Category: Wealth - K. WOODWARD PERSONAL FINANCE

K. WOODWARD PERSONAL FINANCE

The Millionaire Booklet by Grant Cardone BOOK REVIEW

10/8/2016

Rating: 5/5

I find it hard to argue with anything Grant Cardone ever says – sometimes he even writes things almost exactly as I have written them in some of my wealth writings.

As you might know from previous book reviews I am a massive fan. He is an awesome sales person and I love his go-getting attitude.

Frequently authors can’t narrate their own books better than a professional narrator would but Grant Cardone is one amazing narrator.

Just to give you an idea of how much I love the guy, I wanted to call my son Grant Cardone Woodward but the good husband forbade it.

Given I’ve read better books by Grant this isn’t life changing and its advice may perhaps seem basic but in the 2 hour audiobook he reminds us what success takes. The Millionaire Booklet is spirit renewing.

One of my favourite lines in the book comes when he decides to become a real grafter and essentially stops going out. Grant's friends were like "we never see you in the club, Grant, what's going on?" and he was like, "You never see me in the club just like I never see you at the bank"! Boom, in your face. It's this forthrightness that makes me like the guy so much.

As with all his books, the book made me feel ready to conquer the world and made me want to get out there and find who’s got MY money.

The Millionaire Booklet is available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

My other book reviews:

By the way, did you know that Grant Cardone built his $400 million fortune through property? Yes, he did - if you want to do the same thing, check out my property course.

Yes! 50 secrets from the science of persuasion by Noah Goldstein, Steve Martin, Robert Cialdini- BOOK REVIEW

15/3/2016

Rating: 4 / 5

Who doesn’t want to be more persuasive? Whether you own a business or not you’re constantly in the business of trying to sell something – your great traits as an employee or wife(!), a project or even an idea.

Heck, if I got a penny for every time one of my mummy friends said, “I want to do x but I just need to convince my husband”, I’d be richer than Donald Trump!

I’ve had the paperback version of Yes! For ages but it’s only when I got the audio version that I got to the end.

The book is based on the subtle changes we can make to influence a decision. All 50 examples in the book are based on empirical studies so they are scientifically proven to work.

There are 50 ideas in this book so there is no way I can summarize them all but a few examples include the following:

Intuitively, we think that an increase in variety leads to more business but studies suggest that too wide a range of products leads to paralysis of analysis and reduced sales. Your customers do want some choice, yes, but too much choice and they get frustrated and leave without buying. This is not always the case but it is frequently the case.
An interesting small tweak in TV infomercials’ call to action led to a huge rise in demand: Instead of just saying “Please dial phone number x to make your order” a behavioural psychologist suggested a change to “Please dial phone number x to make your order. If operators are busy, please call again!” The impact? Everyone thinks, I need to get mine now, if lines are busy it suggests there is excess demand and scarcity is one of the biggest drivers of sales.
Reciprocity. Do someone a good turn and by and large, they feel compelled to do a good turn back.

There were tonnes of good tips here and I, in fact, feel I should re-read this book because I was very distracted over the period I read the book. I’m preparing for a property renovation so I was driving along half listening to the book and half thinking about the different tiles I’ll put in each one of my bathrooms.

Everyone has to sell something, even if it’s just yourself or your views so give this book a read to become more of a gentle persuasion artist. It’s available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina - Book Review

19/2/2016

Rating: 5/5

A real gem of a book, I wish I had found this book before I became pregnant because I might have done things a little differently. That said, I don't think I got it much wrong.

In this book John Medina discusses how a baby's brain works based on other people's studies as well as his own experience as a parent. If I'd been taking notes I would have written a little novella myself but a few things stuck nonetheless.

