Motivation Minute: Recent Episodes

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Reinventing Jobs: A 4-Step Approach for Applying Automation to Work

• The intent of automation should not be eliminating jobs, but achieving the optimum synergy of humans and automation.

• Return on Invested Performance is a critical metric for getting the best bang for your buck when choosing systems to automate

• Repetitiveness, human interaction, and cognitive load impact if automation is worthwhile

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days (Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz)

• Sprints help you fast forward to the future and see customers react sooner

• The longer you wait, it becomes increasingly harder to change products

• Your product is never “ready” - but a sprint-mindset helps you make time-based releases (instead of feature-based).

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• To get into the habit zone, your product needs to be used frequently and provide great utility

• The time or money investment users make in services greatly impacts how hooked they are

• Changing someone’s motivation is challenging - scarcity and a sense of progress make a big difference

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The Proximity Principle: The Proven Strategy that Will Lead to the Career You Love (Ken Coleman)

• Being intentional about who you surround yourself with is the key to a fulfilling future

• Every career stepping stone matters.  It could become a long-term career cornerstone

• You don’t summit Mt. Everest all at once - success is a step-by-step process

Let us know what books you want to hear next on the survey at MotivationMinute.com!

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Gorilla Mindset: How to Dominate and Unleash the Animal Inside You (Mike Cernovich)

• To get more out of life, you must get more out of yourself.

• He who controls how something is framed controls the debate.

• Quick mental checklists can be powerful tools for focusing your attention

Keep the great book ideas coming to the survey at MotivationMinute.com

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The Simplicity Cycle: The Field Guide to Making Things Better Without Making Them Worse (Dan Ward)

• We tend to be drawn towards complexity, when deep down we yearn for simplicity

• Simplicity is a combination of complexity (features) and “goodness” (functionality)

• True productivity is maximizing the value of existing features

Andrew Smith: Founder of ProRustics Home & Furnishings

• https://www.facebook.com/prorustics/
• Instagram - @ProRustics

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Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service (Ken Blanchard)

• Satisfied customers aren’t enough.  To thrive your business needs raving fans.

• Customers count on your consistency.  After you disappoint them once it’s difficult to rebuild trust.

• Focus on improving just 1%.  Tackle less of the problem, but be consistent with that “less”.

Send us books you want to hear featured via our survey at MotivationMinute.com!

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Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Nassim Taleb)

• Antifragile systems improve in the face of chaos

• Efficient systems are at peak capacity and on the verge of collapse

• The barbell strategy (maximizing opposite extremes and avoiding the middle) helps you build an antifragile life

Guest: Mary Miller, Nuclear Engineer and Motivation Minute Listener

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Extreme Ownership: How US Navy Seals Lead and Win (Jocko Willink and Leif Babin)

• Extreme Ownership is taking full responsibility for yourself.

• Learn to lead both down and up the chain.  If you’re boss doesn’t get it, blame yourself first.

• The hardest part of taking responsibility is the hit to your ego.  But this pulls your team together.

Keep the book ideas coming!  Send them into our survey at MotivationMinute.com

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The Greatest Salesman in the World (Og Mandino)

• True wealth is of the heart, not the purse

• Approach each day, each situation, and each person with genuine love in your heart

• Learn to see obstacles as just detours.  Persisting is the key to success.

Guest: Japheth Mast, Founder of Japheth Mast Photo

Website: JaphethMastPhoto.com

Blog: JaphethMast.com

Instagram: @japhethmast

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Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (Roger Fisher and William Ury)

• Never cave to pressure.  Stick to your standards and persist to find a win-win.

• Having a solid BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) makes you a stronger negotiator

• Become an empathetic negotiator by listening more and putting yourself in other people’s shoes

We love your book ideas!  Share book with us that you’d like to hear at MotivationMinute.com

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The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli)

• To understand the people, one needs to be a prince - to understand princes, one needs to be of the people

• Success isn’t a formula.  Adapt your strategy based on the situation around you

• Listen to people who know what they’re talking about, who genuinely want to help you

Guest: Niels van den Kieboom, International Business Student

Website: BroGecko.com

Instagram: @brogeckoshop

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Messy: The Power of Disorder to Change Our Lives (Tim Harford)

• The random nature of messiness can lead to our greatest inspiration

• Improvisation is the ultimate intersection of structure and spontaneity

• Adding strategic elements of risk surprisingly can boost safety

We love hearing your book ideas on our survey - MotivationMinute.com

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Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks that can Change Your Life and Career (David Burkus)
- Don’t fixate on building a network. Instead, learn to better navigate and leverage your current network
- Who you know and your conversations with them dramatically impact how you think
- Weak ties (friends you don’t talk with as often) have more opportunities and enlarge your perspective more than strong ties.

