13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin

This book was yanked out of the author by readers. The content is that vital.

Last fall, Amy Morin a psychotherapist, wrote a blog post on mental strength that went viral and was read by hundreds of thousands. Then the content was used by Forbes Magazine and it was read 10 million times. It was clear there was a need for this conversation on mental strength in the working world.

We’re constantly told to mind our health, so we take care of our body, watch what we put in it and how we use it and let it rest. What about the mind? In a busy working world, do we watch what goes in, how we use it and how we rebuild it when we work past its limit? And there are a ton of self-help books out there about resilience and stress management, what made this article so special? Why did so many people read and share it?

Two things:

1) This wasn’t about self-help, it was a business article in Forbes for those of us who rule the working world. A resource for the strong on strength. The author is now a Forbes contributor on the psychology of business life.

2) The author had a secret that made the content hyper-authentic and people smelled that truth. Sure Amy Morin is an experienced psychotherapist who has helped many people through challenging times but she herself faced powerful setbacks in her life and work, overcoming them forced to her create these 13 powerful tips from a very a raw and real place.

Last fall I shared the tips on my own LinkedIn feed and had my own viral moment as people really responded to them, as I did myself. I wrote this blog post and my wife made me a poster that I shared but put up on my own wall so the tips could help me daily.

Now, Amy has released this insightful book. Expanding on each of the tips, sharing actual stories of people she has helped overcome each issue.

It is practical, it is powerful.

At this time of year when people ( me included ) are thinking:

• How can I keep this up?
• How did I become so resentful?
• Where did this negativity come from?
• How can I deal with daily attacks on my positivity and productivity?

I’ll say it again, this isn’t self-help book. You’re reading a business book blog, this is about being better at work. Reconnecting with strengths you know you have but are losing touch with. It’s about winners winning more.

This book is like taking vitamins for your attitude. When you finish it you get that feeling like getting out of the shower in the morning when you think “yes, I can own this day, it won’t own  me”. I’m so happy to have that feeling back!

Amy, you are a woman of wisdom, strength and power beyond belief. You have lived through a couple of my greatest fears in life and by sharing how you got through them you’ve helped me quiet the growing paralyzing fear I had of them. Want to keep learning from Amy? Follow her on Twitter.

This is part of my plan for a better 2015, I would encourage anyone who engages in personal planning and self reflection for business success to pick up this book.

I leave you with a quick video about how it all came together and the powerful events Amy herself overcame to create these tips. It’s quite a story.

Best wishes for a restful, reflective end to 2014 and a powerful, positive productive start to 2015!

   Thanks for reading,

               Paul Nazareth

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do by Amy Morin

The Opening Playbook: 21st Century Networking

Because of this blog, people send me books. I have to send most of them back because they’re not about networking, or business development and don’t have content I can get excited about, content of powerful value.

Andrew Dietz, you sought me out sir. I am grateful.

This book is awesome – more importantly it’s valuable.

I can’t count the amount of times I said the word “FINALLY” out loud reading this book.

First and foremost he puts to rest the old school mantra of “ABC: Always Be Closing” and updates the networking paradigm for this century of authentic connecting and open data ---- ALWAYS BE OPENING

Opening conversations, opening connections to new possibility, opening collaboration opportunities for your network. People say “be of value to your clients or donors” – this book is the playbook of how to do that.

Now, full disclosure, I do not like all organized sport so the football analogies were totally lost on me. But the book is really about the strategy of solid, authentic human networking and that is something I’m all about.

Written in fable format ( which I love because it makes for a quicker, more memorable and dare I say ‘enjoyable’ read ) this book is about Sam a young lawyer who just doesn’t get it – he doesn’t get it because he was taught 20th Century networking like so many of us. He is helped along by Candace, the owner of a 21st century “coffee shop” coworking space – the kind that many of us know is the hottest place to be right now for knowledge workers.

Shoutout to the awesome folks at “The Coffice”, this should be your official book for helping professionals understand what this revolution is all about!

Young professionals are going to want to read this book because it’s a play by play with actual granular guidance ( chapter reviews include what to do, what to say, how to do it ) on real authentic networking.

Experienced business professionals – I have been LOOKING for a book that integrates 2014 digital media ( LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, blogs, websites ) into networking and business development. 90% of the best selling networking authors do not get how to truly integrate digital media into the workday. Andrew Dietz gets it and he NAILS IT in this book. What’s the best content, how to share it, how to mine social media platforms for leads and HOW to make connections. It was a cool breeze on a warm summer’s day – well more like blessed oxygen in a suffocating world of social business skeptics .

Buy this book, it’s a quick read, it’s a valuable read – give it to someone you’re mentoring or being mentored by. I’ve bought more copies for my talks at Universities.

It’s the 21st century people, lets networking using today’s tools. The result, better business.

Want more value, follow Andrew on Twitter

   As always, please share this post. Thanks for reading!

                    Paul Nazareth

Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath

At this time of year, networking season, I’m walking and talking with strangers, peers and mentors almost every day of the week at the crack of dawn. And we’re almost always talking about the same thing….

Decisions.

Major life decisions, career decisions, management decisions, budget decisions.

People worry a lot about making the right and wrong ones and there aren’t many great clear resources out there to help make them.

Once again to the rescue comes global best selling authors Chip and Dan Heath. Every one of their previous books are must-reads and on the shelves of business book fans the world over. They are also students and promoters of the ‘solutions focus’ model that Alan Kay taught me and that I highly value.

If you find yourself making a good deal of decisions or if you’re in that scary career decision part of your life this book is a must-read.

It starts with the 4 Villains of Decision Making, the mind tricks we all fall into and how to retrain your gut when it is leading you astray. Something they shared in Inc Magazine recently.

Addressing the quintessential career question they highlight something I have told thousands of people – find someone who is doing what you want to do and talk to them. In the case of this book they go a step further and encourage you to seek out people who have solved the career problem you are facing. As an added bonus to the book they have recorded a podcast “Decisive for Career Decisions”, free on their website (click here).

Both the Heath brothers an I are fans of one of Canada’s thought leaders Roger Martin and they remind us of a question he asks often, ‘what would have to be true for this to be the right answer’. They recently spoke with  Roger about how to “prepare to be wrong” when making decisions. A great video interview.

Besides insightful solutions the book teaches you how to ask better questions of the people you turn to for help with decisions.

They introduce you odd words, like “Ooch” meaning to test ideas in the real world – entrepreneurs do this a lot. Decisive shares how to do it with minimal risk and when to try this strategy ( as well as when NOT to too ). Another smart idea is to engage not just in the ‘post-mortem’ but consider a ‘pre-mortem’ before you make the decision. 

Another great decision tool is the 10/10/10 rule featured in Fast Company magazine recently. In an interview with Forbes they applied the book to decision making in the healthcare sector where overconfidence can be lethal and outcomes effect life and death, a powerful read on decision making in crisis.

A personal note on the format that makes this book such a valuable read. I know many business books do this but not enough do these days. Each chapter at the end has a recap, a rethink and how to apply each concept to your life. It’s the main reason many people like me who read books from the library, bought a copy of the book. You can refer to it later without having to re-read.

I leave you with this quick video review. If you have already read the book be sure to check out this fantastic mind-map of the WRAP process by Douglas Pratt on his blog. It’s a quick way to remember the lessons of the book.

Again, don’t forget to visit Chip and Dan Heath’s site for free resources!

       Thanks for reading,

       Paul Nazareth