Make Reading Your Weapon Of Preparation

Reading is one of the most important habits for self-development. There are many reasons why we should read, but this post is not about the advantages of reading; rather my goal is to make a stark distinction: Don’t simply read.. STUDY!

Studying is reading with a purpose. It will give you a path to self-directed education that would eventually become a strategic weapon in this competitive world. You may ask, why would I need to be reading when I could be out doing? Well, reading will make ‘your doing’ easier by giving you clear thought.

We are living in the Information Age, and having information is handy. But don’t just try to gather information, do your best to get the right kind of information you need. I got this from a leadership book: “One of the biggest secrets to high achievement in life is to make reading your weapon of preparation.”

Don’t simply read, study! Read with a Purpose.

Books I’m Reading Now

The Impact Equation (Read 20%)

-No matter how good you and your ideas are, if you don’t have a platform, you’re just making noise.

Mastery (Read 18%)

-This is a good sequel to outliers. But be careful with some of the book’s ideas that may seem immoral. The author’s first book, The 48 Rules of Power, is really a book on manipulation; but you can use the knowledge instead to protect yourself from people who uses their power abusively. 

To Sell Is Human (Read 12%)

-We are all in sales! You can call it “Moving People.” This gives a scientific approach to why all of us needs to learn to be sales people.

The Invisible Goriila (Read 23%)

If you love psychology books, you’ll love this one. Our intuition deceives us everyday. Find out what the invisible gorilla is.

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty (Read 5%)

-Another psychology book that rocks!

APE (Read 5%)

-Author Publisher Entrepreneur.

-Everything you need to know about self-publishing.

I can see how much of the book I’ve read because I use a Kindle. It shows the percentage of content you’ve already finished. I buy e-books in Amazon; I hardly buy books anymore. The only time I buy books is when it’s written by local authors who don’t have e-books.

The Ziglar Way

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar died at the age of 86 last Wednesday. He has written 30 books and has paved the way for speakers worldwide. He has shared the platform with world leaders and presidents in his 40-plus-year illustrious career in public speaking.

He aims at helping people achieve peak performance and achieve success in their lives yet what I admire in Zig the most is his undeterred determination to vocally speak about Christ wherever he goes. He will surely be missed. Here are some famous Zig Ziglar quotes that will help us have a better perspective in life:

  • If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
  • Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. 
  • A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job. 
  • People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. 
  • If you go looking for a friend, you’re going to find they’re very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere. 
  • A goal properly set is halfway reached. 
  • You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win. 
  • Remember that failure is an event, not a person. 
  • You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see yourself.
  • And my personal favorite: You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. 

Zig may be gone, but I think he is now having a seminar in heaven.

Money makes us Stupid

In connection to the finance series of our church entitled Unlimited, a four-week series on finance, I will write my next blogs on personal finance.

Have you done anything stupid in your life that you regret? How about doing something stupid when it comes to money? If you are above thirteen years old, I’m sure you have.

I don’t think I am qualified to speak on personal finance if I will just base it on my prior successes; I believe my qualification comes from all my money failures. And I have a lot! Thinking back on my experiences, in reading books on money, and talking to financial consultants, one thing I realized is that:

Personal Finance is 80% Behavior and 20% Knowledge.

Finance guru Dave Ramsey coined this phrase. It means that when it comes to money, we are very emotional. As Dale Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence says, EQ or Emotional Quotient is 24 times more powerful than IQ or Intellectual Quotient. We don’t think, we “Just Do It!” No wonder we do stupid things with our money – or worse – with other people’s money. “We make Dumb Decisions in Money Matters.”

We buy books we don’t read. (Gulity! I have almost a thousand books at home. I haven’t read more than half of them)

We drive 4 x 4 vehicles but we’ve never been to the mountains.

We have 4G cell phones yet most don’t even know how to use them; or don’t even know what “G” stands for. (Its Generation…now you know)

We wear diver’s watches that have never been wet.

I have a friend who bought a P40,000 juicer who used it once, several friends who bought ipads that are now kept away in their desk drawer, an acquaintance who have more than 100 pairs of shoes for his shoe collection; Oh!…that guy is having money problems…I wonder why.

I have a meeting this afternoon to help a businessman who invested millions to start a struggling cookware business without knowing anything much about it. I asked him why he put it up — his answer shocked me — I want to learn to be a better cook. 

Now you know the problem: people are wired to be stupid financially because we are emotional beings; so if you’ve done stupid things with money in the past, don’t feel bad…it’s normal – you’re normal! Now that you know, you can face the problem. The old joke that “You can’t face the problem if your problem is your face” may be funny, but in this case, you are the problem…yet for some, the problem really is their negative-looking face. Join me now, look in the mirror, and say it out loud…I am the problem! Until you change, your money problems will remain. 

