How to change your life in 7 steps
John Bird and Lena Semaan
Vermilion
84 pages
This short book is by John Bird (the founder of the Big Issue) and a barely-credited ghost-writer. It’s quite good (better than it looked in the library), and the ”3%” chapter (see below) happened to come along just as I was absorbing “the Now Habit”…
So how do all those other people do it? How do they get things done – and make it look easy in the process? The answer is they think small. I’m not saying they don’t have grand plans. They do. But instead of thinking about the end result, they set themselves modest targets, targets they can achieve easily. I call it starting with 3%. If you are sitting there wondering how to measure 3%, don’t bother. I use the term 3% because it is a way of describing your first goal’ a goal that you feel pretty sure of achieving.
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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Those seven steps are –
Start with 3%
Stop thinking like a victim
Be true to yourself and others
Stop knocking everyone else
Think for yourself
The importance of making mistakes
Be your own leader
And Bird’s take on leadership is spot on, imho. You can be in office but not in charge. I know several people who are…
Being a leader is not about having a title. It is not about being Chairman, Mayor or Team Captain. It is not about having an office the size of a football field and people waiting on you. And it is not about telling people what to do. Leading is not done only by those few in high places, but by you. When you stand up for what you believe in, or act as if what you do matters, then you are leading.
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So, if you’re looking for a half hour dose of common sense, this is for you…
I’m the ghost writer. I wrote the whole thing.