Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

A must read book about personal productivity to help you organise your life, your to do list, your filing system at home & office, this book helped me improve the way I organise my to do list and filing system so I can focus on achieving more. Click Here to get his Book,

* Apply the “do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it” rule to get your in-box to empty
* Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations
* Plan projects as well as get them unstuck
* Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed
* Feel fine about what you’re not doing

From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done can transform the way you work, showing you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.

Mastery by Robert Greene

A Must read great book if you want to master the game of mastery, you must read this book to expand your mindset, horizon and learn from the mentioned stories and lessons in this book to unlock your path to learning more skills and then to understand the different paths to mastery, Robert Greene is a master author and storyteller, his care for the details of describing the stories and analysing it’s just mind blowing. Click Here to get this Book.

“We are all in search of feeling more connected to reality—to other people, the times we live in, the natural world, our character, and our own uniqueness. Our culture increasingly tends to separate us from these realities in various ways. We indulge in drugs or alcohol, or engage in dangerous sports or risky behavior, just to wake ourselves up from the sleep of our daily existence and feel a heightened sense of connection to reality. In the end, however, the most satisfying and powerful way to feel this connection is through creative activity. Engaged in the creative process we feel more alive than ever, because we are making something and not merely consuming, Masters of the small reality we create. In doing this work, we are in fact creating ourselves.”

“At your birth a seed is planted. That seed is your uniqueness. It wants to grow, transform itself, and flower to its full potential. It has a natural, assertive energy to it. Your Life’s Task is to bring that seed to flower, to express your uniqueness through your work. You have a destiny to fulfill. The stronger you feel and maintain it–as a force, a voice or in whatever form– the greater your chance of fulfilling this Life’s Task and achieving mastery.”

Some of the quick notes that I wrote while listening to the book

Rich Dad Guide to Investing – What the Rich Invest in That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki

This is the third classic book in the Rich Dad series about investing by Robert Kiyosaki, A must read book to understand the different types of investments, investors and to learn how to invest efficienlty. you can get the book by clicking here

Posted on Thursday, January 16, 2014

How to Make the Move from Reading a Couple of Books a Year to Two Books a Week

It is not a secret that learning is a crucial key for transforming yourself and attaining the ability to achieve anything you desire. I often refer to books as the treasure or one of the main secrets to success. Everyone learns for various reasons. Whether it is to make money, get ahead in your career or to improve your self-esteem or solve a certain problem.

Unfortunately, not everyone enjoys reading. In the past, it usually took me between six months to a year just to complete one or two books. I struggled quite a bit because reading has never been a fun experience for me. Even when I was studying at university, I found it to be difficult. I would lie on my bed and try to read and within about 30 minutes, I would fall asleep. So, I struggled tremendously with learning efficiently.

Everyone learns, but it is really a matter of how much you learn within a minimum timeframe. For instance, I spent time trying to learn, but I was not doing it at a very efficient rate. Then, I discovered audio books and they literally transformed my life. Suddenly, I gained a huge advantage for learning.

As you may or may not be aware, when you read, you retain about ten percent of what you read. When you listen; however, you remember twice that, about twenty percent. Therefore, audiobooks give you a huge advantage when it comes to learning.

Once I discovered this, I started to listen to audiobooks more and more. To make things easier, I use a service from a website called audible.com which is a site owned by Amazon. The advantage of this service is that the length of most books is about 5 hours. That, of course varies, but on average, they are about 4-5 hours. The books can be downloaded from your digital library, which you can check online, listen to the books from your library online or download the books to your computer or Mac and then burn the books to CDs through iTunes. This is quite efficient for me because I mainly use the books while I am in the car. Plus, having a digital library can save you a huge amount of space by eliminating the need to have big stacks of actual books.

If your sound system in your car has Bluetooth, then you can link the Audible app on your tablet or phone through the car system and you do not even need to burn the CDs at all. The Audible app is available and can be downloaded for free on most smart phones. Your digital online library will be shown on the audible app, so you can listen to the books through your headset from your smart phone and then when you get into the car, you complete the book from where you have reached on the sound system. Also, you can bookmark some chapters or add notes to it through the app.

Most people spend, on average, between two and three hours driving in the car per day. Imagine for a moment if you skip listening to music while you are in the car and instead just listen to the audiobooks. In most instances, I can finish a book within just a couple of days. Now, on average, I finish 2-3 books per week, whereas in the past I was only able to finish 1-2 books per year.

This method has completely transformed my life. Now, whenever I wish to learn about something, I just go and buy an audiobook on that topic and listen to it in the car. This method also works if you spend a lot of time commuting, perhaps not driving in the car, but on the subway or the train or whatever. Download the book to your tablet or smart phone, put in your ear buds and listen while you commute. It’s also a good method for the person who may not struggle with reading, but perhaps you just find it difficult to find the time in your schedule to read.

