My Bookshelf

I recently was recommended this site http://www.shelfari.com/

It is a very useful resource for book lovers. I can post the books I have read, currently reading and books that I want to read. And then also write book reviews, invite friends and see what's on their bookshelf as well. This will motive me to write more book reviews and I also plan to post the book reviews on my blog.

I have my bookshelf on my blog (scroll down...it is on the right) and also on my personal site here http://www.gpeters.ca/bookshelf.html

If you want to see my reviews place your mouse cursor on a given book and you will see a pop up with my review and additional information about the book.

Happy reading!!!

Get Smarter : Life and Business Lessons

Get Smarter : Life and Business Lessons by Seymour Schulich's book came to me as a recommendation by my mentor Jim Estill on his blog.

It is an easy read. It took me about 3 hours to read it. I recommend it but it is shallow in certain areas.

When the author writes on Sex, Love and Friends it is shallow. I would suggest he sticks to giving business and investment advise which is an area he knows a lot about.

The book is made up of 49 short 2 to 4 pages chapters and then two blank pages in between. Also large font and lots of spaces used. Not a tree saver but he touches on environmental issues a bit. Maybe he should take his advice on the environment more serious. Perhaps it is the publisher responsibility.

I give it three out of five stars.

John Wooden on Leadership

I tend not to read much on leadership anymore. Much of the literature on leadership today lacks in quality. But I do come across some good information on leadership here and there.

Since I’m a toastmaster’s member I get the quarterly magazines from Toastmasters International.

The most recent issue has a great interview from John Wooden know as Coach Wooden. The article got my attention because of his track record. Not only does he speak on leadership but he has been a great leader (he is 97 years old). He coached at the University of California (UCLA) from1948 to 1975 and won 10 U.S. national championships.

He says that he didn’t like the definition on success in the Webster dictionary which is base on material possessions. He coined his own definition in 1934 which is:

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.”

Here are a few other quotes from him.

“A good banker isn’t careless with pennies; a good leader isn’t sloppy about details.”

“Effective leaders are, first and foremost, good teachers. We’re in the education business.”

I found his book on Amazon which I will read sometime in the future.

Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden

Wooden also developed the “Pyramid of Success” called “Wooden on Leadership” with 12 lessons on leadership. Click here to get it.

Toronto Marathon

I ran the Toronto Half Marathon with my wife Today (Sunday the 19th). This is my third half marathon this year. It makes for sore joins but well worth the effort.

My goal this year was to run two half marahtons. I did the Mississauga Half marathon in record time which was not bad either.

Next year my goal is to do a record time again.

Toastmasters Speech

I've been slow on posting again....

Just over a week ago I did a speech at Toastmaster on Economics. I had hope to record it and then post it here but didn't. Oh well maybe next time.

Since Economic is a difficult subject to tackle in 7 minutes I spoke on pricing a bit and use Gas prices as an example. I also made the speech fun because economics can be dry. Here is one paragraph on what I said:

"Pricing is what makes up a free market economy. Pricing enables the buyer to signal how much he is willing to pay for a given product and to the seller how much he should produce. It makes up what is called “supply and demand”. If the price of a given product is right for many buyers the demand will increase. On the other hand if the price is too high the demand will decrease where no buyer wants to buy the product for a given price. The seller has two options. One is to lower the price and second is to stop producing the product. "

Soon I will deliver another speech where I will tell my story in narrative format. I’m also working on another speech on customer service.

Toastmasters is great for improving on speaking skills. I have improved in quite few areas already. After every speech I know areas I need to work on. The feedback we get from member and evaluators is great too.

My wife loves to participate too which gives me more motivation to be great. She recently participated in the humorous speech contest and made it to the second level.