word fairly regularly. I don’t let it stop me, though.

Now if there’s something that’s giving you a problem, there are probably books, blogs or Youtube videos by people who have gone through the same thing. Maybe it’s too much information, though. Analysis paralysis may let you feel like you’re doing something, but it’s just another form of procrastination or avoidance.

Many people also get too wrapped up in strictly following the information they find, rather than trusting that they can figure it out for themselves when they run into problems. You figured it out as a baby, you can figure it out now. Go back to what worked from the very beginning. Watch, practice, experiment, adjust, and practice some more. And if there’s no one to watch, start experimenting yourself. Your first successful step as a baby was not your first attempt.

Always remember, YOU ARE CAPABLE OF AMAZING THINGS!

Books, Goals, Learning, Practice

Practice Learning: the Books and Audiobooks I Finished in 2014

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I set a goal to read at least 24 books in 2014 and listen to at least 24 audiobooks. I read 27 and listened to 32 (34 if you count repeats).

Here are all the books I read in 2014 (* = favorites):
1)    The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by Joseph Murphy
2)    How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market, by Nicolas Darvas
3)    The Power of Awareness, by Neville Goddard
4)    How to get Started in Active Trading & Investing, by David S. Nassar
5)    You’ll See it When you Believe it, by Dr. Wayne Dyer
6)    Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by William J. O’Neil
7)    The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace D. Wattles
8)    The Game of Work, by Charles A. Coonradt
9)    Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and Confusion de Confusiones
10)    Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, by Gary Vaynerchuk
11)    How to Make Money in Commercial Real Estate for the Small Investor, by Nicholas Masters
*  12)    Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius (free ebook downloads)
13)    How to Buy & Sell Apartment buildings by Eugene Vollucci, Stephen Vollucci
14)    The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield
15)    Survival is not Enough, by Seth Godin
16)    You Can if You Think You Can, by Norman Vincent Peale
*  17)    The Idea Factory, by Pepper White
18)    Free Culture, by Lawrence Lessig
19)    Notes from Underground, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
*  20)    Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury
*  21)    Wen-Tzu, by Lao-tzu
*  22)    Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
23)    Open Horizons, by Sigurd F. Olson
24)    Utopia, by Thomas More
*  25)    Five Dialogues, by Plato (free pdf of Plato’s Dialogues, not just the 5)
26)    Wake Up & Live!, by Dorothea Brande
27)    The Magic of Believing, by Claude M. Bristol

Earlier in the year I went through my book collection and found that I had well over 100 books that I haven’t yet read. I made myself a new rule that I had to read at least 2 books I already own for every book that I buy. I think I actually have a couple read books in the bank.

These are all the audiobooks I listened to in 2014:
1)    Get Rich Carefully, by Jim Cramer
2)    The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey
3)    Coaching for Breakthrough Success, by Peter Chee, Jack Canfield
4)    Screw It, Lets Do It, by Richard Branson
*  5)    Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, Steve Friedman
*  6)    Finding Ultra, by Rich Roll
*  7)    The Long Run, by Mishka Shubaly – audiobook (Kindle $1.99 or free with Kindle unlimited)
8)    Abundance, by Peter Diamandis, Steven Kotler
*  9)    Choose Yourself!, by James Altucher – audiobook (Kindle $0.99 or free with Kindle unlimited)
*  10)    The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday
11)    I Will Teach you to be Rich, by Ramit Sethi
12)    The Plateau Effect by Hugh Thompson, Bob Sullivan
13)    Stein on Writing, Sol Stein
14)    Contagious, by Jonah Berger
15)    Epic Content Marketing, by Joe Pulizzi
16)    10% Happier, by Dan Harris
17)    Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
18)    The Intelligent Entrepreneur, by Bill Murphy
19)    Quiet: The Power of Introverts, by Susan Cain
20)    How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams
21)    Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure, by Tim Harford
22)    100 Great Buinesses and the Minds Behind them, by Emily Ross and Angus Holland
*  23)    MASH, by Richard Hooker
24)    The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, by Andrew Carnegie
*  25)    Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh
26)    Conscious Capitalism, by John Mackey, Raj Sisodia, Bill George
27)    1,000 Dollars & and Idea, by Sam Wyly
28)    Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior: Great Courses
*  29)    The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield (listened twice)
30)    How to Stay Motivated, by Zig Ziglar (listened twice)
31)    The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
32)    The Entrepreneurs Toolkit: Great Courses

All audio books on this list were purchased through Audible.com (Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks)
, using their Android app. I have a Platinum monthly membership, meaning two credits per month, generally good for 1 audiobook each. I purchased a couple audiobooks when they were on sale as well.

I find that most audiobook narrators read rather slowly. The Audible app allows you to play at up to 2x speed or slowing to 0.5x speed. I usually listen at 2x. Probably 90% of my listening was while in the car.

I also downloaded some public domain audiobooks from Librivox.org and found another Android audio player app that allows changing playback speed without messing up the pitch (no chipmunk voices) called Maple Player.  Librivox narrators are mostly just regular people who volunteer to read public domain works, so they aren’t always great, but it’s free, and I’m grateful for their work. I didn’t make it through any of these free audiobooks. I started listening to A Tale of Two Cities when I was out of Audible credits, but didn’t finish before the new month’s credits were available. Sometime I’ll go back and finish it.

I’m going for 30 books and 30 audiobooks for 2015. I’m hoping to drive less, so I might not make 32 like I did in 2014.
If you have any questions about any books on my lists or want recommendations, leave a comment or click the little envelope button above or below the post to send me an email.

Practice

I Practice Failing, but I’m Not a Failure

In the past, when I gave up on something because it was hard, I got lazy or it just didn’t work out, I took the failure as a sign of personal defect. A lot of the reading, audiobooks and other info I’ve consumed over the past couple years, as well as being more mindful of my experiences has taught me that it’s not the case.

If humans took failures as personally in childhood as many of us have learned to do as adults, things like walking and talking would be pretty uncommon.

It took me many months to change my food habits to where I am now. I failed over and over and over, giving into cravings, thinking it was just too hard and listening to my own negativity. It took several attempts to get back into running after I got out of the Army as well. The first attempt was absolutely miserable. I didn’t try again for over a year.

Failure is a result of an act or event, not a state of being. I am not a failure. I may fail at doing particular things, though. Now I learn what to do next time, rather than let the failure prevent me from even trying again.