I couldn't even begin to cover the breadth and depth of information covered in this book so if this kind of things does interest you, get the book. So in summary:

Breast milk is absolutely magical stuff when it comes to helping babies' brain development. In all honesty, he stated that scientists cannot figure out why breastmilk seems to create an IQ advantage but it does. I happened to be listening to this book in exactly the same week that my little zeusy gave up breastfeeding and it did make me wish he went on for longer. I hope 14 months is going to be enough. I wanted to go on but he simply said NO preferring porridge oats to mummy milk - go figure.
Any stress that makes a mother feel out of control during pregnancy actually has a long term negative impact on the baby's brain. This could be anything from a very bad relationship to a highly stressful job to being caught in a natural disaster.
When babies are being weaned they show a preference for foods that the mother ate a lot in pregnancy. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll disguise the foods I don't like in smoothies.
Speak at least 2,100 words per hour to your baby. Studies show that babies that hear more words learn to speak and read sooner. That said, Einstein didn't utter his first word until he was aged 3 so obviously there are many other factors that matter a whole lot more.
On sleep. If you want to get your baby sleeping through the night attachment theories take a little longer to work but are seen as "what the baby would want" and "cry it out" methods work faster but are seen by the attachment school as being simply done to suit the parent whether or not they suit the baby. The worst formula according to Medina is to try "cry it out" and not stick to it. He said this gives the baby an "unknown reward" for crying, they figure out that sometimes they get attention and sometimes they don't so they will cry until all hell breaks loose. Apparently this "unknown reward" system is why gamblers continue gambling, having won before, they know there is a chance no matter how small that they will win and so the lure of the tables is too strong to resist.
The most important things for a baby's developing brain is to provide a warm, loving environment where the baby feels secure and to give babies and mothers access to a social network of friends. This is the most important thing I took from the book. Couples that argue in front of their kids too often (and make up in private) are unknowingly harming their babies' potential IQ so quit fighting and start hugging.
Social isolation accounts for a great proportion of postnatally depressed mothers. This is where we have it right in Malawi; it's very rare for a mother to feel isolated due to the extended family.
Brain Rules for Baby is a comprehensive book. It covers a wide range of things and includes a cornucopia of studies, I could not recommend it more.

Like every parent, I want my baby to have the best chance in life at being happy, fulfilled and content with his lot and this is why I picked this book. It is available on amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and on audible.

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach - BOOK REVIEW

22/1/2016

5/5

I didn’t learn anything completely new in this book, however, I was reminded of what matters when it comes to building wealth and a good credit record. It’s the sort of stuff I talk about in Black Girl Getting to Wealthy: Build Super Savings (available on amazon.com, on amazon.co.uk and other local amazon sites).

The biggest take away: automate your financial life! Your savings, your mortgage payments and your bill payments should all be automated so that you don’t forget to save.

I do this. What helps is holding different bank account for different things. So in our household we have a joint bank account from which all bills are paid and each month a given, fixed amount goes in there.

We have a savings account to which our savings are automatically placed.

And now, because our property portfolio is growing ever larger we have designated an account that I wasn’t using for all rents from property investments to be received, mortgage payments to be made and property related expenses to be made.

In addition, the moment our son got a birth certificate back when he was a month old we opened a bank account for him and each month we place £250 into that junior ISA (£125 from mama, £125 from papa). The money goes there automatically so does his child benefit of £20/week from the Government.

How much will he have on his 18th birthday if we just let things be and the money continues flowing into his account and assuming he gets a rate of at least 3% per annum compounded annually? Fyi, he’s been getting 4% in interest since we opened the account so this is not a foolish assumption.

£97,432 – that could fund a deposit on a property, pay for university plus leave plenty of change for a round the world trip.

If we stopped saving on his fifth birthday he would still have £35,450 in his account on his 18th birthday if the saved money continued to earn at least 3%.

If he continues to enjoy the 4% he’s getting at the moment that will be a whooping £107,752 on his 18th birthday if we save until then.

The power of compound interest.

A sensible book that I recommend; get it on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk.

Oversubscribed By Daniel Priestley - BOOK REVIEW

13/11/2015

Rating: 5 / 5

Business and enterprise is a journey. It doesn’t matter which books you read, you will inevitably make mistakes; that’s part of the process.

