The beginning of November I decided to start going back to school. I mapped my dream education which included certificates and three degrees in that order. Well, life happens. My order is changing and thatâs okay because this is my education and I am in control of it.
I wanted to become absorbed in computer science and code before I got to the business side of things. But, I am at a point in my life where I need the business education before I can dive into my beloved computer science. So, after one week of going hard on certificates, I am making a pivot into business.
You can see my business curriculum on my Business Degree page. I am putting together a mock Business degree with a concentration in Informations Systems Management using MOOCs and online free resources. My education will be 100% free.
Today is my first day in my Business DECODEING Degree. Aka, my fake, internet degree. Same education, same quality as a college degree, but without the actual degree or accreditation.
The first two courses I am focusing on are Sociology and College Algebra. I know that some of my courses are going to be math heavy and since I was not the best at math and since I haven't done math classes in YEARS, I am taking this algebra course to brush up on things. I will be taking my time one it because it's a foundation class. If you have a strong foundation, everything on top will be sturdy and awesome, but if your foundation is weak, you're going to have a hard time balancing. So this is why I am going to really take my time with math so I absolutely understand it for future courses. I don't want to do accounting and statistics and be miserable and scrambling the whole time because my math isn't up to par.
Sociology is a humanities class that I absolutely do not have to take, but I am taking anyway because it seems interesting. See how my education is flexible to my wants and needs? I can learn anything I want at any time that I want. I also paired Sociology with College Algebra because I deemed Sociology as an easy class. Whereas Algebra might kick my ass. That's how I will be doing my education. Hard classes paired with easy classes. So, I get a breather while learning some tough concepts.
This is where my business DECODEING degree is starting and my goal is to finish these two courses by 2018. I have a month of full-time study and only two courses. So, this plan is doable.
If you would like to see how I am doing in these classes please see the posts below.
To supplement my real degree I have received years ago, I am completing a Front-End Website Development Certificate to get caught up in new frameworks that have been created since I graduated. Because the certificate over at FreeCodeCamp focuses on some heavy JavaScript, I decided to also read and follow along with a textbook.
I chose Eloquent JavaScript as the textbook because itâs an awesome project. The textbook is free to use, in the creative commons and can be accessed everywhere. There are problems for you to solve and it provides a decent solution checker to find the answers if you get stuck.
I got up to the middle of Chapter 4 this week. Chapter One started off on basic calculations that can be achieved through JavaScript. It was hinted that at this point, we could build a basic calculator. So, I started one.
You can check out my simple calculator project here.
Over the next chapters, there were the exercises. I have made a codepen for these exercises which you can see here.
This week, I hope to finish my calculator and make my exercise page more user-friendly.
I wanted to do a chapter a day (including the introduction) and be on chapter 8 by today, but, such as life, I had a major client website launch. I am still dealing with tweaking it out, so after a few more days, I can really get into it.
I am not starting this journey into diving head-first into a DECODEINGÂ Degree. I am going to get caught up in website development first.
As you can read on my Web Development page, there is a reason why I am pursuing to get certificates in skills I already have a degree for. I have a real Associateâs degree in Multimedia with a concentration in Web Development. But, I graduated in 2014. Being in a rapidly-advancing, tech field means that I constantly have to keep learning to keep up with the new techniques in web development.
Since Iâve been really into business for the last two years, I have fallen a bit behind in this area. So, the first leg of my online education involves catching up with the new technologies. The best way to do this is through certificates!
My certificate will be issued through FreeCodeCamp. They have an amazing, free curriculum that is easy to follow.
To supplement this course, which involves heavy JavaScript, I will be reading and following along with this free JavaScript textbook.
Since I already know most of the material and I have already completed half of this course already last year, I predict this will take me 41 days.
My deadline for this certificate is before the New Year.
/***** KEEP UP WITH MY LEARNING WITH THE POSTS BELOW *****/
Here are all my posts on what I did to complete this certificate. The posts below contain my notes, my thoughts, and my projects on the subject. I laid this out so anyone can learn along with me!