We’d love to hear your book ideas in our survey at MotivationMinute.com

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Think And Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)

• Being intentional about how you think is a critical key to success

• Harness the power of autosuggestion to make your goal part of who you are

• Envision yourself with the money (or desired thing) ahead of time, especially the emotions and experience you will have with it

Guest: David Troyer

Instagram: @davidalantroyer

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• Break every project down into bite-sized “next-moves”, and treat them as monkeys

• Don’t take on a problem that isn’t yours.  That monkey doesn’t belong to you!

• Always ensure monkeys has a clear owner, next move, and follow-up time

We love hearing your book ideas, keep those coming at our survey on MotivationMinute.com

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The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up To Win (Jeff Haden)

• Genuinely savor every small win, every day

• Motivation is an active choice where you step out first.  It’s not passive.

• Success comes from the process.  Not momentary achievements.

Shout-out to Lou David for recommending this week’s book.  You can send us your ideas too at our survey on MotivationMinute.com

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Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending

• How, where, and why you spend are more critical than how much

• Buying experiences is far more fulfilling long-term than physical things

• “Name your money” based on your values for guilt-free spending

Guest: Graham Ewing, Financial Planner

• LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2CbOdZl

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Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success

• Selling is everything in life.  You’re either selling or you’re failing.

• Connecting with a buyer’s pain can be one of the most effective sales tools

• Building trust in you, your product, and your company is essential to winning customers

Guest: David Foote, Bodybuilder

• Instagram: @davidfoote_fitness

• YouTube: David Foote

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Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

• You don’t need a great idea to start a company.  Establishing a core vision is far more critical

• Be intentional about pushing for “BHAG” - Big Hairy Audacious Goals

• Ongoing refinement of your idea is key, just like pruning to shape a tree

We want to hear the books you want featured next!  Check out our survey at MotivationMinute.com

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Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused life in a Noisy World (Cal Newport)

• Digital minimalists focus on activities that directly add their core values

• Setting boundaries (like time/location/purpose) is key to taking control of your digital life

• Try out the 30-day challenge to declutter your digital life and establish new priorities

Check out our survey at MotivationMinute.com and tell us what books you’d like to hear on the show!

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The Compound Effect (Darren Hardy)

• Your little decisions every day add up faster than you realize long-term

• Rather than making dramatic life changes, you can get ahead with strategic, small changes to your routine

• Consistency with the small things is key.  Otherwise you might lose their growth potential.

Guest: Warren Yutzy, Owner of Seamless Roofs

• TheRooferHelp.com

• Facebook: warren.yutzy.7

• Instagram: @seamless_roofs

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High Performance Habits (Brendon Burchard)

• You’re achieving high performance when you’re fully immersed, enjoying your work, and confident you can problem solve.

• The biggest indicator of confidence is how curious you are.  Not just passionate, but obsessed with what you’re learning

• Being enthusiastic is key to generating energy among the people around you

Guest: Bo Muchoki

• WhateverItTakesMotivation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTM7jCqsRx77CO8yKVQho6A

• Instagram: @bomuchoki

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It Starts With You: Turn Your Goals Into Success (Fred Stuvek)

• Positive mindsets aren’t achieved serendipitously - it requires a very intentional decision

• The best way to approach obstacles is with an “I’ll figure this out” mindset

• You don’t always have control over your positional authority, but you can always grow personal authority

Guest: Fred Stuvek, Consultant and Author

• ItStartsWithYou.net

• Twitter: @FStuvek

• Instagram: @fredstuvek

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Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

• Stay “on the bottom of things” (instead of on top), and get ahead again at strategic times

• Focus on the most urgent and time-intensive tasks first to keep high productivity

• It’s impossible to optimize your life UNLESS you (1) make assumptions, (2) show bias toward simple solutions, (3) consider the cost of your time, and (4) take risks.

Check out our survey at MotivationMinute.com and tell us what books you’d like to hear on the show!

