The 1% Solution

Publisher's Summary. Did you know that the difference between the top Olympic medal winning athletes and those not receiving a medal averages just 1%? Chances are you and I won’t be competing in the Olympics, but we can learn from this fact. In The 1% Solution for Work and Life author Tom Connellan maps out the way. He has discovered three things that are the foundation behind that 1% difference and in The 1% Solution he provides actionable ideas to help readers achieve comparable performance results.

Review. Twelve minutes is what it takes for me to arrive at the parking lot to catch my commuter bus. Twelve minutes that is if there is no traffic, red lights, roadwork, or icy roads. Unfortunately, impediments to my timely arrival occur with alarming regularity. Many times I arrive just in time to witness my bus’s departure. When this happens I’ve often mused if only I had just left the house just a minute earlier. In other words, if I had been one percent more efficient with my morning routine I would have been luxuriating in a toasty, warm, bus rather than stomping my feet in the predawn freeze trying to avert frostbitten toes while awaiting the next bus.

In the 1% Solution, author Tom Connellan reports that being one percent better is often the difference between being average and exceptional. For instance, in the Olympics the difference between winning the gold medal and no medal (fourth place) generally breaks down to being just one percent faster. Granted Olympic athletes are a superior lot compared to the overall population, but within this elite group one percent is all that separates the very good from the great!

After revealing the one percent difference, the book details a blue print of how to be one percent better in virtually any area in life – professionally and personally. The 1% Solution is written in a story-like format following the fictional character Ken’s transformation into being one percent better. In each chapter Ken learns an important lesson, such as, action leads to motivation (think of the Nike commercial “just do it”). By the end of the book, both Ken and the reader have discovered the tools to performing just a little better.

The 1% Solution is a concise, informative, and readable self-help book. And as for me, after following a few of Connellan’s suggestions, these days I am riding the bus instead of watching it. Thanks Tom!



If you would like to win a copy of the 1% Solution, be sure to get your entry in here.


Publisher: Peak Performance Press (December 16, 2010), 138 pages.
Review copy provided courtesy of the publisher.

Supercoach

Amazon Product Description. IF SUPERMAN NEEDED A COACH,
HE’D HIRE MICHAEL NEILL!

In this fun, easy-to-read book, best-selling author and internationally renowned success coach Michael Neill shares the secrets of transforming your life and the lives of the people you care about most—your family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
Inside, you will learn:
· How to stop thinking like a victim
· The secret to financial security in any economy
· Proven techniques to produce dramatic changes in yourself and others
· Simple ways to create lasting relationships
· The key to lifelong happiness
· Strategies for increasing productivity, energy, well-being . . . and more!
Whether you want to powerfully impact the lives of the people around you or simply wish to create a deeper, more meaningful experience of being alive, this book is your essential guide to helping yourself .

Review. The tagline for Supercoach by Michael Neill boasts: “If Superman needed a coach, he’d hired Michael Neill.” After reading and reflecting on Supercoach, I would tend to agree. Supercoach is a concise and informative framework for getting the most out of life.

Each chapter in Supercoach riffs on one of Neill’s “Top Ten Secrets.” The secrets, paraphrased, are:

• The world is what you think it is.
• Well-being is not the fruit of something you do -- it comes from within.
• There’s nowhere for you to get to – you’re just here.
• What you decide will never impact you as how you handle the consequences.
• Every emotion you experience is a direct to a thought.
• You don’t have to do anything.
• You create other people by how you listen to them.
• You can ask for anything when you make it ok for them to say no.
• Financial security comes from the ability to procure it[money] when desired.
• There is never a good reason not to hope.

While many of the secrets are neither unknown nor new, they can have a profound impact if truly comprehended. For instance, instead of being stuck in decision-making paralysis for fear of making the wrong decision, what if a decision simply becomes a choice that is almost always reversible? Looking at it from this perspective removes much of the angst associated with decision-making.

In addition, Supercoach imparts information in a fun and entertaining manner. Neill sprinkles his writing with clever anecdotes and witty suggestions. I laughed out loud at the suggestion to order a pizza at a Chinese restaurant (to learn how to make a seemingly unreasonable request). I’m sure if one can do this one has truly “gotten” the lesson’s meaning, but it leaves me in stitches visualizing the confusion such a request would cause.

Supercoach is a terrific resource for living a fuller and more meaningful life!



Publisher: Hay House (March 15, 2010), 200 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Career Comeback

Publisher's Summary. Unfortunately, getting older can be a career killer. That's what entertainment journalist Lisa Johnson Mandell discovered when she sent out a resume that made her sound like an aged veteran. Her new career makeover guide-expanded from the Wall Street Journal article about revamping her "older" image to land her dream job-acknowledges that experience matters, but looking and acting up-to-date matter just as much. Mandell provides ten strategies for putting a youthful spin on resumes, Web pages, and personal presentation.