Week 1: Getting a Refresher in Eloquent JavaScript
Today is November 1st, and I told myself a few months ago that I would go back to school this November. I had an amazing plan drawn out to get my Bachelorâs degree in Business from Excelsior College. It would be amazing because it wouldâve been $5,000 and I wouldâve gotten it by self-studying in 8 months.
AMAZING, right?!? Only, I couldnât sleep on my decision. After spending a whole weekend planning out every single class, mapping out every single expense and matching up requirements, I decided that I didnât really want a traditional degree.
But yet, I always wanted one and I longed for it (an internal struggle). I have an Associateâs degree. It has gotten me very far and has provided me with enormous benefits, but I have an endless thirst for knowledge. This means that I wasnât satisfied with just an Associateâs degree.
So, since I really want the knowledge of a Bachelorâs degree but donât really want a traditional degree because higher education sucks, and I am already maxed out in student loans than what I could care for, I decided to give up my DIY degree. Instead, I am getting a DECODEING Degree.Â
Why DECODEING? Because I am decoding traditional colleges into a free and manageable form. Plus, I love to code, so the name was fitting.Â
I am taking free, online resources and putting together a mock Bachelorâs degree. So, Iâll get the same, exact knowledge without the debt, without a piece of paper and without a traditional structure. My mock degree will be completely free, and I will be able to âgo to classâ anywhere in the world since itâs all online. I will be able to completely learn on my own at my own pace, so Iâll be able to go as slow or fast as I am comfortable with.
This is something I have always wanted to do. I have been taking MOOCs since 2010, and I have always wanted to get a Bachelorâs degree worth of knowledge for free online when I discovered Saylor.org in 2014.Â
You donât need a degree these days. Especially in the tech field when employers just donât give a shit about them. So, why are we spending $20,000+ for them?
Well, I refuse to. So, today marks the day of my online education into a couple of mock degrees.
Oh, I forgot to mention that since the internet is so vast and I have the privilege to have access to a world of endless knowledge, I am not stopping at one mock degree. I am getting three of them. I have always been in love with Computer Science, and these last two years I have fallen in love with Business. So, I want both of those. And since I can get any knowledge I desire, I will also be getting a mock MBA as well.
An MBA? âNo way,â you say? Yes. Laurie at No-Pay MBA has done it, so why canât I?
So, this is my crazy plan. I cannot wait to get started! You can get all the information about my curriculum and degrees on my What I Am Learning page.Â
My next post will be about what I am starting first. I hope you find this interesting, and I hope you follow along. I canât wait to get started!
I read the book Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson over the summer. It really showed how to take a baby company and grow it. You have to change certain structures along the way to keep chaos down.
I only read the first part of business infancy. I didnât want to get ahead of myself.
Here are my notes:
Stage One: Infancy
Donât worry about how perfect the product is. Worry about selling.
FOUR PERSONALITIES EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS
A seller
An improver
An organizer
A pusher
PRIORITIES FOR STAGE ONE
Get product ready to sell. Does NOT need to be perfect.
SELL it.
If it sells, make it better.
TO-DO LIST FOR STAGE ONE
Create instant impact message that describes benefit of business
Put on business cards. Handout at business functions.
Field trip to discover how business will satisfy people.
Protect great ideas. Register business name, logo and slogan.
Create paper trail. Track all meeting dates, attendees and discussions.
Consult lawyer on how to best protect your business.
ADVICE
Donât rush to sign a lease.
Figure out how to test selling proposition.
Test sell: rent booths at flea markets, art fairs.
Advertise on craigslist, internet-based vendors.
Try wholesaling to retail shops. Discount it.
sell sell sell like hell
THE OPTIMUM SELLING STRATEGY (OSS)
Avoid debt as much as possible.
Ask Questions:
Where are you going to find your customers?
What product will you sell them first?
How much will you charge for it?
How will you convince them to buy it?
Once OSS if defined, branch out:
What other products can we sell?
How can we make other offer more enticing?
How can we make advertising copy more convincing?
What other media should we test?
