Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary [Hardcover]

David Cottrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2008

Learn to make the right decisions to achieve greater success

Each of us has a different idea of success. Whether you strive for money, power, happiness, or love, your personal choices, the actions you take, and the relationships you choose to invest time and energy in, will determine whether you reach your goals. Internationally recognized leadership coach David Cottrell will show you how to make the right choices, even when they’re hard.

There are character choices that define the person you will be on the road to success. Cottrell shows you how to make The No-Victim Choice to overcome roadblocks, and The Integrity Choice, to listen to your gut and do the right thing, even when it’s not the easiest thing to do.

There are action choices you make to continue on your path to success. The Persistence Choice encourages you to bounce back from failure and learn lessons that will lead to your future success. The Do-Something Choice lets you to stop dreaming and start doing the things that will make you happy and successful.

Finally, you make investment choices about the people you spend time with and develop relationships with. The Relationship Choice teaches you to invest your time in other successful people in order to contribute to your own future success.

Learn to make all these choices and many more in Monday Morning Choices, and find yourself on the fast track to success!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Leadership consultant Cottrell's latest packs a positive punch in surprisingly few pages. Though Cottrell (Monday Morning Mentoring), president and CEO of CornerStone Leadership Institute, focuses on states of mind that most people should logically be aiming to attain, each chapter feels like a life lesson learned anew. On reading that one should not remain in a victim mindset, it becomes clear how easy it is to descend into that why me? state of mind and readers are motivated to start thinking differently. This first choice sets the stage for a string of positive choices that Cottrell divides into character choices, action choices and investment choices, which include commitment to your goals and taking action instead of saying someday. Presented in short sections with lots of bullet points, Cottrell's advice sometimes reads like a gallery of motivational posters (choose commitment! don't beat yourself up for falling short!), sensible if not original. According to Cottrell, the way one experiences life can easily be controlled by mind power alone. Hopefully, the reader won't be inclined to put off following his advice. (Jan.)
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Review

“I’m always skeptical of self-help manuals...but I’ll occasionally encounter one that rises above the genre. This is, thankfully, among those. . . . Cottrell has a wise and light touch, employs language well and keeps everything simple and meaningful without preaching or proselytizing.” (Richard Pachter, Miami Herald )

“Cottrell’s message: You are far too talented to be average. Get out of the passenger seat; get behind the wheel and drive to success.” (Chicago Daily Herald )

“In an easy, readable style David Cottrell identifies the essentials for quality leadership and management. Don’t miss Monday Morning Mentoring!” (Ken Blanchard, Co-Author The One Minute Manager® and The Secret )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness; 1 edition (January 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061451916
• ISBN-13: 978-0061451911
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Business Writing

More About the Author

David Cottrell is a premier authority on leadership and an internationally known speaker, author and business executive.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Covers a lot of ground..., February 5, 2008

By 

D. Kanigan (CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary (Hardcover)

I am a huge fan of the author's "Monday Morning Leadership" book which I recommend often to managers as part of leadership training. "Monday Morning Leadership" focused on a few core leadership requirements and went deep with rationale, anecdotes and action steps to drive the point home. I was therefore looking forward to this book with anticipation. In this book, the author breaks out 12 choices that would lead one to greater success. These choices are broken out into three categories - Character, Action and Investments. Like his previous works, Cottrell has crisp writing and thinking peppered nicely with colorful examples. However, in my opinion, he covers an overly ambitious amount of ground on complex "choices" in this 180-page book - an inch deep and a mile wide - leaving me wanting for more.

A) Character Choices

1) The No Victim Choice...Don't Let Your Past Eat Your Future
2) The Commitment Choice...Be Passionate Enough to Succeed
3) The Values Choice...Choose the Right Enemies
4) The Integrity Choice...Do the Right Thing

B)Action Choices

5) The Do-Something Choice...Don't Vacation on "Someday Isle"
6) The Persistence Choice...Learn from Failure
7) The Attitude Choice - Take the Enthusiastic Approach
8) The Adversity Choice - Conquer Difficult Times

C)Investment Choices

9) The Relationship Choice
10) The Criticism Choice...embrace tough learning
11) The Reality Choice...Face the Truth
12) The Legacy Choice...Give Your Gift

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for all reasons, all seasons and everyone you love, February 6, 2008

By 

Ronald T. Adams (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary (Hardcover)

David Cottrell is a no-holds barred writer who boils it down where every area he covers has straight-forward clarity. I've read several of his books, including Monday Morning Leadership, Monday Morning Communications and The Next Level.

I first heard about Monday Morning Choices when the CEO of the company where I work began holding weekly meetings, going over each of the choice areas. We applied them to our worklife as well as our personal life and, I -- along with my colleagues -- began seeing remarkable differences in our effectiveness, productivity and our outlooks.

The difference was remarkable enough to buy books for every member of my team and I have continued the Monday Morning Meetings. However, the most unexpected results came when I left some extra copies at home -- and my high school senior "helped herself" and began reading.

Her evaluation of the book was unexpected. "Dad, I want copies of this book for some of my friends. This will help when we go off to college next year. As a result, we've purchased more than a dozen copies of Monday Morning Choices for early graduation gifts.

These days, we're confronted with many choices. Some we get to think about while others are made at a moment's notice. This book provides some time to think...about the important choices, not only in the workplace but in life, as well.

Because I've now read through Monday Morning Choices three times, I think I'm not only more effective at work and at home but I'm also more balanced.

I hope to meet David Cottrell some day so I can thank him in person for the changes I've witnessed and experienced because of this powerful and thought-provoking book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great pick-me-up, July 10, 2009

By 

Kerry S. "gen x'er" (Cleveland, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monday Morning Choices: 12 Powerful Ways to Go from Everyday to Extraordinary (Hardcover)

Good advice condensed into a nice little volume.This book reminds us where we can go wrong and makes use of some great stories and anecdotes to get the point across. A list of inspiring quotes end each chapter. This book would be great to keep in your night stand and pull out during those times when you are meditating about life, just to see how you measure up. A gently inspiring and motivating read.