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The E-Myth Revisited (Michael Gerber) - The 4-Hour Workweek (Andy Ferris)

• Systems are the key to getting your business on autopilot

• It’s easy to lose sight of the long-term with everyday, mundane distractions

• A selectively ignorant information diet can be the key to pulling ahead

Guest: Dave Powers, Creator of Objective Personality

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DaveSuperPowers/

• ObjectivePersonality.com

• Founder of RCPowers: https://rcpowers.com/community/

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• Life is not like chess, because there’s not always a right move.

• Life is more like poker - where skill AND luck play tremendous roles

• Life isn’t all about just skill or luck.  It’s a healthy, in-the-middle combination of those.

Check out our survey at MotivationMinute.com to get your book featured on the show!

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• Memorable ideas follow the SUCCESs model.  Simple. Unexpected. Concrete. Credible. Emotional. Stories.

• Simple messages are core truths in a compact package.  

• “Unsticking” false ideas isn’t impossible, but extremely difficult since  incorrect ideas spread far faster than factual ones.

Guest: Jessica Sena, Natural Resources Advocate

• Twitter: @JessicaESena

• Instagram: @treasurestatetraveler

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaesena/

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Special interview with Gov. Robert Ehrlich (former Maryland governor) on his book “Bet You Didn’t See That One Coming: Obama, Trump, and the End of Washington’s Regular Order”.

Takeaways:

• Trump’s America-first agenda ushers in new and unconventional tactics

• “Hit and hug” and “art of the deal” negotiating is the new norm in D.C.

• Entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and ObamaCare are a challenge to replace.  New strategies will be needed moving forward.

Guest: Gov. Bob Ehrlich

• Partner at King & Spalding in Washington, D.C.
• https://www.facebook.com/Bob-Ehrlich-12251529043/
• “Bet You Didn’t See That One Coming” - https://amzn.to/2rxmwo8

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• The perfect time to jump is always now

• Jumping opens up a new realm of opportunities

• If you don’t jump, your parachute will never open

Guest: Devin Knight, Motivation Minute listener

Fill out the survey at MotivationMinute.com to get your book featured on the show!

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• Businesses fail because they want the right things, but measure the wrong things

• The greatest assets for fixing a business are the people and tools you already have

• Nobody loses when the whole team wins

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• The hardest part about running your own business is often just getting up every day and going to work

• When you’re cold calling, make the other person hear your smile through the phone

• Don’t be afraid of silence in negotiations.  The last to speak loses

Guest: James Jones, President of Answer Tax & Business

• www.ATB.tax

• https://www.facebook.com/JimmyTheManDotCom/

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• Brown cows are boring - succeeding today takes being a purple cow

• Appealing to everyone is a lost cause.  Go for a sliver group of “sneezers”

• Playing it safe is risky, very good isn’t good enough

Guests:

Andrew Smith, Founder of ProRustics Home & Furnishings

• ProRustics.com

• Instagram - @ProRustics

Austin Groff, Founder of Dutch Country Hand Rolled Soft Pretzels

• Instagram - @DutchCountrySoftPretzels

• https://www.facebook.com/Dutch-Country-Hand-Rolled-Soft-Pretzels-518236568293529/

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• Smell the cheese often so you know when it’s getting old

• Instead of asking “Who moved my cheese?”, try asking “Why didn’t I get up and pursue more cheese sooner?”

• Give equal value for free to your customers as you expect them to purchase

Guest: Chase Shaw

• Provident Payments (ProvidentPayments.com)

• Flora Flower Cart (FloraFlowerCart.com)

• Instagram (@FloraFlowerCart)

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• Patagonia’s top 3 values - restraint, quality, and simplicity

• The more you know, the less you need.  Develop skill first, then splurge for better technology.

• Prioritize stories over products in advertising, then show how your business fills the gap.

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• A magnetic product taps into both emotion and high functionality

• There is no average customer.  It’s more ideal to tailor to a variety of customer groups

• Previews and samples can improve sales with customers who are still on the fence

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See You At The Top - Zig Ziglar

• Build your self-confidence by intentionally looking people in the eye

• Big shots are really little shots that kept on shooting

• The best way to go big with you goals is starting small

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Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!) - Stephan Schiffman

• Every “no” is truly a “yes” on its way, in disguise

• Give special attention to next steps.  That way new clients don’t accidentally fall through the cracks

• Focusing on personal connection helps push past industry gatekeepers

Guest: Andrew Smith, Founder of ProRustics Home & Furnishings

• ProRustics.com
• Instagram - @ProRustics

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Start With Why: How great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (Simon Sinek)

• Marketers heavily rely on manipulation, not relationship, to generate sales

• Comparing features doesn’t help a customer’s decision.  Your story is key.

