Will It Change You? » Books

E-books vs Real Books: What’s the verdict?

Ross — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:43:52 +0000

Like many other bloggers I’m a big fan of reading books. I’m also fairly involved in the online world, so I do a lot of online reading.

While I subscribe to the theory that there’s nothing quite like the feel / smell / taste of a “real” book, I’ve also had times where I’ve invested in a course etc, and the material has come in e-book format.

Sometimes these E-books have been really great, quality reads. Othertimes… well, let’s just say the concept of ‘book’ is being tainted. Some of these should honestly be renamed E-just-wasted-my-money-and-time. Or perhaps something like E-hee-hee-another-sucker! is more appropriate.

Recently there has been an absolute proliferation of titles such as:

How to be Rich!
Make Thousands Online
Affiliate Secrets
Shhh – What they never told you about Adsense!

etc, etc ad nauseum.

My question is: Are e-books at risk of being continually devalued by the copious poor quality e-books on offer out there?

Does it depend on the subject matter? How do we weed out the great e-books among the bad?

Personally in regards to the e-books I recommend, I’ve always been an advocate of printing them out. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose a little though?! It can be really hard to just pull open a PDF and scrolley scroll on down to some reference point you wanted to re-read vs flicking to a page in a book.

I’m not so sure I’m ever going to be a big fan of reading fiction online either. Maybe kindle readers can shed some light on whether or not this concept (digital format) works.

Maybe we should just rely on informative E-books with great credible recommendations, and keep real books as the delicious tangible suckers they are. Come to think of it, I kind of like the crinkle of a newspaper, too…..!

What are your thoughts?

E-book review: Thirty Days to Change Your Life

Ross — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:37:49 +0000

credit: eschipul

Thirty Days to Change Your Life is a new e-book by Michael Miles of Effortless Abundance. Michael is an author who is passionate about concepts like meaning, purpose and the wonderful adventure of life. His studies and life experiences have developed quite an interesting writing style, and I’m really pleased to be able to review this new e-book. My sincere thanks to Michael for the review copy.

First Glance
The first thing I noticed about this e-book, aside from the fact it’s around 115 pages long, is that it includes a rather comprehensive 6 page introduction on what it’s all about, and how to use the book.

So what it this book all about? Thirty Days to Change Your Life is exactly as it sounds – thirty short chapters of ideas, challenges and messages of inspiration that by themselves cause you to think about your own life and what you’re trying to achieve. Collectively however, they take on a much greater effect.

As part of the introduction, Michael explains:

I have always subscribed to the ‘dripping tap’ approach to self-change. Just a little each day and, in a surprisingly short time, you will have changed a great deal. As Charlie Brown so wisely said, ‘Nothing seems to change much from day to day, but pretty soon everything’s different.’

I’ve made the decision to review this e-book because it has an edge on many other products around at the moment. Before I get into the content, I’d like to suggest that the chapter-a-day format works on two levels.

As described in the ‘dripping tap’ analogy above, when small bits of information are repeated or reiterated, you are given a better shot at having that info sink in. Also, taking in small amounts of info at a time allows us to spend more meaningful time processing that information, rather than experiencing information overload. A new chapter each day is a good amount of material to stew over, spend time thinking about, and even begin applying to our own lives.

“Since change happens all around us and gives us an endlessly shifting material with which to work, we need to tap into this, become part of it, and change ourselves.”

A look inside: what can I change in 30 days?

One thing I really like about this book is that Michael is not dictating to us. He presents us with some ideas on a concept, backs it up with some real life examples, and throws in a story or two at just the right moment to really keep us captivated. The book is presented in a manner where you can read it sequentially, with each chapter complementing each other, or jump to a section that interests you.

The powerful thing, and what I really appreciate about this book is that each topic allows you to make up your own mind on whether or not it’s applicable to your own life and situation. In fact, to me this represents the heart and core of this book: our beliefs, decisions and actions are responsible for the direction our lives take, and the beauty and power of it all is that we get to decide for ourselves what path we will chose.

“What you believe is enormously important and, since beliefs are essentially just thoughts that we keep repeating to ourselves over and over again, you are in control of them. They have the ability to empower you or limit you.”

The topics cover a really broad range with content such as self-analysis, motivation, belief systems, goals, health & commitment, money, happiness and action. Here’s a brief summary of just a few chapter titles:

Who are you?
Self image
Belief
Is This Real?
Adding Value
Failures and Mistakes
Being Yourself
Cooperation
What Other People Think
Money

Thirty Days to Change Your Life

Michael has also included enough quotes, anecdotes and stories to keep me interested from the get-go, which is more than I can say for many other books I have read lately, particularly in digital form.

