48 Days - Day 3

Notes:

God isn't going to ask you why you weren't more like Mother Teresa. He's going to ask why you weren't more like the you He created you to be.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would no be as strong and we could never fly (like a butterfly).
Decide what kind of life you want, then plan your work around that life.
Exchange your time for valued priorities, not only money.
Recognize that people get promotions in opportunities in companies due to personal skills - attitude, enthusiasm, self-discipline, and interpersonal expertise - 85% of the time. Technical or educational skills or credentials only 15%. If you have the personal skills, you can do almost anything.
Just because you have the ability to do something does not mean it is well suited for you.

Quotes:

Not all change is positive growth, but all positive growth requires change.
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal." - Hannah More
"The secret of success is focus of purpose." - Thomas Edison
"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

Action:

If you are in a negative environment, take a fresh look at yourself, define were you want to be, and develop a clear plan of action for getting there.

48 Days - Day 2

Notes:
US Dept of Labor statistic states that 50% of the jobs we will ave in the next 6 yars have not yet been created.
Next 4 years, 50% will be contract work - Staffmark
Average length of job 3.2 years
Person can have 14-16 jobs in 45 year work span
Must have clear sense of who we are to know where we're going.
33% increase in heart attack on Monday mornings according to LA Times
More people die at 9am Monday than any other time - CDC&P
25% increase in injury on Mondays - Entrepreneur Magazine
Male suicide highest Sunday nights when men realize careers/finances are not up to par.

Quotes:
"Affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven charracter, and proven character produces hope." Romans 5:3-4

Action:

Book 1: Day 1, Dan Miller's 48 Days to the Work You Love

Book: 48 Days to the Work You Love (I got the Kit)
Author: Dan Miller
Website: http://48days.com
1 Line Description: The proven faith-based system for finding your true Calling.
You can get the book here.
Notes:
Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men."

Believing that God created me for His purposes and scheduled very day of my life, I commit the next 48 days to a new clarity and a plan of action for moving into God's calling for me. - J.R, 01/12/09

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.” - James Michener

"... that work, and not idleness, is the indispensable condition of happiness for every human being." - Leo Tolstoy, A Talk Among Leisured People

"Choose a job you love, and you will never hae to work a day in your life." - Confucius

"Success is no a future event - it is the "progressive realization of worthwhile goals." Thus, either you are successful today or you are not."

Do: Walk 3 miles 4 or 5 times a week - releases tension and stimulates creativity.
Seek out a godly mentor. Success of AA is to have someone at the lowest times.
Read inspirational material at least 2 hours daily.
Volunteer for a worthy cause. Helping another is a great way to ease inward pain.
Get a job even if it's not your dream job or a great career move to get you moving in a positive direction while you continue to build for long-term success.

"When we are not true to ourselves, to our unique God-given characteristics, we lose the power of authenticity, creativity, imagination, and innovation. Our life becomes performance-based, setting the stage for compromise in all other areas of our lives."

Introduction to my Reading Notes Blog

I have set myself on a mission to finally read the books that the hubby and I have collected over the past years.... there are a lot of them! Knowledge is key... reading is free... all the benefits to reading - we all know them - and I'm finally going to do it: READ.

Here is my 2009 book list by category:

Family Development

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands

1001 Ways to be Romantic

5 Love Languages of Love

Love Languages for Children

Homemaking

Various Sewing/Cook Books

Top Secret Restaurant Recipes and other cookbooks

Early Childhood Education

Safety, Nutrition, and Health

Child, Family, School, Community

The Developing Person

The Power of Believing in Your Child

The Big Book of How to Say it KIDS

Caring for your Baby and Young Child

Bible/Religion

One Year for Busy Moms

Busy Mom’s Bible Study

Essential Bible

The Sacred Paths

Places of the Bible

ROCK Christian Essentials

The Islamization of America

21 Jump Start

The Language of God

The Case for Faith

The Everyday Guide to God

Gift by the Sea

America and History

Our Endangered Values

Unchristian

Revolution in World Missions

Temples of Darkness (Public Schools)

America at War (Biblical foundations)

Lavender Tidal Wave (Gay agenda)

America, Revival or Ruin?

Lives of the Signers of the Declaration

Original Intent

1776

The Great Upheaval

Beauty

Face Forward

Makin Faces

Secrets of the Spa

Idiot’s Better Skin

Don’t Go to the Cosmetic Counter

Skin Type Solution

Personal Development

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The Big Book of How to Say it Best

A Better You

Full Steam Ahead

How to Win Friends and Influence People

What to Say to Get What you Want

Gitomer Gold YES Attitude

Gitomer Green Getting Your Way

Gitomer Black Connections

Encouraging the Heart

48 days to the Career you Love

Leadership

The Secret by Ken Blanchard

Lead Like Jesus

The Leader Within

Leader Champions Silberisms

Whale Done

On Becoming a Leader

The Leadership Experience textbook

Reframing Organizations

Dictionary of Diversity, Race, E & C

Leading at a Higher Level

Influence

Finance

Money Answer Book

Personal Finance

The Money Book YFB

Get a Financial Life

How to Have More than Enough

Financial Peace

Total Money Makeover

Financial Peace Planner

Learning

Quotionary - book of quotes

Spanish

Strategies for Successful Writing

Exploring Language

Literacies

The Best American Essays

William Shakespeare

American Poetry

The Sun Also Rises

Frederick Douglas

Anatomy & Physiology

Tagalog Made Easy

GMAT

Business

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office

The Mom’s Investor Handbook

Secrets of Millionaire Moms

Mommy Millionaire

Essentials of Business Law

Small Business Management

NTL Handbook of Org Dev & Change

Fundamentals of Management

Management Skills and Application

Making Sense of Change Management

Managing Cultural Differences

Miscellaneous on my bookshelf

Ship Fever

The Upstairs Room

Escape from Warsaw

The Birth of the Universe

The Best Deal & Steals in SD

Anna Karanina

The Asian Mystique

Real Estate

Start Small, Profit Big

How to Make Millions in RE

Buying RE Foreclosures

Sales for Success Series (Prudential)

CA RE Principles (3 versions)

There may be more.. but this is it for now. I haven't really decided yet how I was going to go about reading all this. Maybe one book per category and then move on to another category or focus on a category for 1 or 2 months at a time.

Do you ever have those moments of " I read somewhere...." and can't find it? I have those all the time! So here is my attempt to keep them in one place. I am taking a concept learned in elementary school...the teacher makes you read something and then makes you write ( a quote or a reaction, etc) to it. I think the task, though daunting at the time, can help build the better me that I strive to be this year as I can mentally ingrain it further in me from taking the time to type it, reflect on it, and go back to it at a later time. I don't like highlighting or marking up my books but I do like to type (primarily because my penmanship can get terrible and then lost). In a nutshell, this blog would be a place to store (and share) the things that I find noteworthy along the way.

And I will try to be consistently regular on this blog... like Doogie Howser every night, ha! Consistency... another resolution of mine for the year... but most of all... reading. So enjoy and relax and learn if you'd like.