• People don’t buy your what you do, they buy why you do it

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The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

• Be like a postage stamp.  Stick to ONE THING until you get there.

• Kick off the domino effect by finding today’s lead domino and whack at it until it drops.   

• Constantly revisit the focus question: “What’s the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?”

Guest: Delores Miller, Student and Musician

Keep the book ideas coming!  MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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The Pressure Principle:Handle Stress, Harness Energy, and Perform When it Counts (Dave Alfred)

• Move out of your comfort zone to embrace the “ugly zone”

• Live like a skateboarder.  Celebrate your “wipeouts” on the way to success

• Your outcome is guaranteed when you nail the learning process

Send your book ideas to MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success (Matthew Syed)

• There is no fast-track to success.  Iterative growth and 10K hours experience is the key.

• Dedication is the key to creating opportunities for growth

• Don’t over-fixate on specific problems - it’s easy to miss the overarching issue.

Love your book ideas!  Keep sending them in at MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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• Wise entrepreneurs are not purely risk takers - they’re risk managers

• Taking fewer, more calculated risks is a safer way to grow

• Master minimalism daily to wisely steward money in your business

Never Bet the Farm (Anthony Iaquinto and Stephen Spinelli)

Send your book ideas into MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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Leaders Eat Last (Simon Sinek)

• Leadership should be about lives - not numbers!

• Tension is common between leaders and followers, often causing an authority vs. information tug-of-war

• Keep relationships real.  Shift away from abstract tools like email and spreadsheets

Guest: Stephan Girod, Founder of Wildcat Wood (wildcat-wood.com)

We appreciate all the book ideas!  Keep them coming to MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (John Maxwell)

• Leadership potential depends on how much you invest in developing your character

• Momentum is the great exaggerator and enables average teams to perform at above-average levels

• Who you attract is directly related to who you are

Send your book ideas into MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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The Icarus Deception - How High Will You Fly? (Seth Godin)

• Problems are waiting for you to solve them - so take responsibility before it’s  given to you

• Perfectionism is lack of confidence.  Grow faster by leaving your comfort zone

• Try cultivating a daily habit of releasing content on a blog or YouTube channel.  Even if it isn’t perfect, just a paragraph or short clip every day

Keep the great book ideas coming!  MotivationMinute.com/Survey

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Who’s Got Your Back? (Keith Ferrazzi)

• Cultivate “lifeline relationships” with at least 3 mentors/friends

• Generosity, vulnerability, accountability, and honesty are key ingredients to solid mentor relationships

• With the right support network it’s very difficult to fail  

Send us your book ideas at www.motivationminute.com/survey

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Thinking Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)

• Our thought process involves two competing systems: emotions vs. logic

• Falling prey to just emotions can create too narrow a frame of reference

• Being the first to make a move in negotiation provides maximum advantage

Guest: Sam Howard (Owner of Desert View Window Washing)

https://www.desertviewwindowwashing.com/

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The Power of Positive Thinking (Norman Vincent Peale)

• We have full control over how we view life’s ups and downs
• To earn the attention and admiration of others, intentionally build them up to become better and stronger
• Believe in yourself - choose to view life’s situations as for you, not against you

Guest: Abigail Coblentz

Instagram: @abigailorateabs

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Flow (The Psychology of Optimal Experience)

• Flow results from the simultaneous convergence of skill and challenge
• Being relaxed fails to produce long-term happiness.  But being stretched in strong flow does
• Using free time to grow our skillsets is one of the most strategic ways to increase flow

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Failing Forward (John Maxwell)

• The difference between average people and achievers is how they perceive and respond to failure
• Failure isn’t so bad if it doesn’t attack the heart.  Success is all right if it doesn’t go to the head
• Failure is temporary.  What makes the long-term difference is how quickly we bounce back

Guest: Vlad Russian

Instagram: @vladiator360

YouTube: Vladiator Vlogs and Russian Brothers Production

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12 Rules for Life (Jordan Peterson)

Our Top 3 Rules

• Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world
• Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today
• Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

