Jon Acuff's Blog

Please read “A Technique for Producing Ideas ” by James Webb Young.

This book, more than any other on writing, shaped the way I come up with ideas. Originally presented to students in 1939 and published in 1965, this book does in 47 pages what other books fail to do in 400.

It’s short, powerful and only costs $6.95 on Amazon. This is a tremendous resource for anyone who wants to create great ideas that turn into great actions. (And that describes everyone working on their FinishYear goals.)

Pick up a copy today.

I’m not going to lie to you, I wish this post had the same alliteration as “Tuesday Task.” That is money! I even considered going with “Thursday Thresource,” but that was ridiculous.

Regardless of the name, I learned recently how important it can be in the midst of FinishYear for us to share resources.

In preparation for the Quitter Conference, which you should attend in February, we started having a “Quitter Breakfast.” The invite was open to anyone, and we basically got together to talk about the projects we’re working on over coffee. The best thing we did at the breakfasts was share resources. We went around the table and each said one resource that’s helped us work on the things we’re passionate about.

It can be a book, a website, an app, a piece of luggage that makes traveling easier, anything is fair game.

So, on Thursdays during January, I’ll share a resource that’s really helped me along the way. And then you can share one you love in the comments.

Cool? All right. Let’s talk about the first Thursday Resource.

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How awesome are the words in that headline?

Free
Book
Seth Godin

Today you can get the new book from the Seth Godin Domino project for FREE on Amazon for your Kindle or Kindle app. It’s called The Flinch and it’s written by a guy named Julien Smith. Here’s the description from Amazon:

Julien Smith has delivered a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come. The idea is simple: your flinch mechanism can save your life. It shortcircuits the conscious mind and allows you to pull back and avoid danger faster than you can even imagine it’s there. But what if danger is exactly what you need? What if facing the flinch is the one best way to get what you want? Here’s a chance to read the book everyone will be talking about, before they do. What are you afraid of? Here’s how to find out.

I haven’t read The Flinch yet, so this isn’t me telling you it’s wicked awesome, but I do know that wicked awesome is really the only thing Seth Godin puts his name to. And it’s FREE. (I’m not sure for how long, but it is today!)

Click here to get a copy. I got one today and can’t wait to read it. (I don’t have a Kindle by downloaded the free Kindle app on my iPhone.)

Last year, every morning before I went into my day job, I would sit in the dark in the parking lot listening to a few songs.

Why?

Because every dream needs a soundtrack.

Every dream needs some musical encouragement along the way. We all need a theme song that, like Rocky, keeps us secretly believing we do indeed have the eye of the tiger.

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Let me be clear about one thing:

I’d watch the show “Penguins of Madagascar” even if I didn’t have kids.

Even if I wasn’t the father of a 5 year old and an 8 year old, that show would be on rotation at my house. It’s funny, well written, and full of penguins that will occasionally judo chop other animals.

I digress.

Sometimes as an adult you bump into things designed for children that you end up needing more than your kids. It’s a book or a movie that speaks to you in a way you didn’t anticipate but can’t forget. That’s how I feel about two books by a guy named Peter H. Reynolds.

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I think blogging is hard.

I’ve been doing it almost every day for the last four years and this is the conclusion I have come to.

It’s hard to build an audience, hard to create fresh content day after day, hard to know when it’s time to change things up and hard to know when you’ve strayed a long way from the goals that originally got you into blogging.

When I bump into those challenges, there’s someone I consistently turn to for help – Bryan Allain.

We’ve been friends for about three years now and he has generously helped me with any and every blog question I threw at him. Finally, after years of doing that for a lot of people, he wrote a book for bloggers.

It’s called “31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo.”

I just bought a copy for myself. It’s only $4.99 and whether you’re a seasoned blogging pro or just starting to dip your toe in the water, this is an awesome book.

If you’re ready to overcome the blog challenges that wreck so many people before they really even get started on the fun experience a blog can really be, pick up a copy of this book.

Last summer, my wife and I made a big decision.

After six years in Atlanta and 12 years in the same industry, we decided to move to Nashville. Why?

Because Dave Ramsey asked me to join his team.

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Have you ever had writer’s block? Or maybe idea block? Or creative block?

In the midst of trying something new, have you ever bumped into a wall that seemed higher than you could climb?

I think everybody does at some point, whether you’re opening up a new business or trying to finish an album. I know I’ve had a creative block.

In the midst of writing my first book, I got stuck.

My creativity felt drained. My hope was gone. The project felt insurmountable. Surely someone smarter and funnier had already written the book I was going to write. Who was I to think I could write a book? I’ll never get done. Nobody will ever buy this book.

Those were the thoughts that bounced around my head, until a friend gave me a copy of a book that ended up saving my very own.

What book was it?

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I like all three of those words.

And today, I actually get to use them. Why?

An organization called G5 Leadership is offering free leadership training to readers of this blog.

Normally, annual memberships are $129.

Today they are $0.

Just go to this page and enter code g5acuff

G5 Leadership is one of the best live, web training companies in the world. Think of G5 Leadership as a movie theater and the speakers and their topics as movies. G5 is a venue where people can go and select which “movies” they want to watch based on which topics are most important to them. 
It’s a great resource for anyone who wants to improve anything from overall leadership to individual elements like emotional intelligence.

Now if I were you, I would be thinking, “It’s probably free because the leaders doing the training are just a random collection of random guys with blue blazers, pleated pants, woven leather belts and anemic resumes/accomplishments.”

First off, well played on the woven leather belt idea.

Second, the leaders are actually the opposite of that. The leaders are ridiculously good.

My friend Tim Sanders, New York Times best-selling author of Love is the Killer App, is one of the leaders they work with. So is David Allen, author of the epic book Getting Things Done. And Bill Taylor, the founder of Fast Company magazine. And … you get the picture.

What/when is the next event?
G5’s next live keynote is on September 15th at 11am EST. 
“Agreed” with David Marcum teaches you how to approach any negotiation and create the best outcomes for both sides. I am horrible at negotiating and need to watch this one.

The coolest thing about all of this? We get a free membership and, as a member, we can listen to any G5 leadership training event on-demand after the live session is over.

The desire to be a leader, grow as a leader, and serve as a leader is a pretty new experience for me. I’m going to do my best to partner with people/groups who I think can help me and you do that. I think G5 Leadership is one of those groups.

Recently I had the chance to work on a new book called “End Malaria” with a lot of my favorite people on the planet. Seth Godin sent out an email explaining why we all worked on the project. Here’s an excerpt of what he said:

From Seth Godin

Today, 61 amazing authors (and me) are publishing an important new book, a book about great work and finding insight and making a difference. It’s a bargain at $20 for the Kindle edition and $25 for the paperback (international pricing and availability varies, as always).

But of course, there are plenty of great books to choose from. You probably own a few books you haven’t read yet. The fact that this is a great book is not why you should buy a copy right now.

You should buy a copy because today is End Malaria Day, and because we’re donating $20 from the sale of every copy in any format to Malaria No More. In fact, we never even see the money. The writers, the designers, the promoters and the Domino Project all worked for free for months to bring this book to you, so you could step up and save someone’s life.

I love watching projects like this come together.

I wrote an essay in the book and it’s full of a ton of great ideas from folks like Seth, Dave Ramsey, Gary V, Scott Belsky, Sir Ken Robinson and many others.

Click here to check out the book.