COPYWRITING
4 Key Concepts
The difference between wants and needs
The difference between features and benefits
How to develop unique selling proposition (USP) for product
How to sell the USP
Features and Benefits
Features: what the object IS, HAS or DOES
Benefits: for each feature, list itâs benefit
*destruct every benefit into deeper benefits*
3 ASPECTS OF A SOLID USP
The appearance of uniquenessÂ
Usefulness
Conceptual Simplicity
HOW TO SELL USP
The Big Idea
An idea big enough for an advertising campaign
Big ideas need to excite YOU
Then find out if it excites your customer
The Big Promise
Create headline for ads
Big idea needs to come with a big promise
Specific Claims
Come up with possible claims that go in ads
Lots of claims that are based on BIG IDEAS
What would a person do if he quintupled his personal power?
Write ALL down
Go back. Make them as specific as you can.
Proof of Those Claims
Look for proof of claims
Collect testimonials
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN CHEAT SHEET
[ Â ] Make a list of every feature of the product you can think of
[ Â ] Make a list of every possible benefit those features provide
[ Â ] Identify a rising trend in your market
[ Â ] Which of my product benefits as potential USPs
[ Â ] Find out which USPs are the strongest
[ Â ] Each strong USP needs a Big Idea
[ Â ] From the Big Ideas create strong headlines with a Big Promise
[ Â ] Make a list of claims including proof
[ Â ] Get 2 versions of ads. Use the best for sales and marketing.
Here are my notes from Go It Alone. This book was about building a successful business all by yourself. It explains that you can cut cost by outsourcing everything you donât know how to do.
Here are my notes:
FORMING THE FOUNDATION
build around your strengths
outsource the rest
business must do something repeatable
create processes and systems that determine how the business will work
organizing ideas
solve problems in your real life
profit from the solution you find
10 CORE OPERATING PRINCIPLES
focus on reducing risk for potential failure
never get two far ahead of your customers
make commitment to flexibility/ongoing innovation
create ability to scale
maintain an experiemental attitude
take yourself off the clock
master new technologies
develop a bias toward an action with small steps
affirm your determination -commit to find a way
only use off-the-shelf products/services
Book Recommendation: The E-Myth Revisited - Micheal Gerber
CORE COMPETENCE
At the center of every go-it-alone business is the skill or expertise of the founder.
CORE COMPETENCE SKILL TEST
1. Customer Value: Must be reason why customer chooses product.
2. Competitor Differentiation: Set business apart from competition.
3. Extendability: Should lead to think of new products.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR BUSINESS SYSTEM
outsource everything
5 Basic Numbers to Watch
Number of people visiting the website
Marketing cost to being people to site
Conversion rate of sales
Average compensation from each sale
Conversion rate of site
Achieve Scale
better access to anyone who matters
earn more
wholesalers / suppliers approach you
per unit costs decrease
important value of scale in marketing
new revenue opportunities start to  appear
other businesses care about success
11 TESTS FOR EVALUATING BUSINESS IDEAS
Elevator Test: Explain how business will make money in 2 sentences.
3 Rules Max: What are the 1-3 things that are going to determine whether I succeed here?
You ARE the Customer Test: Would you buy this at full price?
Differentiation: Define small market.
Can I Be Circumvented?: Can they replicate the service?
Double Your Costs: If I double my costs, is it still a good idea?
Dependency: no single customer should be more than 35% of a firmâs sales.
Can it Survive Without Me?
Does the Business Have Multiple Streams of Income?
Vulnerability Test: What is the worse case scenario?
More Than a One Trick Pony: Can you expand your offerings?
This was a quick read. This book is a little older, and even if the examples are outdated, the examples teach that businesses donât need to be complicated.
4 Main Ways To Gain Ownership
1. Create
2. Publish
3. Secure certain exclusive rights
4. Have it private labeled for you
the fastest way to lose a million dollars is to become an inventor
if you canât be first in a category, set up a new category that you can be first in
This is going to be a really long blog post because Iâm going to share everything I learned from reading the Personal MBA. On a previous post, I mentioned that I would be reading all 99 books plus the Personal MBA textbook itself from Joshâs reading list to learn business.
