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This week’s classic old favourite is from Nancy Cato

All the Rivers Run

A tale of romance and adventure, this is the story of Philadelphia Gordon, Philadelphia Gordon is an artist, a riverboat skipper and a beautiful, independent woman. Orphaned by a shipwreck, Philadelphia grows up on the banks of her beloved Murray River in Australia with her kindly uncle and strict aunt, seemingly destined for a conventional life. But then tragedy changes everything, and leads her to a successful career as a painter, and then to a meeting with the dashing captain of the paddle-steamer which bears her name. Cato's previous books include "A Distant Land", "Brown Sugar" and "The Heart of the Continent".

more here => http://bit.ly/aFZtOX

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The Power of committing to writing and paper … “Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It “

Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It 

by Henriette Anne Klauser
 
Here, Klauser (Writing on Both Sides of the Brain; Put Your Heart on Paper) instructs her readers to write down their most extravagant wishes and, merely by the act of recording them, make them come true. She claims that the writings themselves are so powerful that they will influence external circumstances. Eventually, however, she reveals that this wish-writing is neither magical nor miraculous. It requires practitioners not only to write their wishes but also to participate actively in achieving them. Her technique is intended to clarify goals, increase self-confidence, and dispel self-doubt, and she describes how it has dramatically improved her life and the lives of her friends and acquaintances. Her faith in the power of writing is evident in her work; readers who share her faith may benefit from her prescribed course of wish fulfillment.
"Klauser's advice is eye-opening and contagious enough to make you pull out a notebook and pen, even as you read." ~~Verna Noel Jones Rocky Mountain News 

Publisher's Recommended Retail Price is $15.00

Pivotal Gold Rewards members get a 10% discount off that publisher's price. (Membership is free)

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Presenting naked?

From the Pivotal Public Speaking email package ... a book ...

The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations with or without Slides
by Garr Reynolds

When we learn to present naked, we reach our audiences by communicating the essence of the message, stripping away all that is unnecessary and embracing the ideas of simplicity, clarity, honesty, integrity, and passion. If "slideware" is used, the slides never steal the show or rise above serving a strong but simple supportive role. The ideas in the presentation may or may not be radical, earth shattering, or new, but there is freshness to the approach and content that makes a lasting impression.

Read more ... http://bit.ly/ewrrwk

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The Power of Focus

In the past 30 years, this author has been involved in 3 successful start-up companies and each became a leader in its niche.

He says he went through many peaks, valleys and learned many lessons along the way. So, in writing You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School he distilled all he learned into 28 simple truths of leadership.

Enjoy this chapter titled: "If You Chase Two Rabbits, Both Will Escape."

An excerpt from

You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School
by Mac Anderson

At Successories in 1997, I learned about the power of focus the hard way. I didn't - and I paid the price. Golf was the hot sport because Tiger Woods had just come on the scene. We decided to purchase a small catalog company called British Links, a leader in golf art and golf gifts. The logic was simple:
1. We understood the specialty catalog business, and were already mailing 20 million catalogs a year.
2. We understood the wall décor/framing business. Successories had become one of the largest framers in the country and half of the British Links' sales were from framed wall décor.
I won't bore you with the details of why this venture flopped, but within three years we sold the golf company for next to nothing. However, the most devastating part of the deal was not the money we lost from the sale of British Links, but the momentum we had lost growing Successories, our core business.
In hindsight, I was an idiot! It was like Ray Kroc saying, after having opened twenty McDonald's, it's time to get into the pizza business. Many other businesses - like Starbucks and FedEx - focused their way to success. Repeat after me,

LESS IS MORE,

LESS IS MORE...

You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School is loaded with stories that are shared in a brief, but engaging way. Because I truly believe that many times it's not what you say, but how you say it that turns the switch from "off" to "on."

For more information, to look inside this book or to view the 3 minute inspirational movie, just click here.

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Your weekend read – for managers – First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently


Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman expose the fallacies of standard management thinking in First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. In seven chapters, the two consultants for the Gallup Organization debunk some dearly held notions about management, such as "treat people as you like to be treated"; "people are capable of almost anything"; and "a manager's role is diminishing in today's economy." "Great managers are revolutionaries," the authors write. "This book will take you inside the minds of these managers to explain why they have toppled conventional wisdom and reveal the new truths they have forged in its place."
The authors have culled their observations from more than 80,000 interviews conducted by Gallup during the past 25 years. Quoting leaders such as basketball coach Phil Jackson, Buckingham and Coffman outline "four keys" to becoming an excellent manager: Finding the right fit for employees, focusing on strengths of employees, defining the right results, and selecting staff for talent--not just knowledge and skills. First, Break All the Rules offers specific techniques for helping people perform better on the job. For instance, the authors show ways to structure a trial period for a new worker and how to create a pay plan that rewards people for their expertise instead of how fast they climb the company ladder. "The point is to focus people toward performance," they write. "The manager is, and should be, totally responsible for this." Written in plain English and well organized, this book tells you exactly how to improve as a supervisor. --Dan Ring => http://amzn.to/fg2GUF

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Today's Book Club Read – The Lake of Dreams


The Lake of Dreams
by Kim Edwards
At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home to upstate New York from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago.  With her signature gifts of lyricism, suspense, and masterly storytelling, Kim Edwards's new novel will delight those who loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter and mesmerize millions of new fans.
You can get the link to the Discussion notes here => http://bit.ly/h0KC8o
(This is one of the books from the email package: Pivotal Books ezine. You can read the current issue here => http://bit.ly/h0KC8o )

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Today’s Book Club Read – The Lake of Dreams

The Lake of Dreams

by Kim Edwards

At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home to upstate New York from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago.  With her signature gifts of lyricism, suspense, and masterly storytelling, Kim Edwards's new novel will delight those who loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter and mesmerize millions of new fans.

You can get the link to the Discussion notes here => http://bit.ly/h0KC8o

(This is one of the books from the email package: Pivotal Books ezine. You can read the current issue here => http://bit.ly/h0KC8o )

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Books for flood-stricken school

The librarian of a flood-stricken Queensland school was moved to tears last week by the generosity of Blackheath Public School captain Brendan Davis, whose love of reading is the inspiration behind a book drive to help students north of the border => http://bit.ly/eNUM62

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Thought for Thursday – the safety of books

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan

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From Pivotal Inspiration – Choose to Finish Strong

When faced with adversity, do you lie down or do you fight?

Do you make the most of each day?

What will your legacy be?

When adversity strikes, it's not what happens that determines our destiny; it's how we react.

You have to believe you can do something and then have the courage and determination to see it through. That's what Finish Strong by Dan Green is all about. The book is filled with amazing stores about people from all walks of life who, in the face of adversity, against all odds...finished strong!

Finish Strong is more than a statement...it's an attitude. Today, I'd like to share one of the stories from the book about Miles Levin, a teenager, who despite his terminal cancer chose to persevere and inspire thousands by making each day count.

=> http://bit.ly/eKmDGk