I have been a fan of Sharma’s book since his The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Afterward, each and every title he wrote was a must have and must read. Inspiring maybe the most appropriate single word I would say about his books. He made me realize that the ultimate meaning of our life . . . → Read More: The Leader Who Had No Title]]>

I have been a fan of Sharma’s book since his The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Afterward, each and every title he wrote was a must have and must read. Inspiring maybe the most appropriate single word I would say about his books. He made me realize that the ultimate meaning of our life is very simple and can be achieved by consistently taken simple steps. In principle he promoted the importance of being clear with our objectives and focus to achieve them whilst maintaining good relationship with others.

But this particular one released without my awareness. I did not know that he has just released a new title until I saw it at a bookshop. I was really surprised to find it in the “new release” shelf at Periplus close to my office mid of March. A bit expensive for a soft cover book, and I paid only a half of this price to buy his previous titles. Even more surprised when I checked the publication date, March 2010. So I got a book at the same month of its publication. Not a surprise for local book, but for a book published in America, it was amazing. If I make a pre-order at amazon.com, it would take a month on shipping.

Anyway, for a Sharma’s book, even if it was priced more, I would have bought anyway. I spent about $30 for this book plus a bit more for another title which was the reason I went to the shop. I spent budget of the month – for book – only on one purchase.

Now about the book, it was amazing just like any other Sharma’s book. The morale is simple and straightforward, it promotes the importance of leadership in anything we are in, be it personal life or at work. Sharma noted that leadership is not something privileged to those in powerful and influential positions like military generals, CEOs, or nation leaders. Each and every of us has to develop sound leadership to lead ourselves to make our life meaningful to anything we are in, maximum contribution at work, maximum value in business, and maximum joy to beloved ones.

I took this at Periplus for only one reason, small, so it is easy to carry, and will do accompany my flight without leaving some to continue at home. Noting special in its excerpt as well as glancing into the content. So having it very interesting came as a surprise. In fact . . . → Read More: The Dip by Seth Godin]]>

I took this at Periplus for only one reason, small, so it is easy to carry, and will do accompany my flight without leaving some to continue at home. Noting special in its excerpt as well as glancing into the content. So having it very interesting came as a surprise. In fact it is a lot more than just interesting. It was a motivating motivational book. You know what i mean? Right, because most motivational book is not really motivating.

As of its size, the book talks about something small, something simple. But as you read it you will understand that having the grip over this small thing can make a huge change into your life, just like many successful fellows you may only hear their name in the news.

Dip in his terms in this book was referred to the lifespan of everything good you are working on. Anything, from significant project to as simple as diet program. It has two main messages. First is that in everything you will face a difficult period where quitting is easier than struggling to get through, and only those who are prepared to take the pain to get through it will get enormous success at the other end of the curve.

The second message is something contrary to the common believe about stopping. Whilst wisdom tells us that the successful persons are those who never quit, Seth told us the opposite. He convinced that the successful persons are those who stop for good reason, not just because stopping is easier.

The best time to stop is before your dip starts. If you know that you are not strong enough, you do not have enough resource behind you to fight through the dip, then you have to stop. It will be very stupid to stop after you waste a lot of your time, energy, and all other resource to get through the dip, especially before success starts to appear. Seth had a good example to express this. He pointed to a statistic of sales research saying that 80% sales are closed after 7th contact, and on the other hand in average salesperson stops contacting their prospect after their 7th attempt.

Dip is a certain thing in life, so it is not something to avoid. In fact you have to love the dip in anything you do, because it makes you stand the competition, it makes the real different between the winner and the looser.