Firstly, Josh points out that if you master the skills presented in this book, you will be in the top 1%.
Learn: What businesses are and what businesses do.
Mental Models: create solid frameworks you can rely on to make good decisions
The best education helps you learn to see the work in a new, more productive way.
No matter how much you prepare, there will ALWAYS be surprises along the way.
knowledge is key
Seth Godin: âItâs hard for me to understand why getting an MBA is a better use of time and money than actual experience combined with  a dedicated reading of 30-40 books.â
Business
Every successful business creates or provides something of value that other people want or need at a price theyâre willing to pay, in a way that satisfies the purchaserâs needs and expectations and provides the business sufficient revenue to make it worthwhile for the owners to continue operation.Â
Value Creation
The more real value you create for other people the better your business will be and the more prosperous youâll become.
A business is a collection of:
Value Creation
Marketing
Sales
Value Delivery
Finance
Focus on improving skills directly related to the 5 parts of every business.
Humans have 5 core human drives:
the drive to ACQUIRE
-objects  -status  -qualities
the drive to BOND
-to feel loved  -valued  -form relationships  -feel attractive
the drive to LEARN
-be more knowledgeable  -satisfy curiosity
the drive to DEFEND
-protect ourselves, loved ones, property
the drive to FEEL
-pleasure  -entertainment
Make your offer connect to more than one feel. Show the customer how your offer offers these drives.
10 Ways To Evaluate A Market
Urgency
Market Size
Pricing Potential
Cost of Customer Acquisition
Cost of Value Delivery
Uniqueness of Offer
Speed of Market
Up-Front Investment
Upsell Potential
Evergreen Potential
Evaluate each of the above with a rating 0-10.
50 or below - move one. Your idea sucks
50 - 75 - potential to pay the bills
75 or above - promising
Benefits of Competition
Competition is good because:
You know that there definitely is a market
Can teach you a lot about the market
-what value is provided
-how they attract attention
-what they charge
-how they deal with issues
-what needs are they not serving
Donât be a mercenary
Donât start a business for the money
Donât be a crusader
Donât start a business because you think itâs your âcallingâ
Side projects help expand knowledge, improve skills and experiment new methods and techniques.Â
*just donât expect income*
12 Standard Forms of Value
Product
Service
Shared Resource
Subscription
Resale
Lease
Agency
Audience Aggregation
Loan
Orientation
Insurance
Capitol
Product - tangible form of value
To make product business:
Create product people want
Produce cheaply as possible
 Sell as many as possible at high-price cap
Fill orders as they come (no waitlist, backlog)
Service - helping/assisting someone for a fee
To make service business:
Have skill/ability others require but wonât do themselves
Has consistent high quality
Attract/retain PAYING customers
Hard to duplicate because it requires a personâs time
Shared Resource - durable asset that can be used by many people
To make shared resource business:
Create asset people want access to
Serve as many people as possible without affecting quality
Charge enough to maintain/improve overtime
*carefully monitor usage levels
Subscription - predefined benefits on an ongoing basis in exchange for a reoccurring fee
To make subscription business:
Provide value to each subscriber regularly
Build subscriber base/attract new
Bill customers on a reoccurring bases
Retain each as long as possible
Resale - acquisition of an asset from a wholesaler, followed by the sale of that asset to a retail buyer at a higher price
To make resale business:
By bulk product for cheap
Keep in good condition
Find purchaser ASAP!
Sell at high mark-up
Lease - acquire asset and allow another person to use it for a predetermined amount of time in exchange for a fee
To make lease business:
Acquire asset people want to use
Lease asset on favorable terms
Protect yourself from unexpected events (damage, loss)
Make sure revenue from the lease covers the purchase price of asset before it wears out or is lost.
