Seth Godin has published a new e-book about the values of the new internet age – what is valued by the people and what is needed for you to be and to have in order to be successful nowadays.

The book is entitled “What Matters Now?” and includes thoughts and ideas by the most popular authors and bloggers in the world like: Dan Pink, David Meerman Scott, Tom Peters, Gary Vaynerchuk, Guy Kawasaki, Gina Trapani, Hugh MacLeod, Penelope Trunk, Tim O’Reilly, Merlin Mann, Seth Godin and many others.

This is a great Christmas gift for all of us and it will help us clear our vision and our goals for the new year and all the years ahead. You can download it for free from here. Read it and enjoy it!

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It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

I find myself very often arguing with people who are so sure about the things they say and they never agree with me even when I bring hard proofs in front of their eyes.

Self-confidence is good. Shy people never succeed. But sometimes, if you are too confident in your skills or knowledge and you don’t bother to check the facts, you may really get into trouble.

Mark Twain said it perfectly well.

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I am a young entrepreneur (although I am not so young in age) and I am still working to find my own way into business. I still haven’t reached the success I am aiming at but there is one thing I have learned. If you want to be great in business you have to be a great person. And Rajesh teaches me that. In his blog posts and in his Twitter posts I can always find provocative thoughts that make me think about who I am, how I spend my time and what I give to the world.

When you start asking yourself such questions you inevitably will find your answers and this is exactly what will make you a better person and this is what will bring your undertakings to successful end.

Now Rajesh has collected 140 of his Twitter reflections and put them in a small book. It is called #ThinkTweet Book 1: Bite-sized lessons for a fast paced world. This is 100% pure, high-quality wisdom and although he said that you can read it in 15 minutes, I do not recommend reading it so fast. I recommend you to take some time to look at yourself and to think about every single sentence after you read it. Or, if you find it so addictive, read it once, then think about it, then read it once again. Because this is not a book that you will read once and throw away. This is a book that you need to have by yourself and read it every time you need courage, direction and spiritual support for the things you do.

Here are a few quotes I liked very much:

• Vividly imagining a fantasy won’t make it a reality. You still need to work to make it happen.
• If nobody is listening when you are talking, shouting won’t help.
• If you are “faking it” so that one day you can make it, you are missing the point. It’s the journey that counts.
• When you become somebody, it’s easy to forget those that were with you when you were nobody.
• The ultimate fantasy: To expect spectacular results from mediocre efforts.
• If you are NOT in the middle of something important, you might be in the middle of a mess.

Rajesh Setty’s writings really helped me change my life. His blog, his tweets, his books. If you find these quotes inspiring – go buy the #ThinkTweet book! The value you get from it is immeasurable! And, as you can see from the title, it is going to be a series of books so we are going to have more…

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What kind of person are you? Do you have dreams? Do you believe in them? Do you tell the truth? Are you persistent enough to accomplish your goals? These are the questions you should ask yourself if you decide to take on the path to success.

Phil Gerbyshak of Slacker Manager gives a great list of quotes from famous and successful people, which I find very inspiring and I decided to share with you those who touched me the most. He calls them “management quotes” but I think these are inspirational thoughts for life itself.

The first people had questions and they were free. The second people had answers, and they became enslaved.

Wind Eagle, American Indian Chief

The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.

Herbert Agar

It is never too late to be who you might have been.

George Eliot

I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life.  The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.

Mark Twain

For every failure, there’s an alternative course of action.  You just have to find it.  When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

Mary Kay Ash

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Thomas Edison

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Harry S. Truman

I wish you all to reach the success you imagine!

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His blog is devoted to project management and he has original ideas about how to manage people. I think he believes that we lack some thinking and understanding for the others and this is why I feel his blog so close to my blogs PM Stories and Stop and Think!. And probably this is the reason why I like his blog so much.

Read the interview here. You may find some food for thought.

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I watched recently on the TV the film Ambulance Girl where Kathy Bates‘ character said these remarkable words about fear:

Fear is like a hologram. It seems real, filled with substance. And then, when you go beyond it, you realize there is nothing there. It’s all an illusion.

I had many fears in my life (and I still have some) and words like these give me the strength to make the first steps towards my goals. I realized that there is only one thing that can help you overcome the fear – action. When you start doing what you want you become able to throw aside the chains of fear that were nailing you to the ground.

I think we need to recall such words more often when the fear of what might happen paralyzes our mind.

By the way, the film is very good. It is a drama-comedy about a couple who are afraid of change and their fear starts to ruin their relationship. Kathy Bates is my favorite American actress and in this film she is also the director.

Don’t forget – Fear is like a hologram…

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You surely have helped someone at some time. And surely somebody has helped you. But how important is the help that you gave in your eyes today? And how important is the help that you received today? Rajesh Setty raises these questions in his blog and explains that there is a research which shows that in time the help that we gave seems more and more important to us and the help that we received seem less important. It means that people who receive help tend to forget it in time.

I started thinking about myself – how do I expect my help to be appreciated? To be honest, I really don’t remember much cases when I have done a great favor to anyone. It doesn’t mean that I haven’t helped anyone – it means that I really help without thinking of any appreciation or reward for my help. Maybe I just don’t think my help to the others is such a big deal.

I only remember one case when my help seemed to be completely forgotten. A colleague of mine collapsed in the office and I was the only one around. When he fell he swallowed his tongue and stopped breathing. I pulled his tongue out so he could breathe and then asked the other co-workers to call the ambulance. The guy had something like a heart attack – I am not quite sure because after the ambulance took him he started a very long treatment and he didn’t come to the office for many months. When we saw each other after that we talked shortly about his condition and his recovery bu never about the stroke.