One thing I will suggest as far as reading this book goes, I strongly recommend that you print it out. Firstly because it’s harder to read books on a computer screen, but also so that you have it there to hold and look at each day, to flip back to sections and highlight paragraphs. This is a book that you’ll want to refer back to at times – it’s really great to be able to have a hard copy to do that with.

Who’s It For?

This book is for anyone who is:

bored with life
feeling complacent
lacking enthusiasm
needing some motivation
unsure of your direction in life
needing a challenge
feeling uninspired, or
having money problems.

Then again, I just realised this probably also includes people who are non-committal, or less likely to make the decision to take up the thirty day challenge and stick with it for one whole month. Let me suggest you go out on a limb here – if you need a boost in life, give this book a go!

Final Thoughts

Well, I’m impressed with the book. The layout is great, the content is solid, and I like the writing style.

Do I agree with and believe in everything that’s in it? I’ll let you decide for yourself, because that’s the beauty of this book – it allows you to examine your current beliefs and motivators and makes you think about why it is that you think a certain way, or do certain things. At this point you forget about reading for entertainment value, and start to recognise the potential that this book has to actually change your life.

Do I believe it can work for you? Absolutely, no question.

At the time of this report, Thirty Days to Change Your Life is available for instant download for a discounted price of ~~$19.95~~ $10.95 USD – this also includes a heap of bundled extra products thrown in for free.

Do I think it’s good value for money? Yes. If you’re anything like me and you like to grab opportunities as they arise, head over to Effortless Abundance and grab your own copy. Then print it out, read it daily, and expect some amazing things to happen in your own life.

To your success!

“Above all else, we need to realize that we are in control. We are in the driving seat. One could say that life does not happen to us, but that we happen to life.

We are like surfers riding on the crest of life. Like the tides moving with great energy beneath a surfer, life is an endless and powerful flow. It can overwhelm us, of course, but only if we allow this to happen.”

Richard Branson: Secrets of a global icon

Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:53:40 +0000

credit: Rachel Kramer Bussel

I’ve always liked Richard Branson, for a variety of reasons. Part of this is because he has been remarkably successful in most of his ventures, and is an entrepreneur at heart. I also like his philosophies and business models, the way he places great value on people and building networks of like-minded individuals. He is an adventurer, a traveler, someone who appreciates life and lives it to the fullest.

I think most of all however I appreciate his personality and character. Obviously I don’t know him personally, but by watching him in his Rebel Billionaire series and reading several of his books, I get the gist of what kind of guy he is. The Virgin brand appeals to me, too – it’s quirky and fun, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Virgin seems to stir up a bit of controversy at times, such as with it’s 80′s retro Virgin Atlantic video shown below. I have to admit I laughed my head off at the World’s Best Airline Complaint Letter which was sent to Virgin, and smiled at Richard’s response.

Setting aside the playfulness of the brand and all of Richard Branson’s boyish larrikinism, you have to admit that even if his character or business practices don’t appeal to you, the level of success he has achieved makes you sit up and take notice. When Richard takes a moment to offer some advice, it’s probably in our best interest to at least listen to what he has to say!

Lessons in Life

A great little quick reference book I have is titled Screw it, Let’s Do it: Lessons in Life. If you haven’t read it, let me encourage you to do so – it’s one of those books that is both inspiring and encouraging, and you can easily (as I do) refer back to various chapters when you need a bit of advice on something.

I wanted to give you a snippet of some of the great suggestions found in this book, check it out:

“I don’t deny that I have done well and had success. It has even been said that I turn what I touch into gold. People ask me what my secret is. How do I make money? What they really want to know is – how can they make money? Everyone wants to be a millionaire.

I always tell them the same thing. I have no secret. There are no rules to follow in business. I just work hard and, as I always have done, believe I can do it. Most of all, though, I try to have fun.”

Here are some of the truths Richard has learned along the way:

“My motto is, ‘Never do anything if it means you can’t sleep at night.’ It’s a good rule to follow.”

Have fun, work hard and money will come

Don’t waste time – grab your chances

Have a positive outlook on life

Chase your dreams but live in the real world

Have no regrets

Keep your word

Make a difference and help others

Sure it’s great to have a list of ideals, such as the one above, but what’s great about Richard is that he expands on each of these with real world examples and tips, making them not only great words to live by, but ones we can actually apply to our own lives.