Agency - market and sell an asset you donât own
To make agency business:
Find seller who has valuable asset
Establish contact and trust
Negotiate terms of sale
Collect commission
Audience Aggregation - collecting attention of a group of people with similar characteristics then selling access to that audience to a third party
To make audience aggregation business:
Identify group with common interests
Create and maintain groupâs attention
Find 3rd parties interested in group
Sell access to audience without alienating them
Loan - agreement to let borrower use certain amount of resources for certain amount of time. Payments + interest
To make loan business:
Have money to lend
Find people to borrow money
Set interest rate
Protect against possibility loan wonât be repaid
Option - take predefined action a a fixed period of time in exchange for a fee
To make option business:
Identify some action people want to take in future
Offer buyers to take action before
Convince buyers that option is worth price
Enforce deadline
Insurance - transfer of risk from person to seller
To make insurance business:
Create binding legal agreement that transfers the risk from policy holder to you
Estimate the risk actually happening
Collect âpremiumsâ overtime
Pay out legitimate claims upon policy
Capital - purchase of an ownership stake in a business
To make capitol business:
Have a pool of resources available to invest
Find business you want to invest in
 Estimate business worth, future worth, failure probability
Negotiate amount of ownership
the faster you learn, the more quickly youâll be able to improve
Bundling - re-purpose value that you have already created to create even more value
Unbundling - taking one offer and splitting it up into multiple offers
Protyping and feedback is important
Iteration cycle - a process you can use to make anything better over time
If they donât want to preorder, ask why. Then, youâll see that their barriers are.
Economic Value People Consider When Evaluating A Potential Purchase
Efficiency
Speed
Reliability
Ease of Use
Flexibility
Status
Aesthetic
Emotion
Cost
Book Recommendation: Trade Off - Kevin Maney
Convenience vs. Fidelity
quick, easy reliable, low price, quantity over quality
vs
quality, status, aesthetic, high price, quality over quantity
Most successful offerings try to provide the most convenience or fidelity among all competing offers.
people never accept trade offs unless theyâre forced to make a decision
Relative Importance Testing - a set of analysis techniques pioneered by statistician Jordan Lourviere in the 1980s, gives you a way to determine what people actually want by asking the, a series of simple questions designed to simulate real life trade-offs.
CASE STUDY: Fitbit
Accepted pre-orders same day as announcement
Collected name, addresses $ card info
Didnât charge until product was ready
Showed that people wanted it.
MEVO - minimum economically viable offer - basically a prototype
Marketing
Marketing is about getting noticed.
Earn the attention of the people who are likely to buy from you and you will build your business.
progressive insurance needs people to QUALITY before purchasing
Point of Marketing Entry - e.g. when expecting, you ENTER the baby market
Most effective way to get people to want something is to encourage them to visualize what their life would be like once theyâre accepted.
attract attention quickly by giving something valuable away for free
Sales - make 1st profitable transaction as quickly as possible so the project becomes a business.
Market Comparison - how much are these things selling for? How much has this sold for recently?
Value Stream - set of all steps and all processes. From the start of your Value Creation process all the way through the delivery of the end result to your customer.
To understand your value stream is to diagram it.
Diagram:
every step to bringing offer to customer
every step customer takes in transaction
every step customer takes in using product
DistributionÂ
Direct-to-user distribution - from businesses directly to user
Intermediary distribution - multiple channels sell to retail who sells
Risk removal - money-back guarantee, no questions asked.
Throughput = rate/time
Dollar Throughput - measure how quickly your overall business system creates a dollar of profit
Unit Throughput - measure how much time it takes to create an additional unit for sale
Satisfaction Throughput - how much time it takes to create an additional unit for sale
Duplication
The better your ability to duplicate your offer, the more value you can provide.
Multiplication
Multiplication is duplication for an ENTIRE process.
Enhance duplication through automation
donât focus on competing. focus on providing more value
Finance
Taking too much value erodes the reason customers buy in the first place. Provide as much value for the lowest amount possible to keep business running.
the more quickly you can reach the point of sufficiency, the better the chance your business will thrive.
Four Methods to Increase Revenue
Increase the number of customers
Increase the average size of each transaction
Increase the frequency per customer
Raise your prices
Attract the Ideal Customer
Imagine doubling your current prices. If you lose HALF of your customers. Itâs probably a good move.
