Resources

A book that changed how I look at creativity.

Resources September 9, 2011 • Comments

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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VIDEO: Free. Leadership. Training.

Leadership/ Resources September 8, 2011 • Comments

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.

New project I did with Seth Godin, Dave Ramsey and Sir Ken Robinson.

Resources September 7, 2011 • Comments

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.

What makes a story, a story?

Creativity/ Resources September 1, 2011 • Comments

Usually when I find out about something cool, it means my friend Ben Arment has known about it for three years. He’s connected and creative and brilliant like that. So it makes that he always beats me to great music. Case in point, a few weeks ago I discovered a band named Listener. (You can watch the video right here.)

I told my friend Stephen about the band and he immediately said, “Oh, Listener? He’s preforming at Ben Arment’s event, ‘Story.’” (Check out the site for the event. The design of the site is beautiful, there are still tickets available and the event will talk about the elements of what makes a story, a story.)

Recently Dan Smith, from Listener, sat down to answer a few questions about storytelling. Here’s what he had to say:

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Free book from the Seth Godin Domino Project!

Resources/ Social Media August 24, 2011 • Comments

That headline is full of some of my favorite words:

Free
Book
Seth Godin

Until Saturday, August 27th you can get the new book from the Seth Godin Domino project for FREE on your Kindle or Kindle app. It’s called Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas. Here’s the description from Amazon:

Want to learn how to maximize social media? When to do it, what words to use, who to tweet at? Look no further than Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design and Engineering of Contagious Ideas. Social media master Dan Zarrella has amassed years of experience helping people negotiate the often mystical place of social media marketing. Now, he has condensed those well-tried ideas into this concise and conversational book. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness demystifies and deconstructs how social media works, who it benefits and why we all depend upon it to help our good ideas spread.

I haven’t read it yet, so this isn’t me telling you it’s brilliant, but I do know that brilliant is really the only thing Seth Godin puts his name to. And it’s FREE.

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

 

     

 

 

3 things Zig Ziglar told me at lunch.

Leadership/ Resources August 19, 2011 • Comments

A few weeks ago I had the chance to eat lunch with Zig Ziglar and his amazing family.

One of the most successful motivational speakers of all time, Zig is a legend the world over. I knew I’d get to spend time with his son Tom, a brilliant guy in his own right, but was not expecting to see Zig when I was in Dallas. Lunch was great and, during our conversation, Zig went out of his way to be incredibly kind to me. I was throwing tons of questions at him, his wife and Tom.

“How do you pursue a dream without wrecking your family?

“Did you ever wrestle with fear and your ego?”

“How do you not get lost in all the challenges that come with growing a business?”

Zig and Tom graciously answered every one of my questions. At the end of the lunch though, when we were getting ready to leave, Zig leaned forward on the table, pointed his finger at me, as if to say, “If you only hear 3 things today young man, hear these,” and then said this:

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15 books I’m bringing to the beach.

Resources July 1, 2011 • Comments

Next week, we’re going to Tybee Island. We love that beach because of the tidal pools. As a parent, a beach with huge tidal pools full of starfish, crabs, fish and other marine creatures is awesome. It’s like an aquarium your kids get to swim in. In getting ready for the trip, though, I realized something ridiculous.

I’m bringing 15 books to the beach.

Why? Because I’m crazy.

Which books? I’m glad you asked.

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