When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How To Stick Their Necks Out [Paperback]

Nikki Stone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 2010

Did you know you have better odds at winning the lottery than an Olympic medal?  To bring home one of those coveted medals—or achieve any great personal goal in life—you need a lot more than luck.  You need a game plan.  What if you could learn the secrets of success from an Olympian?  A Nobel Prize winner?  A Fortune 500 CEO?  Along with anecdotes from her own dramatic journey, Olympic gold medalist Nikki Stone has compiled a treasure trove of compelling stories to illustrate each step on the path to success.  She’s gathered humorous, heartwarming and hugely inspirational tales from some of today’s most brilliant business leaders, scientists, soldiers, inventors, philanthropists, musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs…a host of people whose very names epitomize achievement.  Winners such as:

Designer Tommy Hilfiger, Prince Albert of Monaco, X-Games/Olympic Champ Shaun White, Best-selling author Stephen Covey, Jazz musician Branford Marsalis, Olympic skiing Star Lindsey Vonn, Special Olympic Chair Timothy Shriver, Top venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, NFL quarterback SteveYoung, Celebrity chef Todd English, Perfect ‘10’ gymnast Nadia Comanecin , And many more…

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

  Did you know you have better odds at winning the lottery than an Olympic medal?  To bring home one of those coveted medals—or achieve any great personal goal in life—you need a lot more than luck.  You need a game plan.  What if you could learn the secrets of success from an Olympian?  A Nobel Prize winner?  A Fortune 500 CEO?  Along with anecdotes from her own dramatic journey, Olympic gold medalist Nikki Stone has compiled a treasure trove of compelling stories to illustrate each step on the path to success.  She’s gathered humorous, heartwarming and hugely inspirational tales from some of today’s most brilliant business leaders, scientists, soldiers, inventors, philanthropists, musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs…a host of people whose very names epitomize achievement. 

About the Author

 

 

At the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Nikki Stone became America’s first-ever Olympic Champion in the sport of inverted aerial skiing. What made this performance so unbelievable, was the fact that less than two years earlier, a chronic spinal injury prevented her from standing, much less walking or skiing off a 12-foot tall snow jump that launches aerialists 50 feet into the air.  This top spot was far from foreign to Nikki, as throughout her career she earned 35 World Cup medals, eleven World Cup titles, four national titles, two yearlong Aerial World Cup titles, and a World Championship title.  You may have seen Nikki in one of her televised commercials or in one of her many television appearances on shows like Late Night with David Letterman and the Today Show.  In addition to her skiing endeavors, Nikki is also a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Union College in New York and a Suma Cum Laude  masters graduate of the University of Utah.  Her aerial retirement is less than restful as she works as a personal & professional development coach, trains other Olympic athletes in speaking skills, hosts group skiing adventures, sits on 5 different sports and philanthropic Committees, and authored the highly anticipated book, "When Turtles Fly".Stone now travels around the world working as a sought-after inspirational speaker, sharing her secrets to success.  She encourages and inspires her audiences to "Spread their wings." 

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing (January 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600376754
• ISBN-13: 978-1600376757
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #763,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

At the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Nikki Stone became America's first-ever Olympic champion in the sport of aerial skiing. What made this performance so unbelievable was the fact that, less than two years earlier, a chronic spinal injury prevented her from standing, much less walking or skiing off a twelve-foot-tall snow jump that launches aerialists fifty feet into the air. She overcame the injury and went on to earn 35 World Cup medals, 11 World Cup titles, 4 national titles, 3 World Cup titles, a World Championship title, and membership in the Ski Hall of Fame. Nikki is also a magna cum laude graduate of Union College and a summa cum laude masters graduate of the University of Utah. Her aerial retirement is less than restful as she trains Olympic athletes and business professionals in speaking/media skills, coaches personal and professional development courses, hosts group skiing adventures, sits on five different charitable committees, and writes articles and colums for many magazines, newspapers, and websites. Nikki's career focus is now on traveling around the world working as a sought-after motivational speaker, sharing her secrets to success by inspiring her business audiences to "Stick their necks out." Every spare moment is spent with husband, Michael Spencer, and daughter, Zali, in Park City, Utah.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired by the "Turtle Effect", February 21, 2010