Calculate Markets Allowable Acquisition Cost
customer lifetime value - value stream cost - overhead / total customer base * 1 - profit margin = Allowable Acquisition Cost
Example:
Per 5 Year
2,000 - 500 = 1500
1500 - 500,000 / 500 = 500
500 X .40 = $200 per customer
Any customer you can attract for less than $200 is worth it.
Amortization - process of spreading cost of a resource investment over useful life of investment
Opportunity Cost - there are always other options
Hierarchy of Funding
The higher you climb, the more funding you get AND the more control you give up in exchange.
Personal Cash
Personal Credit
Personal Loan - friends and family
Unsecured Loan
Secured Loan - requires collateralÂ
Bonds
Receivable Financing - bank controls businessâs recievables
Angel Capital - $ in exchange for legal ownership
Venture Capital - shareholders
Bootstrapping - building / operating business without funding
ROI - value created from investment of time / resourcesÂ
if people didnât have needs or wants, businesses wouldnât exist
weâre all running, demanding new software on ancient hardware
Understanding Systems
Gallâs Law - all complex systems that work evolved from simpler systems that work
Flow - movements of resources into and out of the system
I know itâs way late to be recapping Hack.Summit, but last February I was a tad bit busy getting married and all that. So, in the beginning of April, I started watching the replays because I loved the first conference and I enjoy watching talks from MY PEOPLE. Tech, introverted people like myself. So great!!
Anyway, I didnât watch every talk but I wanted to update my learning journal on everything I learned at Hack.Summit().
Best Languages To Learn In 2016
Web
node.js
meteor.js
python
ruby on rails
Gaming
C++
How To Make Money From An Open Source Project
Create a separate business that offers solutions, guides, service tools and support.
There Are Two Types Of Engineers
Those who worship one language. Those who work with any language.
Iâm the second type. The way my brain works allows me to latch onto syntax quickly and I find myself knowing a lot of languages.
Are You An Aspiring Developer?
Learn sales and marketing. If youâre going to be creating amazing things, you need to know how to get people to notice it.
Virtual Teams
Should be tech savvy
Should take advantage of Skype, Google Hangouts, etc.
Email communication should be non-urgent matter. (People hate email)
IM communication should be urgent matter. (Quicker response)
Must have trust with one another
Must use the same tools constently
Donât delegate tasks; delegate responsibilities
Donât hire assistents; hire project managers
Try out: asana, 17hats, yammer, slack
DID YOU KNOW?
Every coding language is in English.
Outsourcing Work
Do not outsource internal work. No in-house code, sensitive database work, etc.
Outsource assistent work. Admin tasks, etc.
Consider bringing onboard a permanant virtual team member
Have multiple rounds of interviews before hiring. Use phone/video/in-person meetings if possible.
Make sure that the candidate can speak your language
Make sure they have the right equipment for the job
AN ENGINEERING DEGREE IS JUST A LICENSE TO LEARN
My Tip On Learning Through Videos
Change the speed. Make it faster (Itâs very easy to change on YouTube videos in the settings), so you can get through the lesson more quickly.
Recommended Books
How to Be a Star at Work - Robert E. Kelley
The Timeless Way of Building - Christopher Alexander
 A Small Matter of Programming - Bonnie A NardiÂ
Hire Fast and Build Things - Stephane Kasriel (Get It Free)
I discovered upon The Personal MBA, and it gets an A+ from me.Â
Criteria for being A+:
Non-formal education
Completely free education (if a library card is involved)Â
Self-learning
Self-pace
Mock curriculum of a degree
I love it.
So, because I was planning on taking MOOCs to compete a No-Pay MBA, I decided that I would also read all 100 books in the Personal MBA curriculum. Hereâs the link to the whole book list of 99 books:
https://personalmba.com/best-business-books/
The 100th book is the Personal MBA itself. I recommend to read this one first.
So, I mapped out a reading plan that will take me three years to finish the book list. Iâm excited to start!Â
In the meantime, I will be continuing to learn via MOOCs and will also start learning Computer Science. I have a lot on my plate, but I like it that way!