How do you solve this problem? The answer – Focus on your behavior; not too much on what you know. Remember: Personal Finance is 80% Behavior and 20% Knowledge. How do you change your behavior? By changing your habits. Psychologists say it takes 21 days to form a habit. So for the next 21 days, change your money habits.

Lets explore how we can do that. In the next few days, I will share some practical money habits that can help change your behavior and hopefully provide favorable results.

Write a Book & Get Published

Note: This article is not about how to write a book but about how to publish one.

To get your book published, you can either find a major publisher/bookstore who will carry your title or self-publish. There are pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages to both. I won’t tell you which one is better because that depends on many factors, but in my case, I self-published my book.

Here’s my simplified “to do” list:

1) WRITE WRITE WRITE!!! Finish the book first.

2) Get a chief editor to edit the book.

  •  Find a second editor for re-editing and proof reading
  • I have 2 editors; some have 3 or more.

3) Get an animator if you have pictures or characters.

  • I have animal characters that involves a lot of drawing illustrations.

4) Do cover studies. Look for at least 3 artists for more options.

  • Choose the best cover designs that fits the concept of your book.
  • Show your choices to friends and with different groups of people to get their feedback. You might love a cover that people dislike and vice versa.

5) Get a layout artist.

  • Sometimes you can get 1 person to do multiple tasks. A book cover artist can also serve as your layout artist. Or an editor can be an artist as well.

6) Ask for blurbs from people you respect and admire.

  • A blurb is a promotional description, as found in the jacket of books.
  • These should be people who are known in an industry you want to reach out to as they will help you promote your book.

7) Find a good printing company.

  • Self-publishing a book has its advantages but may not be for everyone because it entails more capital. 
  • The printing company can also help you with copyright procedures.

8) Do a mock up of the book to see first what it would look like.

9) Get the necessary requirements.

  • The National Library
  • IPO (Intellectual Property Office)
  • Others

10) Print.

  • You must discern how many books you should print at the onset.
  • The more books you print, the less the cost. 1,000 copies might be a safe bet. (I printed 3,000 copies initially; I’ll have my second print this month at 5,000 copies)

11) Look for a distribution company who carry titles from self-published authors.

  • You will need to get approved by them first. My distributor brought my book to all major bookstores nationwide.

12) Pray that you become a Best-Selling Author.

  •  Aside from bookstores, the most effective marketing tools to sell books are online and thru speaking engagements.

If you get your book published and this article was helpful, I’ll appreciate it if you write me how it helped. Cheers!!!

More Business Book Reviews

Wal-Mart Way

Sam Walton died in 1992 but Wal-Mart is still at the top. Lee Kuan Yew is right, “Culture is Destiny.”  Strong culture leads to a strong Co.

Brand Warfare

Good brands do 3 things well: 1 Save time 2 Project the right message 3 Provide an identity. Go for the 22 Immutable laws instead of this.

Choosing to Cheat

An easy read about priorities. A priority is something you say yes to even when it means saying No to other important things.

Failing Forward

The difference between successful people and average people is their reaction to failure.

Fish

1 Choose your attitude.

2 Play. Work gets done should be fun.

3 Make their day. 

4 Be there by being fully present. 

Free Prize Inside

Use soft innovations, the clever, insightful, & useful small ideas that anyone can think up. They can make your product remarkable.

Art of War

Apply strategies of war in the workplace. Ex: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles”

Emotional Intelligence

IQ and EQ are not opposing competencies. FIND THE INTELLIGENT BALANCE & How to harmonize the head & the heart. Use emotions intelligently.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

I have 20 Kiyosaki books. Read the first 4 & you read them all. A classic but a bit inconclusive. Ex: He says, “Money is just an idea” HuH!?

Cashflow Quadrant

A must read! The 4 money quadrants: Left – Employee & Self-Employed. Right – Business Owner & Investor. Move from the left to the right side.

I’m going back to the Marketplace

The past few weeks were a bit emotional for me. Pastor Dennis, the senior pastor of Victory Greenhills announced to the congregation “I will be going back to the marketplace” after almost 3 years in full time ministry. It took awhile for the church to understand what is happening. From being a pastor, it means that I will still fulfill my functions for the church but now as a volunteer.

It was a very hard decision. I absolutely have no reason to leave at all. I love Victory Greenhills, I love the pastors who are like brothers to me, I love my calling (It has never been work for me) and I take it seriously though it is also fun and exciting. The life of a pastor is like a roller coaster ride. One minute, you’re conducting a wedding, the next minute; you’re doing the funeral service of another member. But through it all, a big question keeps surfacing in my mind.

It was late last year that questions started popping in my head about going back to business. There has been some opportunities in the marketplace that I wasn’t able to pursue because I was a pastor. And these opportunities can lead to outreach opportunities that normal ministers won’t have.

The biggest question is, “Where will I be more effective?” I know we have a humongous challenge currently in Victory Greenhills for shepherding the church yet there is also a huge opening to go out and make disciples in the workplace.

