Everything I Know Kindle Edition

Paul's methods obviously served him well. He lets people know that it takes sacrifice to make something great. This is great advice, as so many people want to wake up tomorrow and have what they want. Any successful person has had to make some sacrifices to get what they have (unless they have inherited it!).

The other bit of great advice is that just because someone else failed at their "experiments" it doesn't mean that you should chuck the idea. Your results may be completely different. Again, many people look at someone who tried and failed, and then say, "Well, I won't do that, it didn't work for that person!" and they would be so terribly mistaken.

Another is the advice to "Stop chasing perfection." A lot of people make this mistake.

Ok, I've told you what I liked, now onto what I think is poor advice: #1 No Goals. Paul, if you needed to be in San Francisco for a business meeting by 2 PM, would you buy a ticket on a plane where the captain comes on the PA and says, "Folks, I've just read this book by Paul Jarvis and I've decided I am not going to have any goals. I know you were all expecting to go to SF, but ef it, I'm just going to fly around and see where the wind carries us. I don't have a bloody clue where we'll end up, so sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride!"

Of course you wouldn't. We all need goals. Now Paul might give them another name, but let me tell you this: without goals, you are doomed to failure. You have to meet financial goals to pay your overhead and your own bills. Without a goal, you are nothing more than a wandering generality.

#2: He eschews promotion. He feels you should get good at what you do via iteration and innovation and not constantly promote yourself. That's great...if you are independently wealthy. Everyone needs SOME type of promotion in order to find customers. Being great at something without any one knowing about it is like peeing yourself in a dark suit: it gives you a warm feeling, but no one else knows about it. So I'm going to disagree...you need SOME type of promotion. I will agree that people can fritter away time on social media that could be better used getting better at what they do, but I am always a bit leery when someone says, "Just do the best you can and people will notice you." I've seen a lot of talented people end up working at fast food jobs because they failed to get the word out.

But Paul does have good advice for you, and I'll leave you with one of his best: "You are responsible for the work you put into the world, so why not make that work great?"

Good read, not stuffy, you'll enjoy it. Not sure why someone gave it just one star, but hey, to each their own.

It took me FOREVER to get through this book. Not because it sucked, but because it rocked! I was constantly making notes, scribbling this and scribbling that, pausing for reflection and drumming up action steps to integrate what I’ve learned.

I could go on and on and on about this book, but to keep it somewhat readable, below are just a few of my tippity top favorites of this book.

The future isn’t now.
Well this was a breath of fresh air. Contrary to what the “experts’’ tell us, I was thrilled with the author's perspective and recommendation to not focus on those long term goals, but rather the work at hand, now. Every time I take a course or attend a seminar and I'm asked to write my 5 -10 year goals, it frustrates me. I don’t know what my 5-10 year goals are! I don’t even know what I’m having for dinner later! It takes so much work and pretend psychic powers to try and narrow down just where in life I will be a decade from now.

I either really admire or hate those people that know themselves so well, that they can practically carve it in stone where they will be a decade from now. I can’t decide how I feel about them exactly. But me? Like the seasons, I am constantly changing. My goals, my dreams, they are always evolving. Sometimes getting clearer and clearer, sometimes getting completely scratched off and forgotten. This author is the FIRST person that I have come across who hasn’t pushed making 5-10 year goals as part of their business mantra. The first! I wanted to cry out of relief when I read that chapter. That’s when I went to his website and signed up for his newsletter. After reading that chapter, I felt like he “got” me, and I knew he was some kind of awesome.

Why pushing is so important.
Paul says, “I’m not satisfied with anything, ever so I feel like I need to keep stretching or I’ll die a stagnant, uncreative death.”

To this I share the one quote that sums me up the best, the reason why I continue to push through the fear even though my secretly introverted ego tried its hardest to stop me…

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that
without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”― Pearl S. Buck

Basically what I’m trying to say…I hear ya brotha. Me too. Me too.

Fall out of love note
What a beautiful reminder of the number one most important rule of business (to me anyways)…Authenticity. Be authentic, be you. I remember my first negative nancy comment about my health coaching approach. “You curse too much. People are put off by that.” It was a small jab really, but it was enough criticism to initiate 5 minutes of back and forth mental banter “should I stop cursing so much? Maybe I would have more clients if I toned it down a bit. Maybe if I was a bit gentler, not so rough around the edges. Maybe I should try to be more of an every person sort of coach”

After those 5 minutes were up and I shook off the trail of fear and resistance, I remembered something clearly, I don’t want to appeal to everyone, I don’t even like everyone. I only want to appeal to a certain demographic. If I start to be like the other cookie cutter coaches with their sweethearts, and magical unicorn stuff (not that there is anything wrong with this approach if its works for them, it just doesn’t work for ME) all of the sudden I'm gonna be in competition with them! Foget that! I eliminate my competition by being ME and appealing to the people that need someone like me. My people, my small army. The author's love note is a sweet and blunt reminder to be authentic, one I will surely refer back to when the doubts creep in.

I could go on and on about the awesomeness of this book, but it’s just me repeating myself using a different words so I’ll wrap it up. This book is one of my favorite “business” books. Overall, Paul's consistent mantra of doing work that is aligned with your values is just plain beautiful. Brilliant in it's own simple way. You would think doing work that resonates with us would be common sense, but it's one of the greatest struggles that we face. That and saying no to projects that consume our time and divert from what we truly want to work on.

His book had all the makings of a guilty pleasure: delicious, captivating, and ya just can’t break away from it! All wrapped up in lingo that the average Joes and Janes can easily comprehend. Well done.

Highly recommend if you didn't figure that out by now.