If someone presents you with a full roadmap to achieving your dreams you can’t skip fundamental steps and still expect to get where you’re going.

Yes, you can take shortcuts by implementing some ideas and concepts in an innovative way so that you drive straight through some stumbling blocks but there are certain fundamental roads you cannot skip.

I feel all of Daniel’s concepts are actually easy to implement and don’t leave you asking a million more questions that you can’t answer yourself. Some of the successful people I follow seem to have gotten there by simply being in the right place at the right time without a system they can teach others to follow. Daniel Priestley isn’t one of those. This is why he’s used the same system to grow a few businesses. He’s a very impressive thinker.

Having a core team is one of his key suggestions.

I’ve been running my own business for over 3 years now and I’ve avoided employing people full-time because I thought it was a major hassle. I saw it as an inconvenience because I couldn’t be bothered to deal with employment legislation.

I’ve done a lot by leveraging third-party services such as contract manufacturers, fulfilment houses and freelancers and it’s paid off as the $202,000 made on Amazon USA proves, however, it’s becoming clear that further growth will require a team.

I finished listening to Oversubscribed and two weeks after taking stock of where my business has gone I’ve realised that I now own my job! My inbox fills up at an atrociously rapid rate which is great because it means something is working but it also means I have to take my laptop on every holiday.

I can work from anywhere in the world, I only work a few hours a day and indeed I hold inventory in the US and in the UK now so I am essentially a one-woman multinational with no full time employees – even I don’t work full-time hours **gasp**. But, what’s the point of carrying your job wherever you go?

A business should reach a point where you can go away for two weeks without checking your inbox at all with an expectation that things will still run smoothly in your absence.

These are some of my reflections since reading Oversubscribed and I’ll definitely have more on the second listen of the audiobook but I’ve also taken fundamental action. This week I viewed offices for the first time and I am about to start advertising for two roles. One of the roles has been filled before I’ve even committed to the office facilities.

A fellow Cambridge grad and friend believes in the work I’m doing so much he’s coming on-board. He’s an engineer with a completely different skill set to mine so it’s a perfect complement.

Ultimately, when you read Oversubscribed you will more than likely be inspired by different elements of the book to the ones that inspired me. It all depends on where you are in your business. Employing people is a huge step but when you hire people each person is not just a cost centre but also a revenue centre.

A small business with a limited budget has to spend money in the right way so hiring the right people upfront is key. After that you need to track your progress weekly if not daily to ensure you’re on the right path. Having completed Daniel Priestley’s Key Person of Influence program I continue to learn so much from him and the community he’s built. For that, I am grateful.

The Way I See It By Alan Sugar – BOOK REVIEW

17/10/2014

Rating: 5/5

I actually started reading this book in Feb-2014 as Harry and I flew into India. I was due to be interviewed for The Apprentice and thought I needed to do a little research.

Whilst I don’t agree with all of Lord Sugar’s opinions I enjoyed his book. He is definitely very switched on and the book was 100% authentic. It stays true to the persona that he portrays. I personally don’t find him to be “mean” on The Apprentice, he is realistic. He doesn’t pussyfoot around and he doesn’t like nonsense. I am very much like that too.

Lord Sugar isn’t afraid to offend people. If he doesn’t like you, you will know about it. There’s no pretense with him; very few would dare to describe someone as “That nasally congested hag Janet Street-Porter”.

Some Amazon reviews I read prior to this purchase thought he sounded misogynistic, I beg to differ. If you’re a small business the points he raised about maternity leave etc. were very valid. Employees just don’t see things the same way because they have a limited idea of how money is earned. Their concept of credit risk, exposure and the costs of hiring and training is very limited; importantly, even if you understand that stuff in principle you can never fully understand the pain until you are actually running a business.

