These Resources Will Lead and Teach You How to Live Your Best Life and Business!
Welcome to our second installment of summer reads! I have a list of books that will help to inspire you, lead you to where you would love to be and help you live your best life and business!
1. The first pick is a book by Dr. Brene Brown. She has authored many books, but the one I recommend is called, The Gifts of Imperfection.
This is a big issue for a lot of us. In the book, Brown (who is an Oprah darling, and contributor on the OWN Channel) talks about issues like shame, being a perfectionist and choosing to be authentic in the face of derision.
She teaches us how to have the courage to be who we really are by embracing our weaknesses and the baggage of shame, (which is deeply rooted). It is a notion that the quest of being perfect really covers up being ridiculed for doing work that isn’t really up to par and that we need to recognize the “darker” side of ourselves, to really heal and be okay with who we are and be “total” with who we are.
Yes, it is a book that looks at the inner us, but if you don’t think it has an impact on who we are in our businesses or our work, think again…we bring ourselves to the table each and every day.
I love the saying that calls us out, if we experience problems, or pain as it relates to others in our lives, that we look no further than who we’re being. “When things go awry, there you are”!
Brown’s book challenges us to be real and come clean with the good, the bad and the ugly!
Worth the read for sure!
Here is a video to watch as Brown discusses the book with Oprah!
youtube.com/watch?v=_YeulUgWNp8
2. The next book delves into “What is next in the field of technology and the internet”!
Who better to write it than the former head of A.O.L Online, tech whiz Steve Case?
The book is called, The Third Wave. it is a fabulous book about the history of the World Wide Web, and how key players in the business were true risk-takers and pioneers in launching the services, programs and technology that started it all.
Case talks about companies like Microsoft, Napster, the merger of Time Warner and A.O.L. online and what those early days in the internet of things were like. He discusses the decisions, the players, the big corporate mandates and plays that worked and didn’t work.
He talks about the ego’s in the business and how it all got us to where it is today!
He talks about the first two waves as to how the internet came to be and let me tell you, we’ve come a long way. I mean think back to when you had dial up…now we have cell phones that do everything!
But as the title suggests, The Third Wave is about what Steve Case envisions for the future of how we work with technology. He talks about his venture capital company and how both business and government need to come together to embrace the development and nurturing of tomorrow’s visionaries and entrepreneurs.
Worth the read for sure, if you want to be clear on what is next, how the things we do online first began and if you want to understand business strategy and how the “big boys and women” think and act in the field of business.
Here is a brief video about the concepts and ideas that Case talks about in his book…it challenges you to stay on top of ideas, trends and what is next in the “Third Wave”!
youtube.com/watch?v=RJCc1HpuJ98
3. Our third book this week is another business book. It is called New Sales. Simplified. by Mike Weinberg.
Now, some of you know the workshop I love to teach most is on how to sell. So, why buy this book?
In business and in life, there is always something new to learn. To give you an edge, to make you better, this book will do that for you too!
I have two strong views on selling. One is you cannot have enough sales training…there is always something to learn and to act on to improve your results in this competitive economy!
The other is that if you learn how to sell, you will never work for someone else! Guaranteed!
The concepts discussed in the book make sense and also put to bed this new myth that “cold calling” is dead.
That business development happens by lurking about online and pitching a customer over LinkedIn or Facebook…
Personally, I am not sure that fishing for new business online is any better than making a cold call.
I still believe in this day of “high tech” that high touch and a friendly voice is the way to go in terms of reaching a new client.
If it is your business and you need to go out and get clients and be the rain maker, then this book teaches you the lessons and systems as to how to go out and get new business!
It talks about the sales process and how to position yourself as a true professional.
It makes selling simple. It doesn’t overcomplicate the process, because it is simple!
Selling gets complicated because we as entrepreneurs get in the way! Our fear of blowing a sales call, or our fear of rejection or like Brene Brown’s book above, runs some big interferences as far as sales go!
We need to get off those fears and on the court and make selling a natural part of what we do in business.
If you want better results and more customers, get this book; it is a street-smart methodology of how to sell!
Here is a video interview with Mike Weinberg; he doesn’t come on until about the 5-minute mark…but it is worth the listen for 26 minutes…
youtube.com/watch?v=iVswivb1r5I
I truly, hope that these books help you too in your business…and that you can succeed!
Have a productive week and do well!