Review. Unemployment abounds for all job seekers, but those over 40 face additional age related barriers. In Career Comeback, author Lisa Johnson Mandell, a 49 year old entertainment journalist, shares how she successfully “botoxed her resume” to a new job. As Johnson Mandell confesses, “my own career comeback plan involved finding my niche, branding myself, freshening up my image from head to toe, rabid social networking, and age proofing my resume so that my over-forty status would not be readily apparent.”

Career Comeback walks the reader through the necessary steps to become an “ageless” job seeker. Johnson Mandell is a talented writer who makes a serious subject fun such as including a “How Hip Are You” quiz (hint if you don’t know what Huffpo and DS are you probably need a pop culture refresher course) and “12 Items You Need to Throw Away Now” (who knew that nude panty hose was passé?) . And for the short of cash job seekers, she details a “One-Day Career Comeback for $50 or Less.”

Career Comeback is an informative and surprisingly fun read!



Publisher: Springboard Press (January 7, 2010), 256 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

Over the Gap

Product Description
An advanced career change, planning, and outplacement handbook for transitioning executives and professionals. Includes assessments, interactive tools, special bonuses and more. Facing layoff or a career change? Over the Gap shares a wealth of timely, practical specifics for standing out from the crowd, assessing your market value, and tracking your progress. This step-by-step process also includes up to 90 minutes of free coaching and assessment with a certified career coach to help focus your efforts and launch your career change. Over the Gap offers: • A proven, systematic process to ensure your success • Career planning, target marketing, tracking, and soft skills enhancement • Interactive forms and networking strategies • Personalized programs, free resources and one-on-one coaching • Branding and personal value proposition development • A money-saving alternative to corporate severance packages "Beyond the search for a new job, Over the Gap introduces a career transition process, complete with powerful tools and concrete examples, which provides a roadmap and a bridge to new career opportunities." Helen Crompton, LPC, NCC Licensed Practicing Counselor, Nationally-Certified Career Counselor and Executive Coach

Review. Over the Gap by Dave Patterson is like having your own personal career coach. This is probably due to the fact that author Patterson is also a Certified Business, Executive, and Career Coach.

The chapters are a step by step guide on how to land your dream job:
CEO of Me, Inc.;
Finding the Right Fit;
Branding Yourself;
Crafting a Message that Sells Your Brand; Promoting Your Brand;
Doing Your Homework; Defining Your Target Market;
Networking for Results;
Creating a Position for Yourself;
Interviewing; and
The Benefits of Personal Coaching.

In today's tight job market both experienced workers and new entrants need not only the right credentials, but the right marketing strategy. Over the Gap fills that gap!



Publisher: DPA Media (September 30, 2009), 136 pages
Advance review Copy provided courtesy of the author.

Now What? : 90 Days to a New Life Direction

Summary by Publisher: In Now What? pioneering life coach Laura Berman Fortgang shares the process that she has used so successfully to help hundreds of clients make major changes in their lives. Whether it's moving on from a dead end job, discovering an entirely new creative outlet, or answering the age old question "What am I meant to do with my life?" this book provides a clear and infinitely practical 90-day program that can help you make major changes in your life.

For anyone who feels drawn toward a life-changing move but is not sure exactly what to do or how to move forward, Now What? provides a concrete process for finding and pursuing a new path in life. Full of inspiring and empowering exercises and tools, this book guides readers-day by day and step by step-through a 90-day process that will lead to true life satisfaction and fulfillment.

Review: Now What?: 90 Days to a New Life Direction by Laura Berman Fortgang is a guidebook for people stuck in a career they no longer love (or never did) and want to know where and how to begin again. Transitioning to a new career is often an anxiety ridden process. Berman Fortgang is living proof that one can leave behind one dream (singer/actress) and successfully embark on a new path (career coach).

Now What seeks to sweep away the “stuck in the headlights” angst with a ninety day action packed plan. According to Berman Fortgang “career and life satisfaction stem less from what we choose to do for a living, and more from who we get to be everyday while we are performing those tasks.” The first part of Now What involves finding your “Life Blueprint” (purpose/it). After uncovering your Life Blueprint the rest of the book details the mechanics of implementation.

Now What is filled with revealing insights that run counter to conventional wisdom. For instance, Berman Fortgang notes that just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it. Rather having a strong connection to the field/skill is the key factor. In addition, Now What deftly navigates the logistics of starting over such as how to afford a career change or what to do if your new path involves significant educational preparation.

In these turbulent economic times, with new corporate lay offs announced daily, Now What may be just what the doctor ordered.