Looking for Bookmarks...

The other day I was telling a story about a bookmark the T.S.A. officials didn't like in my bag at the airport... (it's metal and shaped like a fish, so it looked just like a knife blade in the X-Ray intrusion machines.) Telling that story reminded me that I hadn't seen that bookmark in a while. So I set out on a short journey to find the trouble maker bookmark and in the process found several bookmarks that I had not seen for a while... Why? Because I tend to start reading a book, get part way through it, then someone promotes a new book with 7 easier ways to solve my life long problem and then I lay one book down and buy another, just to start the whole cycle all over again.

Let me tell you, I have started some really great books! And it vividly pointed out one of my glaring flaws: I have bought numerous "7 easy step" books to solve all of life's problems... I start things but I don't finish very many... Plus, if only I had read the books that I bought to solve my glaring problem, I may have solved my glaring problem and already been living happily ever after. SO, in the spirit of tackling my glaring flaw of starting and not finishing, I have grabbed several of the books I had once started but didn't finish and grabbed several books I have read but have not mastered and I set a goal (here I go again... starting a new project) to read this stack of new and used books in 2011.

It's been said by many very successful people that you will not out earn your personal development. Maybe that's why I tend to stay stuck in my comfort zone. Could also be that the application part of personal development hasn't been as good as it could. (Or maybe I haven't applied what I haven't read...) What ever the reason is... I'm getting unstuck this year and one way I will do this is by reading 25 books AND applying their principles.

Here's the list of books if you dare to take the challenge. These titles and number of books are of my choosing. You may want to read some of the same titles or you may want to chose different titles to read this year. Read the number of books reasonable for you. Feel free to share your list of titles here on this blog in a commentary.

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People (re-read)
2. The Magic of Thinking Big (re-read)
3. How to have Confidence and Power in dealing with people (re-read)
4. How I Raised myself from Failure to Success in Selling (re-read)
5. The 4- Hour Work Week
6. The Speed of Trust
7. The Five Love Languages
8. The Automatic Millionaire
9. Cash flow Quadrant (re-read)
10. Your Best Life Now
11. The Pilgrim's Progress
12. The E-Myth Revisited (re-read)
13. The Power of a Positive No
14. The Real Face of Atheism
15. Principle-Centered Leadership
16. Love and Respect
17. Feel The Fear and Do it Anyway
18. The Case for Christ
19. A Leaders Legacy
20. The Five Languages of Apology
21. Overcoming Crisis
22. Fresh Wind Fresh Fire (re-read)
23. Leading Without Power (re-read)
24. The Worlds Most Powerful Leadership Principle (re-read)
25. In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day (re-read)