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Back of the Napkin (Dan Roam)

• Visual thinking enables you to focus on making the complex understandable
• Use the right tool for the question.  e.g. for who/what a portrait, for when a timeline, etc.
• The SQVID model enables you to tailor a visual message to your audience

Guest: Ted Harro

• Founder of Noonday Ventures
• Twitter: @tedharro
• Getting the Math Right TED Talk - https://youtu.be/8X1CIP1pKyk

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Four Seconds (Peter Bregman)

• Four seconds is all it takes to stop, assess the situation, and act strategically moving forward
• Taking a few moments to reevaluate expectations can improve dynamics around you
• In conflict resist the temptation to become defensive.  Ask a clarifying question.

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Predictably Irrational (Dan Ariely)

• The most common way we think irrationally is making relative vs. quantitative comparisons
• Free items give us an irrational sense of excitement, since there is no risk of a poor decision
• We tend to make the same irrational decisions repeatedly.  Finding the pattern can help us break the trend.

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Deep Work (Cal Newport)

• Pushing our cognitive abilities to the limit is a rare and valuable skill
• Frequently switching between deep and shallow tasks is more inefficient than it seems
• Choosing boredom over shallow entertainment can help gear you up for more productive work

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The Intelligent Investor (Benjamin Graham)

• Sell to optimists.  Buy from pessimists.
• Popular stocks tend to be overvalued.  Leaning towards more “boring” stocks can produce more long-term consistent gains
• Divide a portfolio between 90% defensive and 10% enterprising investments

Guest: Josh Collier

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Made in America (Sam Walton)

• Lean teams stretch a long way, especially when leaders work roles at all levels of the chain
• Humility as a leader is key to keeping ahead of competition and building relationship with employees
• Sam Walton’s simple growth strategy - one store at a time

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The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth (John Maxwell)

• Focus on growth over goals.  Grow through life as opposed to just going through
• Feeling tension is an essential ingredient in the growth process
• You can’t change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction

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The End of Average (Todd Rose)

• When focused on average users, systems become stacked against everyone
• We all seek to be better than average, but average people don’t exist
• We all walk the road less traveled.  We should learn into learning at our pace, not anyone else’s

Guest: Sam Howard (Owner of Desert View Window Washing)

https://www.desertviewwindowwashing.com/

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So Good They Can’t Ignore You (Cal Newport)

• Find your passion after you put in hard work and build skills
• Stretch yourself deliberately throughout the learning process to reach your full potential
• Build career capital now to cash out later on freedom and flexibility

Guest: Riley Harro, author of Provincial Pardon - https://goo.gl/SBqBNQ

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Creativity, INC (Ed Catmull)

• Creativity is not as similar to spontaneity as you might think
• Your story is king - design products to perform their intention so well that people forget the technology behind it
• Don’t avoid failure - it’s absolutely essential to be truly creative

Congrats "thedudewho'srandom", you won today's drawing! Send us a message at info@MotivationMinute.com.

Mark Hamilton
- Student at Regent University
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-allen-hamilton/

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Rise of the Robots (Martin Ford)

• Robots will in the relatively near future pose a sizeable threat to the job landscape
• Industries we thought were immune to robot takeover are at risk - in fact, any routine job is a robot target
• How to stay ahead of the robots: Create systems that eliminate your own job, rise to the next level, and repeat.

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Contagious (Jonah Berger)

• Viral ideas aren’t born - they’re made
• Word-of-mouth is the most effective and relevant advertising strategy
• Find a way to make your product stand out to make it a frequent conversation starter

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EntreLeadership (Dave Ramsey)

• It’s a significant challenge to walk out solid leadership while also running a business
• Simple success principles: rent until you can pay in cash, keep out of debt, stick to a plan, surround yourself with mentors.
• “Those who never made mistakes work for those who do” - Henry Ford

Guest this episode: Andrew Smith, founder of ProRustics Home & Furnishings

• https://www.facebook.com/prorustics/
• Instagram - @ProRustics

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Zero to One (Peter Thiel)

• Progress is both horizontal (scaling from 1 → n) and vertical (going from 0 → 1)
• Home in on the very important truth that very few people agree with you on
• Not all monopolies are harmful - as long as they consistently add value

