The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Magic of Thinking Big’

10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012 – My Book Reviews Included

I’m having better luck this time reading the literary classics, and I’m really enjoying the ones I have read. The funny thing is they are transforming me in a way that I never expected. When I wrote my book Tales of People Who Get It, I indicated that Key to Yourself by Venice Bloodworth, New Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz and The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz profoundly impacted me. Five years later, my response would be very different. This shows me that I growing and evolving as a person, and I’m delighted that I’m not standing still.

Magic of Thinking Big Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the very first time, and I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I related so well to the character Jo March that it was uncanny. And I started to question some of the life choices I have made. A friend suggested that I read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is actually the prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. At the end of the book, my heart was heavy, and I felt this big hole inside of me. I remember thinking, “Such wasted lives.” Because of my response to Wide Sargasso Sea I have included it on my list of 10 books.

While reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, I felt it was a demonstration of true leadership and team building. When we respond that way to books, the authors have done their job. Here are a few of the books I have enjoyed in 2012, some of which have transformed my life.

1. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
2. Watership Down: A Novel, Richard Adams
3. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Emmuska Orczy (Review)
4. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Review)
5. The Whip, Karen Kondazian (Review)
6. The Railway Children, E. Nesbit (Review)
7. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach (Review)
8. Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series), George Bernard Shaw (Review)
9. The War of the Worlds (Dover Thrift Editions), H G Wells (Review)
10. Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

I have not written the reviews for Little Women, Wide Sargasso Sea, or Watership Down: A Novel as yet. Which books have you read in 2012 that have impacted you?

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In August my friend Lauren Huffman Morris posted on Facebook 15 Favourite Books Share. I posted the following books that I read, and really enjoyed, and some of them influenced my life. I am forever growing and changing and as I evolve so the books, I like change. For today, here are 15 books I’d like to share in no special order of influence:

1. How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren
2. The Art of Thought, Graham Wallas
3. Key to Yourself, Venice Bloodworth
4. The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz… Read More
5. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
6. New Psycho-Cybernetics, Maxwell Maltz
7. Best-Loved Folktales of the World, Joanna Cole
8. Gilgamesh: A New English Version, ed Stephen Mitchell
9. The Tenderness of Wolves, Stef Penney
10. The Outcast: A Novel (P.S.), Sadie Jones
11. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
12. The Richest Man In Babylon, George Clason
13. The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino
14. Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell
15. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, Frank Bettger

What would your list of 15 books look like? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please comment. If you found this blog post through a search engine, please consider subscribing.

Before you answer this question, you have to understand how I define Invisible Mentors. Here is my definition of Invisible Mentors from my concept paper.

“An Invisible Mentor is a training tool as well as a different way of thinking, to move professionals from one stage of their life to a higher one through the systematic use of books, interviews, conversations and articles.  An Invisible Mentor awakens the “sleeping” genius within. To achieve this goal requires reading the right books, listening to the right interviews and conversing with the right people.”

So, who are your Invisible Mentors? My Invisible Mentors are:

Julia Conn Watt (She taught me to be a better listener, which is a critical skill for success)

Jim Rohn ( I have learned a lot from his books and training programs)

Earl Nightingale (His training programs – Lead the Field and The Strangest Secret have inspired me)

Key to Yourself (This book by Venice Bloodworth profoundly impacted me)

The Magic of Thinking Big (This Book by Dr. David Schwartz is another that profoundly impacted me)

As I grow and evolve as a person, and unleash more of the genius within me, I suspect that my Invisible Mentors will change. At this point in time, who are your five Invisible Mentors and why? Let us learn from each other!

Photo Credits: Avil Beckford