This is part 2 of the book review. For Part1, see here.
Main Ideas and Insights – Contd.
7. Ask for what you want
Principle: Asking is the beginning of receiving. The world responds to those who ask.
How: Ask stands for Always Seeking Knowledge. Ask clearly, with confidence, consistently, creatively, and sincerely. Seven ways to boost your business simply by asking. Ask for:
- Information
- Business
- Written endorsements
- Top quality referrals
- More business
- Renegotiate
- Feedback
Insights: One of the examples in the book: Lisa reached out to strangers asking for a kidney and she did get one that saved her life. She says: “Once you asked a stranger for a kidney and received a yes in return, you are never afraid to ask for anything ever again”. This is an eye opener for me, someone who thinks a lot before asking in fear of rejection.
8. Consistent Persistence
Principle: You will never achieve big results in your life without consistent and persistent action. If you seriously want to be successful, your consistency will be tested frequently.
How:
- Have a clear understanding of why you are doing what you are doing. A clear understanding of your reason to succeed and discipline will help you get through self-doubt and negativity.
- Continuous persistence requires that you stumble more than once. It strengthens your resolve to win
- Agreements and Accountability are the foundation for true integrity. We need to consistently keep our little agreements else we lose trust. When you develop the habit of being accountable for your actions, you will stand out as a unique individual.
Insights: The book says there should not be a “Have to” list but only “Choose to” list. If your todo list contains a certain set of tasks, you chose to do them. If you are washing dishes, you chose to do it. If you don’t like to do it, then out source it. Another example that I strongly believe in (but hard to follow in the heat of the moment) is: When we are angry at someone, we say “they made me angry”. But being angry is a choice. We choose to be angry in that situation instead of making a different choice.
9. Take Decisive Action
Principle: Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict, have not learned their history – “John Wallach Scott”
How: TA-DA formula to help stay alert as you head into the uncharted waters of the future and stay focused:
- Think – Reflective thinking allows you to pause so you can consider all your options.
- Ask – Find out everything you need to know to make an intelligent and informed decision.
- Decide – Write down negative consequences if you don’t make a decision. Compare these with the positive benefits of moving forward.
- Act – Take the first step and gradually you will build momentum.
10. Living and working on purpose
Principle: Your purpose transcends your goals. At some level, we all strive for meaning in our lives. We want to feel that we matter.
How:
- Align your purpose with your natural ability, be determined and maintain a humble attitude.
- Look back over your life and ask yourself: “What are the ten or fifteen times I have felt the greatest amount of joy in my life?”
Insights: I have read about defining a statement of purpose many times in the last couple of decades. But I never could figure out how. After reading this book, and researching more about how Jack Canfield teaches others to find their purpose, I came across an exercise that brought be the closest to defining my purpose. The exercise is: ask yourself three questions, and then combine the answers to form your purpose:
a) What are the two qualities that I most enjoy expressing in the world?
b) How do I most enjoy expressing these qualities in my life?
c) Write a description of what the world would look like if it were operating perfectly according to you?
I attempted to answer these questions and here is my first version ever of my purpose: My purpose is to use my “grit and dedication” to “solve problems, inspire and empower others” to “give their 100% with passion, enthusiasm, and gratitude (regardless of the outcome) and make a positive impact on who they are serving”. Now, is this it? It this my true purpose? I don’t know but I at least have a start and will keep refining it. If you haven’t found your purpose, I wouldn’t fret. We all should focus on the opportunity right in front of us and give our 100% (more on this in the next strategy #11). In this way, I believe that we will all eventually figure out our purpose.
11. Ideas to make you rich
Principle: Definition of Rich is “When you are rich in spirit, character, relationships, faith, health, giving, wisdom you will know and appreciate how it feels to enjoy abundance and all its fullness”
How: The books discusses about ideas from five Power of Focus clients. Each of them specify five strategies that contributed to their success. I will call out what I thought were highlights:
- Learning and Reading books is a common theme.
- Creating goals, visualizing your success and knowing what you want is another common theme.
- Along with setting long term goals and vision, set short term goals. Incremental action and improvement is key. Waiting for major leaps of improvement before you take action will hold you back.
- I love this quote by one of the clients: “I believe that the main reason for my success was deciding to focus on the opportunity that was right in front of me. Success is a lot closer than you think in most cases.”. This is so true. I strongly believe that rather than living in a dreamland, being the best at what you do and focusing on the opportunity right in front of you brings you closer to success. It reminds of this quote by MLK Jr: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
Conclusion
The book has tons of examples and practical advice for each strategy. This isn’t a book you read in a day or a week and set it aside. If you want to get most of the book, you read, take notes, focus on one strategy at a time, take the time to finish the exercises in one strategy, create a plan, implement it and then move on to the next one. I heard that if you get one good idea from reading a book, it is worth it. In that regards, this book is totally worth it.