In my new career as a business consultant, I am going to focus on speaking, training, and writing books. To be a motivational speaker is not an easy profession for there are many who come and go, albeit doors have opened for me many times that I didn’t really pursue until now. We always need to work hard to reach our goals, and if it is from God, you will “flow” in doing excellent work. You become a magnet for opportunities as God works behind the scenes. 

Revelation 3:7-8

These are the words of him who is holyand true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

I hold on to this word. I know that I have little strength compared to others who may seem to have more credentials, that’s why I need to keep His word in my heart so that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. As I proclaim God’s word and the gospel thru unconventional means, it will lead to changed lives.

There is a war out there in the workplace. An ensuing war birthed from new age ideas and methodologies on how to find satisfaction in life — that success is the most important thing of all, that happiness is the ultimate goal to determine your purpose in life, that having money to help people will bring you peace of mind. When they hand me the mic, I believe the Holy Spirit will empower me to prove them wrong. Our life should revolve around God and not the other way around.

I’m very nervous, but research says the physical signs of nervousness parallel the physical signs of excitement. So instead of saying I’m nervous, I’m very very very very very EXCITED! May I glorify God in my new endeavor!

To all the pastors of Victory, I love you all. Now I know how hard your work is. No amount of pay can ever be sufficient for the kind of labor you are doing. May you continue to do great things for the Lord!

Book Reviews in 140 Characters

I realized I have been reading 1 book a week consistenly for the past 3 years. 1-2 books a month the years before that. Here are a series of blogs on the main lessons I got in Twitter like fashion (140 characters or less) from around 200 books. I’ll start with 10 business books first.

Here Goes:

The Disney Way

Dream, Believe, Dare, Do! ”Culture is the key to success.” You’ll be amazed how Disney does business.

The Fifth Discipline

The Learning organization cultivates the ability to learn faster than their competitors.

Be “learningfu!l”

A Man’s Guide to Work

Your work is a calling. If you look up the word secular in the Bible, you will not find it. Work is your ministry, it should bring glory to God!

Adversity Quotient @ Work

The Q word is overused. You have IQ, EQ (not the diaper), AQ, SQ, etc. The author used climbing as a metaphor…Climbers, Campers, & Quitters. 

Automatic Millionaire

Make saving & investing automatic. Have a system that doesn’t depend on following a budget or being disciplined. 

Awakening the Giant Within

The book is based on NLP. It teaches how to make decisions & how our brains are wired. Many good stuff but a lot of new age mumbo-gumbo too.

Blue Ocean Strategy

Red represents all the industries in existence today. Blue is the unknown market space. Search the road of least resistance. Highly Recommended!

The E-Myth Revisited

In the top 5 business books I’ve read. 3 qualities of a businessman: Entrepreneur (Visionary), Manager (Planner), and Technician (Doer). Balance the 3.

Death by Meeting

Meetings are usually a waste of time because its boring. How do you make it interesting? By adding what they use in movies…conflict. Read this!

The Elephant in the Room

3 Primary Behaviors of wealthy people: Discipline,  Long-term commitment to a Financial Plan, Realistic and Achievable goals.

Grab a copy now!!!

“Younique” is now available in National Bookstore. You may also get a copy from us by ordering at P375. FREE DELIVERY!

Procedure to order:

1. Please deposit payment to:

Bank Account: Banco De Oro
Account Type: Savings
Account Name: Jayson Lo
Account Number: 72-000-149-63

2. Email us at jayson@jaysonlo.com and indicate the following:

a. Complete Name

b. Complete Address

c. Contact Number

d. Quantity of Order

e. Amount deposited

3. Upon confirmation of deposit, we will notify you and send the book to your address.

4. As a bonus, for every 10 orders, you will receive a free video from Jayson Lo’s talk “BE YOUnique.”
 

FOR SPEAKING INVITATIONS AND OTHER INQUIRIES, YOU MAY CONTACT US AT:

YOUNIQUE PUBLISHING
OFFICE NO: 6226742
OFFICE MOBILE NO: 0917-8401771
EMAIL: jayson@jaysonlo.com
WEBSITE: www.jaysonlo.com

My guesting at Magbago Tayo

Victory Alabang’s very own Ardy Abello took over for Anthony Pangilinan when I guested at Magabgo Tayo, a radio program about changing for the better every Saturday 8am at 92.3 FM, TV 5. Aside from being a consultant and corporate trainer, Ardy is the best host I’ve seen for learning events. His wit and charm are unmatched by anyone in the industry. I really learned a lot from him.

In the show, I shared a little about my business experience and my failures.

Here’s a secret for everyone who wants to write or do public speaking…“If you talk about your failures in life, you will never run out of things to talk about.”

Before, I use to share my success stories all the time; I learned that failure stories will attract more attention and help build up more people as well. Your audience wants to listen to accounts they can relate with so they can draw inspiration.

I also shared a little about my book YOUnique. Hopefully it will be out in all major bookstores nationwide in a few weeks.