Silver Square

If you like a little bit of science, a little bit of storytelling, a little bit of fun exercises and a few sprinkled in self-assessments, you’re going to like The Winner’s Brain – 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Success by Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske. The fact that that the science is added in here gives it a little more umph than your average self-help book, and, helps you understand how this is really all working together.

The top 8 strategies are pretty straight forward, we have:

1. Self-Awareness – Thinking about yourself to become a winner. This one I scored high in. I tend to fall in the very aware category, both of myself and the people I’m interacting with. I have to do this because otherwise, my annoying personality would be ticking off to dos and plowing through the day without any details or fluff. I have learned to tone it down when I need to, and adjust. It’s been hard!
2. Motivation – I have this one too, but I go in spurts. I think that’s because I run so hard that I pretty much run out. I seriously laugh at myself when I don’t take my laptop home at night. I laugh because about 10 minutes after leaving the office, I start in to this mini panic attack… oh no, I should have brought my laptop home! It’s kind of like a funny game I play with myself. You’re probably reading this thinking I have some serious issues. Oh well.
3. Focus- Talk about up and down. It’s funny because when I must focus, I can. One of the suggestions for improvement in this area is meditation and yoga. I used to do yoga a lot and need to get back in to that habit. I recently started meditating with some guided meditations I found on iTunes. I am still getting use to this.
4. Emotional Balance – If I had to pick my worst one, it would be here. I usuallydon’t get worked up about much, however, when I do, I can think and overthink a situation like a pro. My emotion of choice – anger. Who knew! Actually, I knew this about me but didn’t want to admit to having something bad, but hence that self-awareness thing. Now that it’s confirmed and totally something I have to deal with, I’m on it.
5. Memory – When I read this one, I thought of my co-worker Clay and laughed. That dude compartmentalizes what he needs to remember and what he doesn’t. If he doesn’t need to remember you, even if it was yesterday, he won’t. I’ve tried many times to say… you know, that guy that… and he’s completely blank up there. It’s priceless. But none of that has anything to do with this section. Ha. Some tips here are trying new and different things each week; keep yourself on the edge. You ultimately want to use your memory to help you predict your future.
6. Resilience- after 2009 I think a lot of us can peak in this category. This means we recover from life’s challenges by dealing with what’s thrown at us. We reframe and move on. For me, it depends on how grand the challenge was, but ultimately I am very good at moving on. In fact, one of my most used phrases (so much so that the team at Silver Square was going to make me a t-shirt) is “moving forward…”.
7. Adaptability – I tend to tell myself how something is going to go down. Then I let it go. Typically, it still happens how I said it would, just because I took the time to think through the situation. One of the exercises in the book talked about visualizing yourself performing, like on a stage, not like you’re inside yourself. I found that interesting. I happened to visualize that way, but hadn’t really thought about other ways to do so.
8. Brain Care – Eating well, sleeping well, exercising… all of these things contribute to your healthy brain. I do this one well until I get majorly stressed or have too much going on, then I start dropping off on exercise, then sleeping well and you know things are really bad if you see me eating poorly.

Ultimately, I work at each of these as I’m not perfect. In the first chapter you had to take a quiz by yourself and with a friend. Both told me I’m really close to a Winner’s Brain, but I have some room for improvement. I’m sure further investigation would land on the emotional balance one, so I’ll be working on that next.

This was really a great read and enjoyable not just about yourself but learning how the brain works. Pick it up… and let me know your next steps to building a winning brain.

“I wrote this book without the use of a ghostwriter…and probably make my high school English teacher cringe,” is one of the first sentences in the book that launches today, Delivering Happiness, A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos. I knew right away I was going to enjoy this book just by that sentence. It told me I was going to get a real, possibly raw, look inside Tony’s world. Good for you, Tony!

So what is the secret to the success at Zappos, as maybe you would believe to be revealed in such a book. Well, don’t expect a direct answer. This 244 page book share all kinds of insights, but I think the truth you’re looking for needs to be found within. For Tony, it began from within, and with a worm farm.

“My parents paid $33.45 for a box of mud that was guaranteed to contain at least 100 earthworms,” said Hsieh. He was on his way to what he fully expected to be the number one worm seller in the world! Such ambitions! At the early age of nine, he did what he thought was best to grow his worm farm; fed them well, gave them a good place to live and patiently waited for them to multiply so he could sell his worms. “Unfortunately, I didn’t find any baby worms. I didn’t find any adult earthworms either.” Oh yeah – first business lessons were racking up right away. He goes on to talk about his school, college choice and future businesses he launches and nurtures. 

Then we get to Zappos.

I didn’t know Hsieh originally invested in the company but wasn’t the founder. I had never heard of a culture book, although I believe in a strong culture. I didn’t fully realize the impact of core values until I read them through his eyes. This book was profound for me on a couple levels.

First, I was inspired so much by the idea of the culture book, we have started one at Silver Square. In fact, it’s such a wonderful idea, any business owner interested in capturing the human side of their business should begin one right away. You can keep it brief or minimal or simple; but get one started. Figure out what your culture and this project means to you and allow it to evolve and document your work life.

Next, we took the time to make our mission and values final. We had our mission in s working state for over a year, but didn’t fully commit to language. Our core values were phrases we all lived by, just didn’t put formally on paper. We made the time and commitment to integrating these in to our work life. It’s important for us on the inside and for those who want to work with us or be a client on the outside.

The only downside of this book is the end chapter. I think I was a little numb to this part because I hear it and live is so much already. I know what I need to be happy; I know it comes from me. I don’t need others or things to make me happy. I get that. Some people are still in search of this, though, or actually, we all can get off route from time-to-time. So I know why it’s in there. I guess everything can be a good refresher, right?

Bottom line, if you are looking for a business book that helps you work on the human side of your business, this one is a no brainer. It’s relevant, it’s enjoyable to read (not like some boring business books I’ve read) and it’s actionable. You can read and find yourself in the pages, which I think Tony would like. Read the book and make your own Zappos story come to life. It can only add to your work life joy and profits, as proven by one company’s very big success story.

 (This book was reviewed as part of a promotion for the book, which was a great marketing idea on their part. Check out their details)

I drink a lot of water. I drink so much water during the week that when I’m home on the weekends and forget to drink water, I often feel dehydrated. I could not imagine not having clean drinking water. Can you?

The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer, was a whim of a book I picked up while getting new books at the library with my kids. It grabbed my attention with the title and that a small child stands in the place of where the “i” is in life. I had to know just how I could save a life… Turns out we can save a lot of lifes and clean water is just one of the ways to do so. Poverty, as defined as an income of $1.25 a day by the World Bank, is a line that has 1.4 billion people under it. That is a number I was astonished to learn. We’re talking billions… that’s with a ”b”.

So I won’t go on and on about this book. I know just becuase I do all that volunteer stuff doesn’t mean everyone reading this blog shares in my cares. That being said, take a look at this website that allows you to help provide clean water around the world. It’s called Charity Water, and if you don’t believe in the clean water cause, take a look for the design. It’s well done and worth the visit.