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• Profit rarely just happens to you.  Make a habit of setting it aside consistently (even just 1%)
• Profit is for you.  Not the business.  Don’t always reinvest your profits in the business.
• Prioritizing profit first forces you to find ways to save and escape the debt cycle

Profit First (Mike Michalowicz) - http://amzn.to/2HPXFTy

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• Luck can be one of the least understood random forces in our life
• Rare events are always unexpected.  The longer until we see them, the more overconfidence we develop
• Looking long-term helps zoom out of the variabilities and stress of the short-term

Fooled By Randomness (Nassim Taleb) - http://amzn.to/2C4rakD

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• Habits are a 3-part cycle: Cue, Routine, and Reward
• Habits emerge without our permission but are able to be changed
• You don’t always have to completely drop bad habits.  Just adapt them for positive purposes.

The Power of Habit (Charles Duhigg) - http://amzn.to/2sAbQIQ

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• Planning is always guessing.  Focus on a simplistic short-term plan for huge long-term results
• “Scratch your own itch”.  Build a product that you are motivated to use
• There will always be doubters and haters of your idea.  Stick to non-negotiable absolutes

Andrew Smith: Founder of ProRustics Home & Furnishings

• https://www.facebook.com/prorustics/
• Instagram - @ProRustics

Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work (TED-Ed Talk) - https://youtu.be/fXdsmvaXx78

Rework (Jason Fried and David Hansson) - http://amzn.to/2EmfTNs

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• Unconditionally adding value to others can be the key to becoming a successful giver
• Successful givers are prestige-focused, practicing “powerless communication”
• Motivation is the #1 factor of success, often outweighing hard work and luck

Give and Take (Adam Grant) - http://amzn.to/2EuGOnT

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• Key elements of today’s tribes are leaders, followers, and common ideas.
• Great leaders go beyond managing resources.  They create change you believe in.
• By the time you think culture is ready for your innovation - you’re almost too late!

Tribes (Seth Godin) - http://amzn.to/2G7Ijcd

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• 3 keys to financial success - thrift, wealth, planning
• Smaller/consistent monetary gains beat get-rich-quick schemes
• Time can be one of the greatest money multipliers for those who start early

Retirement savings calculator - https://www.daveramsey.com/smartvestor/investment-calculator

Bubble tea - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea

The Richest Man In Babylon (George Clason) - http://amzn.to/2rp2fDZ

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• The signal is the truth.  Noise is anything that distracts from it
• Successful predictions synthesize seemingly insignificant, disconnected ideas
• Data is not the only factor driving forecasts.  Accuracy, honesty, economics, and other values also play a significant role

The Signal and the Noise (Nate Silver) - http://amzn.to/2lJfeKF

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• Steve Jobs in three words:  Intense.  Binary.  Perfectionist.
• Apple innovated game-changing products - from the iPod and iTunes to the iPhone and Mac
• Simplistic and highly functional design meshed with intentional hardware and software integration

Steve Jobs (Walter Issacson) - http://amzn.to/2D5fXNc

Differential Privacy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_privacy

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Key Takeaways
- Success is not a random accident
- Learn to trust the process over the end product
- The cumulative benefit of a slight edge life far outweighs any single effort

The Slight Edge (Jeff Olson) - http://amzn.to/2AyKVAx

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Key Points

• Technical experience is a weak indicator of business strength
• Focus on working on your business as opposed to in it
• Prototype your processes.  Drive your business towards a clone-able model.

The E-Myth Revisited (Michael Gerber) - http://amzn.to/2jVaCQC

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Key Points

• People thrive on praise - use it strategically before correction
• Be careful to value others above yourself
• Quickly admit your faults while minimizing corrections directed at others

How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie) - http://amzn.to/2AgZiZ8

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Key Takeaways

• If you don’t prioritize your life someone else will
• Less is more - prioritize only the top 10% of your life’s important activities
• Intentionally add 50% buffer time and opt to under-promise while over-delivering

Essentialism (Greg McKeown) - http://amzn.to/2zyKTab

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Key Points

• Success is dependent on how well you can challenge the status quo
• Business is not a virtue - in fact, it indicates laziness
• Structure your “information diet” with a selectively ignorant approach

#1 Takeaway - Emphasize quality of time over quantity to help challenge corporate America norms and become a successful entrepreneur.

