K. WOODWARD PERSONAL FINANCE
  • Start
  • Bio
  • WealthBlog
    • Books
    • Random Thoughts
    • Femail
    • GirlBanker
  • MyBooks
  • MoneySpot
  • Coach

Book Reviews

Five Days By Douglas Kennedy - BOOK REVIEW

17/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Rating 3.5 / 5 

You would be totally forgiven for thinking that I only ever read business books but fiction is one of my favourite things to read. I haven’t read a lot of fiction in the last two years because I was building my business up and definitely wanted to take advantage of all my free time to up my business knowledge. 

I bought this book on kindle almost a year ago but wasn’t ensnared from the start so I stopped reading after the first chapter and had to restart reading it this time around. 

I love Douglas Kennedy. He’s one of my favourite authors, however, this book is not one of his best. Firstly, because I hate simple love stories and the only thing propelling me through most of this book was the knowledge that this love story would get more complicated at some point. I love complex stories. 

If anyone other than Douglas Kennedy had written this book I would not have finished it but I’m trying to maintain my record of having read every single one of his books – the majority of which are awesome. 

Up until the 75-80% of the book I thought the simplicity of the love story very much mirrored a Mills and Boon. The only thing different was that it was well written and the vocabulary used was a few notches up. After that it did get very good and incorporated the kind of complication and drama that I like but I wish the ending was a bit different. I wish Richard had developed a pair of balls and that is all I am going to say to avoid the spoiling the story for you should you decide to read it. 

Anyhow, despite my dissatisfaction with the end I have to agree that it was a better ending for a mature love story and anything else would have been too Mills & Boon.

Picture
0 Comments

If You’re Not First, You’re Last By Grant Cardone – BOOK REVIEW

11/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Rating 4.5 / 5 

My love affair with Grant Cardone continues. This is the second of his books that I have read and whilst it deserves a good rating, there needs to be at least a point differential between this book and Sell of Be Sold. But because he’s Grant, I gave him an extra 0.5 – just for being awesome!

The book was structured like a learning program with questions at the end to ensure you understood what had just been said and would implement the suggestions. I didn’t do the exercises as I was listening on the go but I took a few notes, as always: 



​Many people don’t finish things they start because:
  • They only made a small financial investment so they don’t feel as though they are wasting much by not taking action.
  • They don’t give themselves deadlines.
  • They don’t understand something that is being said in a program or disagree with it so much that they get separated from the plan or program that they have set.

A sure-fire way to ensure you never get to first place is to compare yourself to losers! That is, people that are less capable than you. You have to take massive action to succeed. 

We’re socialized to be average, conformist and not to take grand actions. However, if you want above average success you need to:
  • Be unreasonable.
  • Take extreme action.
  • Be illogical, i.e. go against the logic of the masses.
  • Be contrarian – I love this statement because my husband is always saying to me, “Why are you so contrarian?” – I never had an answer to this except to say, I was contrarian before you married me and you still chose to! But now, I’ll add that, “Grant says contrarian is good.” – he’s already getting used to the “Grant says…” statements.

Grant went on to say, we’re not encouraged to do whatever it takes; society says don’t be too pushy, don’t be too aggressive – so this is what we do, we conform.

More notes:
  • Wow! The customer, especially in a recession.
  • It’s never about the price. 
  • The second sale in a transaction is key, upsell!
  • Act hungry. Many people in the West have lost their ability to do this. I agree. It’s so rare to find people with fire in their belly. Real go-getters. 
  • Aggressively and effectively market yourself. In a downturn UP your marketing budget.
  • Time x action = advancement / progress
  •  Most of the middle class ARROGANTLY refuses to take any action that won’t lead to an immediate payment. However, making money usually involves a lot of necessary unpaid tasks before you hit “pay dirt” as Grant calls it. I love that phrase.
  • Poor people waste time, rich people buy it
  • Pack your day like a sardine, tight! Really pack it in.
  • It’s frequently not even about the product: Vincent Van Gogh one of the best artists of all time sold just ONE painting his entire life.
  • Don’t waste time dwelling on failures or successes; cry or celebrate then move on: FAST! There are more opportunities to be taken advantage of out there.

Finally, the placebo effect pretty much proves that what goes on in your mind can have REAL effects and consequences. Thoughts and beliefs massively impact outcomes. So the stories you tell yourself CAN and in fact, DO, become self-fulfilling.

The book concluded by stating that your financial situation is the sum total of the action you took yesterday. Indeed, I have been a firm believer in this kind of thinking for decades: I honestly believe my results at A-level and indeed in university were the sum total of dedication and hard work that I had put in since I was 11. 

After a certain point, when we compare ourselves to someone and want to replicate their success don’t look at what they are doing now, look at what they were doing 10 years ago (or even further back) and start doing all that stuff too. Current actions simply reflect the cumulative effect of previous actions: big and small.

Picture
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Heather Katsonga-Woodward

    Time allowing, I love to read.  If I read anything interesting, I will blog about it here.

    2019 Life and Career Planner

    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Autobiographical
    Autobiography
    Banking
    Behavioral Psychology
    Behavioural Psychology
    Black History
    Business
    Business Skills
    Children
    Economics
    Fiction
    Life
    Love Story
    Personal Finance
    Politics
    Recessions
    Sales
    Science
    Stock Market
    Thrillers
    Timeless
    Wealth
    Women
    Writing

    Archives

    January 2019
    December 2018
    March 2017
    January 2017
    August 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

Picture

Podcast Links

Wealth Blog 

  • Children
  • Financial Independence / FIRE
  • Pensions
  • Retirement
  • Saving
Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee
Picture

© 2007 - 2021, The Money Spot™ ~ Make Money, Change Lives!
Heather Katsonga-Woodward, a massive personal finance fanatic.
** All views expressed are my own and not those of my employer ** Please get professional advice before re-arranging your personal finances.
  • Start
  • Bio
  • WealthBlog
    • Books
    • Random Thoughts
    • Femail
    • GirlBanker
  • MyBooks
  • MoneySpot
  • Coach