2008 Reading List

Several have asked about my 2008 reading list so here it is.

1. Amplified Bible
2. Purpose Driven Life (Rick Warren)
3. Wild At Heart (John Eldredge)
4. Visioneering (Andy Stanley)
5. How To Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie)
6. The Magic Of Thinking Big (David Schwartz)
7. Awaken the Giant Within (Anthony Robbins)
8. Live Your Dreams (Les Brown)
9. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (Dale Carnegie)
10. The Fred Factor (Mark Sanborn)
11. Rules for Revolutionaries (Guy Kawasaki)
12. Financial Peace (Dave Ramsey)
13. Good to Great (Jim Collins)
14. Think And Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
15. The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking (Dale Carnegie)
16. In Search of Excellence (Tom Peters)
17. Richest Man in Babylon (George S Clason)
18. E-Myth Revisited (Michael Gerber)
19. The Five Love Languages (Gary Chapman)
20. The Next Generation Leader (Andy Stanley)
21. Team Built (Mark Sanborn)
22. The Heart of a Leader (Ken Blanchard)
23. The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas J. Stanley)
24. Answers Awaiting in the Presence of God (Creflo A Dollar)
25. Raving Fans (Ken Blanchard)
26. Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Robert T. Kiyosaki)
27. Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant (Robert T. Kiyosaki)
28. The Greatest Salesman in the World (Og Mandino)
29. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey)
30. God Wants you to be Rich (Paul Zane Pilzer)
31. The Magic of Thinking Success (David J Schwartz)
32. No More Debt (Creflo A Dollar)
33. One Minute Millionaire (Mark Victor Hansen)
34. Peace with God (Billy Graham)
35. Meditations for the Road Warrior (Mark Sanborn)
36. Stairway to Success (Nido R Qubein)
37. Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
38. Leadership (John Maxwell)
39. How to Act Like a CEO (D. A. Benton)
40. Leadership by the Book (Ken Blanchard)
41. Never Eat Alone: The Power of Networking (Keith Ferrazzi)
42. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (John C. Maxwell)
43. The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader (John C. Maxwell)
44. GOALS! (Bryan Tracy)
45. Personality Plus (Florence Littauer)
46. The New Dynamics of Goal Setting (Denis Waitley)
47. See You at the Top (Zig Ziglar)
48. The Anatomy of Buzz (Emanuel Rosen)
49. Lead the Field (Earl Nightingale)
50. Customers for Life (Carl Sewell)
51. Predatory Marketing (C. Britt Beemer)
52. The Power of Positive Thinking (Norman Vincent Peale)

This was the list at the start of the year. So, it will more than likely change over time.

Quote of the Day

There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.

-- Dwight L. Moody

Creative Writing

Most scientist would tell you they are not "creative writers". They lie. Just read their resume. My wife loves to say i have never had a job i was qualified for. I have "bluffed" my way into some interviews with my writing. On one job, I told them i could not start for two weeks even though i did not have a job at the time. I figured it would take me that long to learn to do what I said I had done on my resume. I did. The customer was happy.

Quote of the Day

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

-- Ronald Reagan

Flexability

What does it mean to have flexibility? For my youngest son, it a physical limitation. He has been in Karate but he has not stretched his muscles. When he went through the physical assessment at the gym last night, that was his biggest area for improvement.

How often in business do we see people who lack "professional" flexibility? I have lied to everyone i have ever hired. It was not an intentional lie. It was just the fact that between the time they interviewed and the time they started, business changed. In todays business climate, global warming does not happen over millions of years. The climate changes by the hour. You have to be like the Marines, Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.

When you are stretching muscle, you have to feel a little discomfort for you to improve your flexibility. When you stretch your "professional" muscles, there will be some discomfort also.

If you experience no discomfort, . . .

Quote of the Day

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.
-- Louis Pasteur

Quote of the Day

An average English word is four letters and a half. By hard, honest labor I've dug all the large words out of my vocabulary and shaved it down till the average is three and a half... I never write "metropolis" for seven cents, because I can get the same money for "city." I never write "policeman," because I can get the same price for "cop."... I never write "valetudinarian" at all, for not even hunger and wretchedness can humble me to the point where I will do a word like that for seven cents; I wouldn't do it for fifteen.

-- Samuel L Clemens (Mark Twain)

Hard Work & Freindship

My cousin and I spent last evening working at one of our best friend's rental house. Unfortunately, we were not playing music. We were installing flooring and repairing drywall. It was hard work but the fellowship was worth it.

I don't know the person who will be renting the house. But then, We did not do the work for them. We did it for Tim. Whoever rents this house will not be getting a basic rental property but a labor of friendship.

Missions?

I am co-chairman of our church's Missions Committee. How hard can that be? I am a missionary. My band plays to the non-churched, Youth, Young adults. We consider ourselves a "mission" band. Well 'do'ing missions and 'committee'ing missions are two different things. I have heard that a camel is a horse built by committee. I can believe it. Everyone has great intentions and ideas. But what do we do? I have the philosophy "Do something it might be right!" and "Rudders will not steer a ship that is sitting still!" I like moving. I prefer errors of "commission" over errors of "omission".

How do we start moving as a church? From the mathematician in me, Everything breaks down into a formula. The church is just people. So for the church to move, people have to move. I am people. Therefore for the the church to move, it's up to me to move.

If I make a mistake, they can just shoot me. But from what I have seen at most places, others will just talk about me and what I am doing wrong. So my goal should be get them talking about me. 'Cause if they are not talking, I must not be doing!

I am Humbled

I have just received my first reply to something in my BLOG. That to me is cool. But, this reply is even cooler than i would have expected. Normally, I would have expected my Dad or Mom to be the first to respond. I do not write expecting a response. I write for me. It gives me a chance to put my thoughts in the public as I write my book. I truly never expected to receive a response. Today, I received a "thank You" from Mark Sanborn for using a quote from him. He is a man I respect and admire. I would love to have 30 minutes to pick his brain. Since I do not have an audience with Mark, I will continue to read his books to learn from him.

I love the statement - "The only thing that separates you from where you are and where you want to be, are the books you read and the people you associate with." I heard Charlie "Tremendous" Jones say that.

Quote of the Day

Success and failure are both greatly overrated. But failure gives you a whole lot more to talk about.
-- Hildegard Knef

Quote of the Day

Focused attention beats brains and brawn every time.
-- Mark Sanborn

Memory Leaks / Great Strides

For those that don't write code every day, the title may seem strange. But the toughest problem to find in code is a memory leak. To make it even tougher, imagine no debugger. If you have never done it, you just don;t understand. I can;t even thing of a good analogy. Let's just say it's very, VERY hard.

I have been pushing a young programmer to find a leak in his code. He has struggled but today was the breakthrough. The problem was found after many hours of searching and testing. I am so proud of his accomplishment. It's so fun to see people grow and succeed.

A busy Few Days

Well, I've been very busy. Work is a blast. New projects, documenting and designing, and moving forward.

I have also been spending a lot of time practicing and rehearsing with the band for a gig this weekend at Restoration Church in Florence. A great group of brothers I am excited to be working with. We have many mutual friends. It's like we went to different schools together.

we will play 20+ tunes and have a time of ministry. Our prayer is to be servants.

Check out the details at www.off61.com.