Hereâs to learning! And, hereâs to more posts in the future! I will be doing book recaps and posting my notes on everything I am learning.Â
In 2015, I read 50 books. I go over the details on my minimalism blog, but I wanted to note that most of the books that were read last year, were non-fiction. I enjoy reading non-fiction because it helps me research a topic and helps me benefit myself.
I wanted to share a few of the book here and what I learned from them and how I am applying the teachings to my life.
I Will Teach You To Be Rich - Ramit Sethi
Ramit gave me some awesome advice on how to kickstart my personal finance. I always worry about money. And, Ramit just let me relax. Too bad I was too young to have a 401k plan at my job!
Escape from cubicle nation : from corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur - Slim, Pamela, The 4-hour Workweek - Tim Ferriss
There two books gave me the hope that I wonât be trapped inside a cubicle forever. That I can live the way I want and not have to worry about money. I just have to be smart, start some businesses and wait.
Start : punch fear in the face, escape average, do work that matters - Jon Acuff
This was a great read! I enjoyed his steps to being awesome!
1. Learning: duh! You have to learn what you want to be awesome at.
2. Editing: Pick a niche in what youâve been learning that you enjoy the most and are good at. Now stick to this!
3. Mastering: Take that niche and hone in on your skills.
4. Harvesting: This is when you start getting rewarded for our hard work. But, itâs not easy, and youâre certainly not awesome yet. You need to amp up your skills.
5. Guiding: After youâve become a master at the skills, itâs time to help others and gain a following. At at this point, dear journeyer, youâve become awesome.
Eat to live : the amazing nutrient-rich program for fast and sustained weight loss - Joel Fuhrman, 80/10/10 diet by Dr. Graham
Being a vegetarian for the last 5 years, I say itâs time to kick it up a notch. Raw veganism is my goal. Animal products and processed foods should be avoided.
The Trump card : playing to win in work and life - Trump, Ivanka
The number one thing I took away from this book was: get over it. Ivanka teaches that everyone is born in a unique set of circumstances. So, get over it and become great! She knows that she has been given a huge advantage by being born in a privileged family. But, she used it to her advantage. You have to use your circumstance to your advantage and not let it hold you back. For example, Ivanka couldâve went down the path as many of her privileged peers and used her inheritance for drugs and alcohol. But, she didnât.
Minimalism : live a meaningful life & Everything that remains : a memoir by The Minimalists  - Joshua Fields Millburn, The life-changing magic of tidying up : the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing - KondoĚ, Marie
My life for the past two years have been inspired to get rid of everything in my life that doesnât serve a purpose or bring me joy. You can read about my journey on backanotch.com.
Big magic : creative living beyond fear - Elizabeth Gilbert
I like Elizabeth Gilbertâs idea of ideas/inspirations themselves are actual entities that live among us in this world. How once an idea decides you are a good fit to carry out their mission, they will come to you and it is up to you to act on it or they will go to someone else. This is some powerful stuff.
Leap : leaving a job with no Plan B to find the career and life you really want - Tess Vigeland
This is my life except, I did have a plan and I was fired. But, I was planning on quitting two months after I got fired, but still. This book tells me thatâs itâs okay if you donât know where your life is headed.And, itâs okay to be scared; just be open for new opportunities.
So, those were some books that stuck with me last year. I hope you find my renditions useful and I hope you check these books out.
I made another blog. No surprise since, over the years, I have amassed over 20. No, I donât keep up with 20 blogs. Most have been put down to rest. But, I wanted to start this blog because I was inspired.Â
I have been learning a lot of things. Iâve been doing it for years. And one would think after one has gone to college, that would be the end of the education bargain. Not me. Iâve always loved learning and I continue to do so, on my own, for I am wanting to be knowledgeable (and not having to go back to school and get more student loans if a gigantic plus).
I have recently signed up for a course on Digital Leadership over at FutureLearn. There, one of the professors suggested to have a learning journal. A place to write your thoughts, ideas and reflections on the material learned. I thought it was an excellent suggestion, so here we are, and here we go.