In the book, Lord Sugar goes through many of his thoughts including:

What he thinks should be done about petty crime and various state benefits
TV programs that he likes to watch, e.g. Have I Got News For You and Question Time – I don’t watch either
In his youth, when he was on a job he thought: “I realized this life wasn’t for me. I looked around at some of the people there, particularly the older ones, and realized that I didn’t want to end up like these robots, pushing a load of boring paper around.” – this very much mirrors my own experience with the type of people in banking.
I loved his dad’s reaction when he wanted to strike it out on his own: “My father looked at me as if I were mad. ‘What do you mean, you’re going to work for yourself? Who is going to pay you on Friday?’” lol
He doesn’t understand why pharmaceuticals can’t advertise in certain ways, which is crazy to me; he doesn’t want to understand it because that piece of regulation prevented him from monetizing an opportunity he saw. I totally agree that pharma needs strong regulation because there is such a thin boundary between developing products to help people and manipulating those same people to make extra money.
He finds it hard to lounge around and has a certain admiration for those who can sit around and do nothing guilt free. I feel the same although I know I wouldn’t really want to be one of those people except for one day every week. The guilt he feels from lounging around and I do too is very real. Even when I know I deserve a rest I can’t because somewhere in my subconscious something says, you didn’t work that hard, really, not as hard as many peasants in the developing world – keep working!

Some of his pearls of wisdom include:

“You should expect to get success by drawing on a wealth of experience”
"Experience, consistency and hard work pay off”
“Entrepreneurial spirit does lie buried in the subconscious of many people, and it takes day-to-day opportunities and experience in business for it to actually flourish”
“First of all, you need to spot an opportunity and turn it to your advantage”
“You mustn’t be complacent”
“You need to learn to recognize the dodgy people out there who don’t have the same principles as you in life or in business’
“You have to master the art of presentation and salesmanship”
“Do what you’re best at”
“You have to have some kind of daily discipline in your work life.”
“The same stuff at the same price but presented in another way can suddenly start selling.”
“If you have partners, they have to bring something to the party”
“Keep control of your costs and know exactly where you are going and how you are doing.”
“I set myself targets”
“The principle of regularly checking how you’re doing is an important one”
“Unless you face up to the fact that you’ve got to have something special, you are going to fail and be bitterly disappointed in the marketplace.”
“Be prepared to put in a lot of hard work, and show a dogged determination not to give up if things aren’t going well.”
“Always assume that every motorist on the road is a lunatic.” – I love this because when my dad was teaching me how to drive he pointed to an “L” plate on a car and said, “Heather, what does that mean?” I said, “Learner”; he said, “No, it means Lunatic, when you see one of those stay away!”
“It’s the simple principle that, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.”
“I conclude by saying again that it is you and only you – no one else. You know what to do, otherwise you should not be in business. It’s just down to hard work, discipline and determination, combined with your knowledge and experience of your sector.”

Entrepreneur Revolution By Daniel Priestley - BOOK REVIEW

8/11/2013

Rating: 5/5

An inspiring and practical read. I listened to most of this audiobook during a twelve-hour drive from Harare, Zimbabwe to Blantyre, Malawi.

My notes:

Daniel Priestley talks about how we all have an empire building brain, however, the empire brain can be shut down if the lower parts of the brain (reptile or monkey) are over stimulated. The reptile sees resources as very scarce so it's extremely selfish, guarded and doesn't want to share; it only sees what is there; it's very low in imagination. The monkey is good at repetitive work but is very easily distracted. The empire builder is empathic, creative, strategic, resourceful.

As one of his 10 challenges, he recommends walking around with GBP1,000 in cash at all times to adjust your views on what is a lot of money, to learn a degree of self-control and I suppose to discover other fears and emotions that go with carrying what most of us would consider to be a fairly hefty, even unsafe, amount of cash.

Take two people you want to get to know better out to lunch every week.

Cut news out. Keep a journal.

Always have 5 people on your team:

A visionary
A sales person
A graphics person
A Swiss Army knife (i.e. a jack of all trades)
A mentor

Lean in! i.e. go for it, network aggressively, seek opportunities, visualise and believe in the vision!

