Books On Purpose

Shoremates,

Today we cover John Maxwell's 3rd law, the Law of the Mirror, out of his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Leadership.

The main point is that self-esteem is the single most significant key to a person's behavior.  Zig Ziglar backs this up by saying “It’s impossible to consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how we see ourselves.  We can do very few things in a positive way if we feel negative about ourselves.” 

In this episode, we cover 10 specific steps you can do right now to help build your self esteem, and thereby increase your quality of life.

After you've listened to the 10 steps, action items for today are the following:

1. What are you proud of yourself for?  What can you do that is special, and that other people gravitate towards you for?  If you come up with a list off that bat, awesome.  If you don’t, I’m begging you to not skip this step.  Take time and think about what makes you special, because I promise you that there are things inside of you that are amazing.
2. Keep track of how you talk to yourself.  When it is positive, reward yourself with a virtual pat on the back or smile!  If it is negative, it is time to break that loop!  Something that Tom Bilyue from Impact Theory recommends is physically saying out loud, “I only do and believe that which serves me, that thought doesn’t serve me, so instead I will think (and then put in a positive thought).  This will feel funny at first, but I promise you that it works!
3. Do something for other people.  Even if it is a small act of service such as taking out the trash, do something to serve.  Doing this will make you feel good. 

Always Remember, You've Got This!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to Law 2 from John Maxwell's classic, The 15 invaluable laws of growth.  

John said that in all his years, he has noticed that there are three types of people in the world:

1. People who dont know what they would like to do —confused
2. People who know what they would like to do, but don’t do it —frustrated
3. People who know what they would like to do and do it —fulfilled

John then goes through a 10 question outline to help you find your passion and purpose.  A few of these are:

1. Do you like what you are doing?
2. What would you like to do?
3. Can you do what you'd like to do?

After thinking through all 10 questions, the following action steps will help guide you towards even greater clarity for where you want to go.

Action Steps:

1. Where do you want to go?  What is your dream.  Close your eyes and imagine it in vivid detail.  Now, write it down.
2. Where are you now?  Be brutally honest.
3. What skillsets do you need to acquire in order to bridge the gap between where you are and what you want to be.
4. What price are you willing to pay?  Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich talked deeply about this.
5. What can you start today?  Now, take action and do it!

Always Remember, You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to our new book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell.  In today's episode, we talk over John's credentials, the introduction of the book, and then Law #1: intentionality.  

Growth doesn't just happen.  In order to achieve the maximum amount of growth, intention must be applied.

There are several gaps we as a human race gravitate towards which sabotage us from living the best versions of our lives.  We go through these in detail throughout the episode. 

If you have decided to make the transition to intentional personal growth, ask how far you can go, focus on the journey rather than the destination, do something now as a sense of urgency is valuable, and face any fears you may have (and know that fear is totally normal to experience.)

For today's actions steps: 

1. Do you have a plan for personal development? If not, think about people you look up to, and ask what specifically about them you admire. From this list, picture yourself with everyone of those traits.
2. Listen to the gaps that are the most common again.  Which ones do you trend to most?  Whenever you have these thoughts again, tell yourself (outloud!) that they are lies. 
3. Face your fears, and do something now.  Motivation is a lie, and you’ll only start to feel it once you see progress towards these goals. 

Shoremates, thank you for joining me on another episode and always remember,

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to the end of our first book.

Chapter 10 is entitled the clay tablets from Babylon, and goes over the method which Dabasir used to get out of debt.

Tablet 1: states his purpose and plan
Tablet 2: states when he'll pay and how much
Tablets 3-5: how his debt pay off journey went

Chapter 11 is entitled the luckiest man in Babylon, and speaks of how Sharru Nada got out of slavery due to the help of Arad Gula.  Arad's grandson, Hadan, was at Sharru's side and he was debating how to convey how important work was to the soul and to future prosperity. 

Action Steps for today:

1. Write down a list of all debts that you owe, along with the monthly payments.
2. Rework your budget so that 10% is for you to keep, 20% pays off debts, and 70% pays for your lifestyle.  If you dont have enough, consider ways to make more money (get more hours at work, side hustles) or reduce your expenditures. 
3. What are your thoughts on work? Do you think it is below you, or do you consider it to be your friend? Why?
4. Think about a time you shirked in your work or had a bitter attitude.  What was the result?  What was the result when you worked hard with a good attitude?
5. Reward Yourself.  You just finished the timeless classic, the richest man in babylon. 

Always Remember, You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to part 7 of the Richest Man in Babylon where we go through chapters 8 and 9: the Walls of Babylon and the Camel Trader of Babylon.

Banzar was an old warrior who had been through numerous battles with the king.  He did not go out with the main armies, and was part of the defending regiment when the Assyrians came from the North to attack the walls of Babylon.

Banzar would be the go between with information from the civilians to the soldiers. Whenever a civilian would approach him and ask about the progress, the answer would be the same: be of good heart, the walls of Babylon will protect you.  The message was simple...we cannot afford to be without adequate protection.

Chapter 9 introduced to us Tarkad and Dabasir.  Tarkad owed Dabasir (and many others) money.  Dabasir came across his path, took him aside, and told him of a story when he was a slave.   

Dabasir was born a free man, but lived without restraint, lost everything he had, became a robber, and then was sold into slavery.  During this time, he woke up and took off the victim mentality lens of life, and came across the following message: where the determination is, the way can be found. 

