This book was listed on a LinkedIn article: The16 Best Business Books of 2016

So I added them books into my “wish list” of books to read on amazon.  Current backlog is over 100 books…  I have a lot of reading to catch up. 

A few weeks ago I subscribed to bookbub.com.  I rarely subscribe to these sites because I hate my e-mail account getting all spammy.  What this site does is send you an e-mail everyday a list of a few books on bargain deals.  E.g. this book was sold on amazon (digital version) for $1.99.  Now it’s back to $16.99.   I like it.

AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness

I watched a few of Gary’s youtube online and they were really motivating and blood pumping.  People now a days always seem to be overworked – or appear that way.  I’m not sure if most genuinely believe that, or they had to act like that so their bosses think they work hard and they can keep your job.  I’m more of a believer of people not managing their time well.  But if you really do manage your time well, Gary’s probably the best example of what hustling is. 

Sweat equity.  Hard work.  Door to door.  You name it. 

This is a book on challenging yourself if you’ve really hustled enough.  Motivation and passion on steroids.  Gary also believes we should all double down on our strength instead of being “well-rounded” like how we are raised.   

Life is hard by itself already.  Entrepreneurship makes it even harder.  So often I have to wallow in my self-pity party.  Reading this book helps remind me to keep at the right mind set: “If you want to be an entrepreneur – if that’s what you really, really want – you cannot give a shit about what other people think of you.  Not even your parents.”

Like Zig Ziglar says, “People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.”  This was a good bath with a jetted tub.  

My Impressions: Manage Your Day-to-Day

This book wasn’t originally on my reading list…  I was marketed to, successfully, again.  I seem to see a trend here.  As cheap as I am cutting and streamlining my living expenses…  I am apparently very trigger happy when it comes to buying books.  Especially when they are on discounts. 

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (The 99U Book Series)

Amazon got to me somehow.  Anyway, this is basically a compilation of famous people on how they manage their day to day.  Different people, few different approaches.  The whole plan boils down to something like this:

      1.     Ask yourself very hard what matters to you long term.  What do you really, really, really want. Or is there something you really want?

      2.     Build habits and actions to get to that goal

      3.     Use tools and technology to help you solidify your habits

      4.     Let go of ego and perfectionist -> execute, execute, execute
“To a perfectionist, settling seems worse than not completing the piece, which is why perfectionists often produce very little.”

The whole thing can really be summarized in two words: Prioritize. Execute.

In the new world, “execution” seems to be so huge a word.  We have to execute on a global strategy to penetrate the x market.  Or we have to execute on this new bs platform system implementation…  “Execute” becomes so grand and even demanding.  A strategy seems to fail at execution if any small part along the grand plan didn't go as planned.  But to get shit done, that’s simply not the case.  Execute on the small tasks, every day, get it done with.  A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules - Anthony Trollope

I have an annual guideline of things I want to accomplish.  For daily execution, I prioritize 5 things I will get done tomorrow, every night.  And I do them.  I don’t think about it, I don’t debate about it, I don’t wonder why I put it there…  I put in thought the night before to put the items on the list.  If it’s on the list, then I do it.  These things by themselves probably don’t mean a whole lot and won’t change the world tomorrow, or the week after.  But looking back every 3 months, it has changed my world. 

Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work – Chuck Close