During that time I felt like I’ve done something very important and deep in my heart I expected to see some form of appreciation. At least I saved his live! If I hadn’t pulled his tongue out he would have died! But in time I realized that people don’t want to be in debt to someone. They are tormented by the thought that they owe their lives to someone and they don’t feel happy about it. So they tend to forget the incident.

I remember that I had a similar situation when my life was saved by a stranger. When I was about 10 I just have learned to swim and I wanted to show my swimming abilities to my parents. We were at a picnic near a pond and I was happy to swim near the shore. Unfortunately, I couldn’t swim well and I needed firm ground to step on from time to time. What was my surprise when I couldn’t find the ground under my feet! The bottom was too steep and I stared drowning. I panicked and I don’t remember the details. I only remember the strong hand that took me out of the water and the happy feeling that I was alive.

The man who saved me was a complete stranger. We went separate ways and we never met again. And I find that I also tend to forget that incident. Maybe it’s not because I don’t appreciate the help but because I have too many things to do every day and I forget about such important things. I think it’s human nature to forget and it’s not bad.

I believe we should not expect great appreciation for the help that we have given. We just have to be good to our friend and neighbors and to help them gratuitously. God knows hot to reward us for being helpful but we shouldn’t think about the reward. If we have received help from the others it is good to recall the event from time to time and to say “Thank you!” to those people even only in our thoughts. Our gratitude will be remembered.

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I found recently a post in Donald Trump’s blog called The World’s Happiest Nations where he provides the results from a research done at the University of Michigan. For me it is not a surprise that among the happiest nations are ones that have a high level of welfare. But one would never predict that people in countries like Puerto Rico and Colombia are so happy.

Here is the full list of the happiest countries:

1. Denmark
2. Puerto Rico
3. Colombia
4. Iceland
5. N. Ireland
6. Republic of Ireland
7. Switzerland
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Austria

The fact that brought my attention, however, was that my country – Bulgaria – is in the list of the most miserable countries in the world.

My people doesn’t feel happy with its destiny and I can see it in their eyes. Now the whole world knows it. The question is: why? Why are we so unhappy? We tore down the communist regime more than 18 years ago and started to build a democratic society. And still my people is unhappy. It seems that we don’t understand democracy well or we just don’t appreciate it.

I am a happy person. I have a loving family and got on my own way towards professional realization. But you cannot succeed if you live among miserable people. I honestly wish happiness, welfare, “and justice for all”. But how can I help my people feel happier? How can I help them enjoy their lives? I ask these questions but I still haven’t go the answers. Any advice, folks?

Here is the list of the most miserable countries in the world:

1. Zimbabwe
2. Armenia
3. Moldova
4. Belarus
5. Ukraine
6. Albania
7. Iraq
8. Bulgaria
9. Georgia
10. Russia

It is interesting to note that most of the countries in this list are from the former Soviet Union or the Socialist Block. Could it be we still love and grieve for the “old times”?

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Browsing through the pages I found a post (not existing amymore) where there were links to seven free eboks in PDF format. I am a huge fan of reading and this is my preferred method of gaining information and I was very happy to find such amount of useful book in one place and for free!

These are great titles for people who try to start up a new business, who want to communicate better with the others, or who want to understand their inner selves. The books are:

• The Law of Attraction Explained by Ken MacLean
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• The Confidence Booster by Anna Marie Stewart
• Money & Beliefs by Aine Belton
• The Basics of Manifestation by Ken MacLean
• Optimal Thinking (author unknown)
• I Create Millions by Christopher Westra

You can download all the books from this link (no email or other information required!)

Happy reading!

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I found this very interesting post in the Predictably Irrational blog (via Bas de Baar) where the author asks the question: Which is the best form of motivation – cash or gift?

I don’t think the word “motivation” is appropriate here – I firmly believe that money is not a motivation but rather hygiene factor in the work environment. I think “reward” is more appropriate word in this case as rewarding is a very powerful instrument in the manager’s hands for showing appreciation to the employee’s work and thus, indirectly to influence on the employee’s motivation.

Back to the main question: Which is better – cash or gift? I think there is no simple answer. I love the proverb that one size doesn’t fit all and I think it applies here, too. Some people like to be in control of their lives (or at least to think they are in control) and they would prefer having the cash so they can decide by themselves how to spend it. Giving them the cash shows them that you respect their right to make decisions, their freedom to live their live as they want to and I believe that this will increase their loyalty to you and their motivation to work better.

On the other hand, there are people who need to feel your attention, they need to know that the company and the manager care for them and thus giving them a gift shows them your special attitude. Giving a gift means you have spent some time thinking about the other person while choosing a valuable present.

While this mindset is individual, it is also strongly dependent of the national culture. There are countries where most people would appreciate the present and other countries where most people would prefer the cash. So when you make a decision about the form of reward, take in consideration the person’s mindset and their national culture.

In my country, for example, most of the people would prefer the gift even if it is much less in value that the cash. The Bulgarians have an external focus of conscious, i.e. we look for the reasons of everything happening in our lives outside of us. We always need somebody else to take care of our lives and we always hold the others responsible for our destinies.

The national culture plays a very important role but don’t forget that there are also many exceptions! The important thing to know is that there is no best way – it always depends on the person you are dealing with so in order to find the right way to reward them, you must know them quite closely, as the great managers do.

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