By 

Tony Deblauwe (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How To Stick Their Necks Out (Paperback)

I love learning from the wisdom of others - sages that have turned their dreams into successful opportunities especially when others could not see the vision. Nikki Stone captures the unique stories of several successful entrepreneurs including Tommy Hilfiger, Shaun White, Stephen Covey and gold medalist Lindsey Vonn. Stone, an Olympic gold medalist herself in aerial skiing, understands what peak performance is all about and channels that in her research of other successful people.
Stone's mother taught her at a young age - you have to be soft inside, but have a tough outer shell and never be afraid to stick your neck out. That is the essence of the flying turtle - and the heart of her book - being excellent and driving for your best performance can propel you to extraordinary possibilities.

The book offers coaching exercises as key takeaways from each profile. For instance, following the story for Lindsey Vonn and the tough training and injuries sustained building up to excellence - she had to do things she didn't like to do. The message - rather than putting off the things you don't like doing, dive right into them, overcome them, and find your passion to build your soft inside.

Some of the other coaching takeaways include:

Create a list of positive words that can turn you around when you hit a rough patch
Take note of your key accomplishments and why they were successful
Connect to childhood dreams
Change your routine
Tackle the baby steps, not the giant tasks right away (pace yourself)
Focus on questions not answers
Know your root focus and why you have it
Organize, prioritize, and stay on track to avoid downward spirals

All of the stories and tips drive the core principles of the book around Passion, Focus, Commitment, Overcoming Adversities, Confidence, Risk, and Teamwork. The support of others through the personal journey of finding the soft inside and being inspired by others creates an attitude and way of being that Stone coins the "Turtle Effect." Being in the right zone of controlling yourself in your environment maintains peak performance. The effect was great enough that is was instrumental in helping Stone's parents survive cancer.

This book will inspire you. It will make you think about who you are and where you're at in a way that will ignite your drive to chase your dreams and fulfill your goals. All the profiles showcased outline the core principles of success and that anybody can make it no matter the background, conditions, or timing. Even better reason to love this book - 25% of the net proceeds are donated to the American Cancer Society.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical, inspirational and memorable, April 25, 2010

By 

Amy D. Cooper "Amy McAuliffe Cooper" (Ellicott City, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How To Stick Their Necks Out (Paperback)

Nikki Stone has crafted an original, inspirational, and practical guide to help you better yourself. The Turtle analogy is brilliant. Simple, memorable and easy to explain. I found the book fun to read. The stories were engaging and provided concrete examples of how to employ the Turtle philosophy.

Nikki's honesty in telling her tale is refreshing. She is one who appreciates all that she has worked so hard to accomplish yet she still desires to improve the lives of those around her by sharing her means to obtaining her success.

As a Career Advisor, I recommend this book to clients when someone is looking to make a change and needs to find the guts to stick their neck out to take appropriate risk to achieve their goals. I have given this book as a gift to many in my family, friends and book club. It is a book that I will read again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coaches & Educators Will Love This Book from Olympian Nikki Stone, April 12, 2010

By 

Jenny P. (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How To Stick Their Necks Out (Paperback)

I could not put this book down. As an online educator, consultant, and fitness coach, I have to lift up, motivate and lead countless people. This book provides me with endless ideas for helping others overcome mental, physical and emotional hurdles. It fills me up with inspiration, energy and ideas. It's a reference tool I'm already using daily. Anyone could benefit from this book; it transcends all boundaries. It will permanently change your life and how you see things. Nikki Stone's book is a huge contribution to the world. This book will be a best-seller.