The 4-Hour Workweek (Timothy Ferriss) - http://amzn.to/2ysAMAm

Essentialism (Greg McKeown) - http://amzn.to/2zyKTab

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009 - The Happiness Hypothesis

Key Points

• Happiness depends on your joy baseline, voluntary activities, and life conditions
• Seek virtues instead of modern shortcuts to happiness
• Spirituality elevates happiness by providing life a 3rd dimension

#1 Takeaway - Happiness can’t be found, acquired, or achieved - it comes from between.

The Happiness Hypothesis (Jonathan Haidt) - http://amzn.to/2yMppWC

The E-Myth Revisited (Michael Gerber) - http://amzn.to/2z0Z8UV

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008 - Never Eat Alone

Key Points

• Build your network before you need it
• Strive to personally add value to each relationship
• Consistently follow up to reap the greatest network benefits

#1 Takeaway: Ideal networking prioritizes making others more successful - not yourself!

Never Eat Alone (Keith Ferrazzi) - http://amzn.to/2xhGVOF

The Happiness Hypothesis (Jonathan Haidt) - http://amzn.to/2yMppWC

This episode was also recorded in video format. Please consider subscribing to our Motivation Minute YouTube channel - https://goo.gl/zhDgKk

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This episode evaluates the question "Should You Go to College?" from two viewpoints. Jeriah - an entrepreneur without college background. Spencer - an engineer with a bachelor's degree.

This was recorded as an episode and a video. The video version is available from the Motivation Minute YouTube channel - https://goo.gl/zhDgKk

Next episode the weekly book discussion will continue with Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi - http://amzn.to/2xhGVOF

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Key Points

• Start by developing habits that enable personal victory
• Achieve public victory by focusing on teamwork strategies
• Intentionally pursue balanced self-renewal to improve effectiveness

#1 Takeaway: Focus on the highly important but non-urgent priorities to increase personal effectiveness.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey) - http://amzn.to/2wZKQ2i

Never Eat Alone (Keith Ferrazzi) - http://amzn.to/2xhGVOF

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Key Points:

• Outliers are individuals with far above-average talents
• Becoming an outlier requires tremendous dedication - over 10,000 hours of hard work
• External factors (current events, ethnicity, family wealth levels, societal norms) also impact who outliers are

#1 Takeaway: Becoming an outlier requires balancing taking advantage of opportunities and investing personal effort.

Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell) - http://amzn.to/2fKnY18

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey) - http://amzn.to/2wZKQ2i

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Key Points:

• Israel nationally has the highest concentration of engineering and R&D in the world
• Mandatory military participation promotes startup culture
• Bottom-up ideation mindset sparks creativity

#1 Takeaway: Successful entrepreneurs embrace constructive failure and balance drivenness and adaptability.

Startup Nation (Dan Senor) - http://amzn.to/2fs4azn

Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell) - http://amzn.to/2fKnY18

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Key Points:
- Maximize assets and minimize liabilities
- Utilize self-employment to increase earning potential
- Seize strategic opportunities to buy investments


#1 Takeaway: Pursue positive cash flow by differentiating assets from liabilities to achieve wealth.

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Key Points:

• “Your mind is for having ideas - not holding them” - David Allen
• Omnifocus ($40) - https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus
• Trello (free) - https://trello.com/

#1 Takeaway: Use the two-minute rule to boost productivity on simple tasks.  Start with simpler tasks and work up to larger projects.

Getting Things Done (David Allen) - http://amzn.to/2x8fEkM

Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki) - http://amzn.to/2fbo7xB

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Key Points:

• Wealth vs. cash flow
• Wealth accumulation rates
• Frugal and future-focused mindset

#1 Takeaway: Anyone can achieve wealth - or even become a millionaire - through frugal living, smart choices, and wise investments.

The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas Stanely) - http://amzn.to/2f0LDcD

Getting Things Done (David Allen) - http://amzn.to/2x8fEkM

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Spencer Harro and Jeriah Miller introduce Motivation Minute, a podcast where aspiring entrepreneurs discuss business ideas and practical personal development tips. This podcast highlights industry leading business books and presents a summary of key points.

Download the free checklist for how to read a book in 3 hours or less - MotivationMinute.com

Read the “How to Read a Book a Week” article by Peter Bregman at Harvard Business Review here - https://hbr.org/2016/02/how-to-read-a-book-a-week

Next episode will feature a discussion on The Millionaire Next Door - http://amzn.to/2f0LDcD