Of course, not all books are found in audio version. Even so, many books are available in an audio book version, and more and more are added on daily basis as authors are discovering how important it is to have an audio version and demand increases day by day.

I have also found it to be cost-efficient, as well. While regular books can cost up to $60 each, with audible, books range between $9 and $15 per book. This is based on the subscription plan you choose. They offer different plans with varying amounts of credit. Basically, one credit will buy you one book or you can buy the books directly from audible without subscripting into any monthly plan, but of course the books will cost you a bit more, up to $30.

This method has given me a huge advantage for learning. Not only does it make learning more mobile for me, but it also allows me to learn on demand based on any topic that I want to learn about and in a very efficient way.

Posted on Friday, August 12, 2011

(Cashflow Quadrant) by Robert T. Kiyosaki

About a month ago I finished the book (Cashflow Quadrant) By Robert T. Kiyosaki and below are the major interesting things that I found from the book in brief:-

The cash flow quadrants are (E) for Employee (who usually look for security and benefits without taking any risks and by that they think they are safe. The E works for the system), (S) for Self Employed (They do everything by themselves and don’t like to depend on others because they think that they are the best. The S is the system), (B) for Business owner (they usually surround themselves by smart people and delegate work for them. The B creates, owns or control the system) and (I) for Investor (who makes money with money. They don’t have to work because their money is working for them. The I invest money into the system).
Poor Dar said: – I’m not interested in money, I will never be rich, I can’t afford it, Investing is risky and Money is not everything. While Rich dad said: – it’s foolish to spend your life working for money and to pretend that money is not important. Rich dad believed that life is more important than money so you need money in order to have time for yourself and family to enjoy life and to spend some time with your kids.
Anyone can change quadrants but changing quadrants is not like changing jobs or changing professions. Changing quadrants is often a change at the core of who you are, how you think, and how you look at the world. The change is easier for some people than others simply because some people welcome change and others fight it. And changing quadrants is often a life-changing experience. Not only you will change but so will your friends. While you will still be friends with your old friends.
Many people can make a better hamburger than McDonald’s but who can make a better system then McDonald’s.
Success is a poor teacher; we learn the most about ourselves when we fail so don’t be afraid of failing. Failing is part of the process of success. So unsuccessful people are the people who never fail.
The hard thing about building a company from scratch is that you have two big variables: the system and then people building the system.
Find a mentor not an adviser, the mentor is someone who has already done what you want to do while the adviser is someone who tells you how to do things but has not personally done it.
A traditional way about learning about systems is to get your MBA from a prestigious school and get a fast track job up the corporate ladder. An MBA is important because you learn the basics of accounting and how the financial numbers are related to the systems of a business. Yet, just because you have MBA does not automatically mean you are competent to run all the systems that ultimately make up a complete business system.
Working for a successful major corporation is like being paid by your mentor.
To be successful, you need to learn to overcome your fear of being rejected, and to stop worrying about what other people will say about you. (What you think of me is none of my business. What is most important is what I think about myself).
Anything important cannot really be learned in the classroom. It must be learned by taking action, making mistakes, and then correcting them. That is when wisdom sets in.
What matter is not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.
You should learn how to see money by your brain not by your eyes.
Most people struggle financially because they spend their lives using opinions rather than facts when making financial decisions. Opinions such as your house is an asset, the price of real state always goes up, Blue chip stocks are your best investment, it take money to make money, stocks have always out performed real estate, your should diversify your portfolio, you have to be dishonest to be rich, investing is risky, play it safe.
You can always quit so why quit now?
If you want to be successful then you need to control your emotions. Emotional Brain is usually 24 times bigger than the rational brain that’s why most of us take an emotional decisions rather than logical or professional decisions.
People who are afraid of losing money do the same things in real life like people who stay in marriages where there is no longer any love, people who stay at dead-end jobs, people who hang on to old clothes and stuff they will never use, people who stay in towns where they have no future and people who stay friends with people who hold then back.
When the fear of losing money comes up, most people’s minds automatically start chanting these words: security rather than freedom, avoid risk rather than learn to manage risk, play it safe rather than play it smart, I can’t afford it rather than how can I afford it, It’s too expensive rather than what is worth it long term, diversify rather than focus and what will my friends think rather than what do I think.
To be successful in the B or I quadrant requires financial intelligence, systems intelligence and emotional intelligence.
The six closest people that you spend the most time with are your future so you need to choose them carefully and wisely.
If you want to learn something new then be prepared to be disappointed.
Just as inside every problem lies an opportunity, inside every disappointment lies a priceless gem of wisdom.
The reason there are few self-made rich people is because few people can tolerate disappointment. Instead of learning to face disappointment, they spend their lives avoiding it.
Many people will not head down the street until all the lights are green. That’s why they don’t go anywhere.
The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.
Your boss’s job is to give you a job. It’s your job to make yourself rich.
Take action, believe in yourself and start today.