It’s been months since you’ve set your alarm clock for earlier than 8:00 a.m. and your daily ensemble is a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Oh, the life of the unemployed…but there’s a book to help with the job-loss blues. “Reset” by Dwain Schenck, is a book that inspires an individual to get off their couch and back on the hunt; the job hunt that is.
Schenck begins by talking resume building and how to use social sites as your ally then how to become a networking machine among other advice. This book can be helpful to the young, recently college-graduated individual. Purchase it here.
The office-space can be a tumultuous and drama-filled environment, especially if rumblings about layoffs or downsizing come into play; but with the information outlined in the book “The Economy of You” by Kimberly Palmer, an individual gets advice on how to survive the upheaval. Author Palmer focuses on the topic of entrepreneurism and how every single person is an entrepreneur in their own right.
To help determine if you’ve got what it takes to be an entrepreneur, she says, think about your passions and skills. Would somebody pay you to do what you love doing? What do you like to talk about? In what capacity do you enjoy helping people? What part of your current job do you “wish you could do more of”? All of these are valid questions that any person can answer if they utilize an entrepreneurial mindset. Remember, it’s all about The Economy of You. Purchase it here.
Do you have an idea for a product or service but have no idea where to begin in the creation process? “Idea to Invention” by Patricia Nolan-Brown, maps out how ordinary individuals can become successful inventors without being highly educated, wealthy, or super talented. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but how does one become an inventor?
Nolan-Brown says to cultivate an “I.N.V.E.N.T.” personality. Maintain a childlike Inquisitiveness. Be curious and observant. Practice your Nerve to stay the course and ignore naysayers. Use your Voice to display your passion. Keep your Energy level high by taking care of you. Feed your dreams the proper Nourishment by surrounding yourself with “cheerleaders.” And stick with it. Tenacity is the key. Purchase it here.
Has one of your ideas ever seemed like a good one at the time…until things went bad, your company lost money, and you lost face? So what did you learn? Author Megan McArdle says that most schools teach kids the basics but there’s no ‘How to Deal with Failure’ instruction, even though that’s something that “should have been taught in kindergarten.”
But failure for a five-year-old and failure of a multi-million-dollar project are obviously two different things. For a kid, it’s all about trying again. For an adult, knowing how to “fail well” helps you think smarter for the next time and understand where you went wrong.
This book will help you take comfort with failing stories from GM, Coke, Enron, NASA, and others in “The Up Side of Down.” By using those cautionary tales to illustrate how failure happens and what becomes of a company after it errs, author Megan McArdle helps put failure into perspective. Purchase it here.
Throughout your life, you’ve heard that quitters never win. Hang in there, you’ve been told. Don’t give up. Remember The Little Engine That Could. But is this the right way to think? Authors Peg Streep and Alan Bernstein say no in their book “Mastering the Art of Quitting.” Quitting, they say, is “the necessary first step to rebooting and redefining your goals.” The ability to quit is “necessary as a balance” to persistence and optimism. The trick is to know when to utilize either side of the scale and to understand that quitting doesn’t mean that you’re a “quitter.”
Learn not only how to quit, but how to quit well. Your happiness and your physical health may depend on it. Purchase it here.
Check out AZTB’s past Weekend Reads here
Contributions: Terri Schlichenmeyer / The Bookworm Sez, LLC