Formula for success: luck, reputation and vitality

Ascending Transaction Model - ATM:

Gifts
Products for prospects
Core products
Logical next steps (charge a few thousand for these)

7 Maxims

You get what you pitch for and you are always pitching
Influence comes from output NOT confidence
Income follows assets (this has been ringing in my head almost daily since I read the book)
Get known by the success of your clients
You're in partnership with everyone that touches your business
Ideas are worthless - implementation is everything
Being imaginative is NOT being creative

I recommend you read this book for practical steps that will push your vision/business forward; here are links to its Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk page respectively:

The Sticking Point Solution By Jay Abraham - BOOK REVIEW

15/8/2013

Rating: 5/5

I looked Jay Abraham up when I read somewhere that he was the only billionaire marketer in the world.

For a very full review of the book read Alex McClafferty's take on The Sticking Point. My chapter summaries:

Chapter 1. Leverage other people efforts, ideas, knowledge, resources, relationships and mula!

Chapter 2. Think of ways to generate the most amount of income using the least amount of investment/effort, e.g. with win-win proposals to advertisers.

Chapter 3. Pull in clients with great copy.

Great headlines are key
Address a very specific niche's problem
Give proof that you are an expert: testimonials, media coverage examples, etc.
Offer full refunds
Always have a call to action
Give fast takers a bonus
Always summarize your offering: the problem you solve, benefits and the BONUS

Chapter 4. Identify and quantify your target market - define your solution very specifically.

Chapter 5. Delegate!

Chapter 6. Save money by:

Bartering
Offering credit not cash
Time limiting the credit offer! Some people never cash in so you get a pick-up.

Chapter 7. If it doesn't work, stop doing it! Pivot.

Chapter 8. Change the game!

Chapter 9. Great content is the best marketing strategy ever!

Chapter 10. When it comes to partnership DO NOT:

Get caught up in theories, hypotheses and projections
Start too big
Feel intimidated by potential partners

Chapter 11. Create a defence and offence

Think And Grow Rich By Napoleon Hill - BOOK REVIEW

31/10/2012

Rating: 5/5

This is another timeless business classic. I have been wanting to read this book for years and I am so glad I eventuality got to it!

I mostly listened to this audiobook when I was driving so my notes are sketchy, not nearly as comprehensive as usual. That said, here are some useful takeaways:

On fate. "I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul." I love that line because it puts responsibility on the individual - not your parents, the Government, siblings or friends. As much as a support unit is important, understanding that you can control where your life goes inspires me to work harder.

On desire. "Desire is the starting point of all achievement." Who can argue with that. What you visualise in your head, you can execute. No one thinks like you and only you can fulfill your vision or goal.

"You don't just need an ordinary desire to succeed and progress but a keen, pulsating, definite desire."

On visualisation. "Believe as though your desire is already a reality." This helps you to accomplish it. "Any subconscious thought which is repeatedly passed on to the mind is ultimately accepted by it... Faith is the only known antidote for failure."

On making sacrifices. "You and you alone must decide whether the effort required to achieve the reward you desire is worth it." Think about that one.

On worry. "Reach a blanket conclusion that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With this decision comes poise and peace of mind." This suggestion was very important for me right now because I have been worrying far too much.

On troubles. "Don't expect troubles because they have a habit of not disappointing." I love that!

I liked Schwab's anti-greed principle. He believed that if you make a product cheap (steel in his case) more uses will be found for it leading to an ever-expanding market. That's profound.

A couple of verses I enjoyed:

IF YOU THINK YOU'RE BEATEN
“If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.”

― Walter D. Wintle

MY WAGE
I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;

For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.

― J.B. Rittenhouse

The Wealthy Author By Joe Gregory & Debbie Jenkins - BOOK REVIEW

29/7/2012

3.5 / 5

I learnt something from this book but I think it would be much more helpful for someone very new to writing and book publishing.

I have a year and a half's worth of research on writing and self-publishing and I'm sure this book would have rated higher in my estimations if I'd caught it at the beginning of that journey.

If you want to get into writing and don't know where to start, get it for sure, I recommend it. Get the kindle book though, the paperback is overpriced!

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© 2007 - 2020, 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.