Action Items:

1. If something happened to you today, would your family be ok?  Over $1 billion in insurance goes unclaimed each year because their family doesn’t know about it.  Do your family members know how to access it?  
2. Do you have savings account in place for a rainy day?  How much do you need in savings for 1 month rainy day fun?  Expand to 2, 3, 6 months, then 1 year.
3. What lens are you looking through for life? The soul of a free person, or that of a slave?  Be brutally honest.  Do you have reasons (excuses) for why things aren’t going your way in life, or do you seek to be a problem solver?
4. Define several problems (opportunities) you’re currently facing, different ways you think you could solve them, and how you would feel if you solved them and what it would mean for you.

Always Remember,

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to the next part of the life changing book, Richest Man in Babylon.

The two main characters in this chapter are Rodan, the spear maker, and Mathon, the money lender.  Rodan is having a massive internal conflict because he just received 50 years worth of savings from the king as a reward, doesn't know how to invest it, and people are asking for it as an investment for other business ideas.

In this episode, we talk through the money lender's response to situations similar to the above, and talk through a story about an ox and a donkey. The lesson from the story is this: if you desire to help your friend, do so in a way that will not bring your friend’s burdens upon yourself.

3 types of loans talked about during this episode are personal property (collateral), assured earning capacity (yearly salary), and the cosign only loans.  

The main idea of this chapter is "Better a little caution, than a great regret!"

Action steps:

1. Are there any ways that you have become like the donkey in the story, unintentionally taking on someone else's burden?
2. If the answer is yes, let go of resentment and anger.  Forgive them.  Forgiveness is for you (this doesn't mean you trust them.)
3. Spend several minutes thinking about everything you are grateful for in extreme detail.  This allows your mind to open up and think creatively.
4. Brainstorm ways to free yourself from any burden you've taken on for friends or family members.

I truly hope this provided value to you today.  Always remember, you've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to Part 5 in our Richest Man in Babylon Series.

Today, we go over chapters 5 and 6.

Chapter 5 is "Meet the Goddess of luck."  The main takeaway from this is that luck does not actually exist.  One famous quote about luck is that "the harder I work, the more luck I have."  Luck comes by being at the right place, at the right time, with the right people. The means you need to become the right person, being with the right people, hanging out at the right places, and then when opportunity comes, take quick and immediate massive action.

Chapter 6 talks about the 5 laws of gold.  These laws are:

1. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than 1/10th of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.
2. Gold labors diligently and contented for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
3. Gold clings to the protection of the caution owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling
4. Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep
5. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follows the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers, or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.

Action steps for today:

1. Is there anything you're procrastinating on that you need to take immediate action on, that would improve your life?
2. Is the above activity actually worth it?  Is the reward worth the pain?  What are the emotions you would feel once it is achieved? 
3. Do you need to go get a job (or another one) to help save 10% until you can have enough that you can take immediate massive action on an opportunity once it shows itself?

Always Remember, 

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to Part 4 in the Richest Man in Babylon.

In this episode, we go through the next three cures to a lean purse:

5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment
6. Insure a future income
7. Increase thy ability to earn

Action steps:

1. Are you making the most of your current living situation?  Can you rent your land out?  How can you leverage what you currently own?
2. Insure your future income.  Spend time thinking about the lifestyle you want when you're older and ask yourself how much that will cost.  From there, work backwards and ask how you can make passive income to support that lifestyle?
3. What can you learn today, that by implementing immediately (massive action) will make you more valuable and therefor increase your chances of achieving your goals?

Always remember, 

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Greetings, Shoremates!

Welcome to part 3 of Richest Man in Babylon.

In this episode, we transition to the king of Babylon wondering why the wealth of the many has trickled into the pockets of the few.

He summoned Arkad and demanded to know how this man had become so wealthy, when he had such humble beginnings. 

Arkad had a few simple answers:

THE FIRST CURE: START THY PURSE TO FATTENING.
THE SECOND CURE: CONTROL THY EXPENDITURES
THE THIRD CURE: MAKE THY GOLD MULTIPLY
THE FOURTH CURE: GAURD THY TREASURES FROM LOSS

(there were more cures, which will be talked about in the next episode)

Action Steps:

1. If you haven't done so already, look into your budget/spending plan and find a way to save 10% for future investment opportunities.
2. Everything you're doing, is there a way to cash flow from it? Can you leverage whatever it is to get monthly, quarterly, or annual payouts?
3. If you have an investment opportunity available, brainstorm how you can ensure your principle is kept safe.

This was a lot, shoremates, but I promise if you go through and do these action steps, it will be well worth your time.

Always remember,

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott

Shoremates,

Welcome to part 2 of the Richest Man in Babylon!

Did you do the action steps for yesterday?  If not, it'll be well worth your time and is highly recommended to get the most out of this book.

Some pain points that we talk about during this episode are:

1. fickle fate is described as a viscous goddess who brings no permanent good to anyone.  She brings ruin upon almost every man to whom she showers unearned money and spend recklessly. Still others become misers and hoard all their wealth, living a life of fear and secret misery.
2. As for time, all men and women have it in abundance when they look for it, and have allowed sufficient amounts of time to slip past their fingers to make them ultra wealthy.

Some lessons learned when Algamish checked in on Arkad are:

1. Live upon less than you earn.
2. Seek advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to give it.
3. Learned to make money work for you.

Action Steps: 

1. Think about investments you've made in the past. Were the people who told you about them credible in those areas?
2. Are there any current opportunities that you can see? Are these opportunities from credible sources? If so, what are the action steps needed to take part of the opportunity?
3. Go through your finances (ouch!!) and see what changes you need to make in order to keep 10% and save up for future opportunities.

Always remember,

You've got this!

J.D. Elliott