Tag Archive for: books

There's an old saying that says...

"If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!"

Brian Tracy says that your "frog" should be the most difficult item on your things to do list, the one you're most likely to procrastinate on; because, if you eat that first, it'll give you energy and momentum for the rest of the day. But, if you don't...and let him sit there on the plate and stare at you while you do a hundred unimportant things, it can drain your energy and you won't even know it.

In Eat That Frog!, Brian cuts to the core of what is vital to effective time management: decision, discipline and determination. In 21 practical steps, he will help you stop procrastinating and get more of the important tasks done...today!

Brian is one of America's leading authorities on development of human potential. He speaks to over 250,000 people a year and has written over 25 books. Eat That Frog! is an international best seller, with over 500,000 copies sold.

We're pleased to say, however, that Simple Truths has taken a great book, and well...made it better! How? We've made it a little shorter; a little more engaging with great graphics; a little more "giftable" with an embossed hard cover, and of course, packaging that can create a "wow" effect! In short, we've turned a great book into a great gift for employees, customers, friends and family.

Here's a small sampling in Brian's chapter titled: Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything. Enjoy!

An Excerpt from
Eat That Frog!
by Brian Tracy

The 80/20 Rule is one of the most helpful of all concepts of time and life management. It is also called the "Pareto Principle" after its founder, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who first wrote about it in 1895. Pareto noticed that people in his society seemed to divide naturally into what he called the "vital few", the top 20 percent in terms of money and influence, and the "trivial many", the bottom 80 percent.

He later discovered that virtually all economic activity was subject to this principle as well. For example, this principle says that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results, 20 percent of your customers will account for 80 percent of your sales, 20 percent of your products or services will account for 80 percent of your profits, 20 percent of your tasks will account for 80 percent of the value of what you do, and so on. This means that if you have a list of ten items to do, two of those items will turn out to be worth five or ten times or more than the other eight items put together.

Number of Tasks versus Importance of Tasks
Here is an interesting discovery. Each of the ten tasks may take the same amount of time to accomplish. But one or two of those tasks will contribute five or ten times the value of any of the others.
Often, one item on a list of ten tasks that you have to do can be worth more than all the other nine items put together. This task is invariably the frog that you should eat first.

Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments
The most valuable tasks you can do each day are often the hardest and most complex. But the payoff and rewards for completing these tasks efficiently can be tremendous. For this reason, you must adamantly refuse to work on tasks in the bottom 80 percent while you still have tasks in the top 20 percent left to be done.
Before you begin work, always ask yourself, "Is this task in the top 20 percent of my activities or in the bottom 80 percent?"

The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue. A part of your mind loves to be busy working on significant tasks that can really make a difference. Your job is to feed this part of your mind continually.

Motivate Yourself
Just thinking about starting and finishing an important task motivates you and helps you to overcome procrastination. Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next. And you are always free to choose the task that you will do next. Your ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key determinant of your success in life and work.

Effective, productive people discipline themselves to start on the most important task that is before them. They force themselves to eat that frog, whatever it is. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the average person and are much happier as a result. This should be your way of working as well.

For more information, to look inside this inspiring book or to watch the inspirational movie, just click here. => http://bit.ly/hl4vs6

The internet has become integral in the education of students of all ages across the world but it has become especially important in the reading development of young children. Children these days love to play games on the internet, even at a very young age, since computers and the internet are so easily accessible at home and at school. Many internet companies have turned their online games into learning modules for children, especially ones that teach reading and reading comprehension. Most of the reading websites that offer online reading for kids are free of charge, but some of the more involved ones offer subscriptions and different courses for teaching reading to children.

One of the best features of online reading for children is the fact that the websites and electronic books are offered in thousands of languages, which means that there are zero language barriers that can cause the child to struggle when learning to read. Most of the websites and books can either be translated into the child's language or purchased in the child's language without any problems. Another feature of online reading for kids is the ease of access should there not be any physical paperback or hardback books readily available for the child to use. Physical books are not always readily available, but online reading can be performed on computers, iPods, iPads, iPhones, BlackBerry smartphones, Android phones, laptops and eBook readers. This means that your child will be able to read online no matter where they are located.

Online reading for kids also includes picture books that are available on the internet. Picture books can help children with word association so they know what a dog, a cat, a cow and other animals are in relation to their names. The best way to learn a new language these days, no matter your age, is using the internet. The same can be said for children who are learning a second language. Hundreds of language teaching websites and eBooks are on the internet today that can teach kids who are using online reading as an education aid.

If your child is a very young learner, around the age of two, there are digitized audio books that can have the text read aloud while the child looks at the text on the screen. Hearing the text read aloud to them while looking at the text will help young children learn the sounds of words as well as what they look like as well. Cultural interest also helps online reading for kids because it lets them read works from other countries all over the world. Children will be able to see what other culture's literature is like and whether or not they use pictures too. Online reading for children has become an excellent method to teach young children the ins and outs of reading. This includes learning larger words, learning reading comprehension, learning to match pictures with words and learning proper grammar used in the United States today.

Nicole Roberts
Welcome to Reading Is Fun For All, inside you will discover an amazing selection of low priced and excellent quality online reading for kids.

The holiday break is a great time to put your nose in a book. The Herald's literary editor, Susan Wyndham, lists 15 Australian classics for your consideration. => http://bit.ly/er0TrL

he Finnish Library Association celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010. On the occasion of the anniversary The Finnish Library Association wants to promote the important role of the libraries in cultural upbringing. The short film ‘Like Father, Like Son’ was originally produced for television but the Finnish and English versions are free to be diffused on the Internet.

Originally posted here...http://bit.ly/h6Fqr5

The Finnish Library Association celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010. On the occasion of the anniversary The Finnish Library Association wants to promote the important role of the libraries in cultural upbringing. The short film ‘Like Father, Like Son’ was originally produced for television but the Finnish and English versions are free to be diffused on the Internet.

Originally posted here...http://bit.ly/h6Fqr5

A submarine once seemed about as ridiculously impossible as an invisibility cloak seems today. But while technologies like the submarine, bomb, radar and tank once captured the imagination of science fiction authors, science has brought them to the mainstream awareness. Researchers are continuing to catch up with imagination, and it’s only a matter of time before the technologies we still consider fiction meet a similar fate.

=> http://on.mash.to/dNJU3g

Writing Great Speeches: Professional Techniques You Can Use (Part of the Essence of Public Speaking Series) 

by Alan M. Perlman

With endorsements from two of the largest and most influential public speaking groups -- the National Speakers Association and Toastmasters International -- this book is written by an expert speechwriter whose eloquent voice leads readers through the difficult process of writing a great speech. In these pages a seasoned speechwriter reveals his trade secrets - from analyzing the needs of an audience to leaving them with a satisfying sense of closure - as he guides readers through the process of planning, writing, and honing an outstanding speech.

Literacise_100309.jpg

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Kids, ballerinas from the South Shore Ballet Theatre, who performed at the opening celebration, and a large white rabbit checked out the exhibit.

Exercise at the library? It may sound kid of odd. But organizers of the "Literacise" event today at the Boston Public Library say that when kids exercise, it may make them better able to focus their minds and sit down and read.

Bring award-winning novels to life with this interactive middle school language arts curriculum. Kaleidoscope presents a movie theatre interface for learning about language and literature. Students visit the box office and start with the activity in Movie Theatre 1. Then they complete all six activities in order. In the activities, students study the characters and create a movie poster to promote the book.
http://bit.ly/fKr5om