Confident Career Woman by Ericka Spradley is the first book I read in the Read 30 Books in 30 Days Reading Challenge.
Is it possible for you to read 30 books in 30 days? Yes, if you know how to do it. I’ve done it a few times. And I honestly wish that I knew what I now know about effective reading. What holds people back is their definition of what it means to read a book.
Keep in mind that a book is simply a tool to get you where you want to go. What career goals do you want to accomplish? With that in mind, you’re now a detective. And your goal is to find the sections in books that will help you to achieve your career goals.
For me, I’m using the Read 30 Books in 30 Days Reading Challenge to get an infusion of ideas that I can apply to my business. Additionally, I want to read books that teach the skills that the World Economic Forum says you need to thrive in 2020 to 2022. Because of this world crisis, things are changing rapidly. No one knows for sure when isolation will end. But when it ends, things will never be the same again. I have no control over those things, but what I can control is feeding my mind with great books.
The first book I digested was Confident Career Woman: Ditch Perfection, Play Bigger, and Make PowHer Moves by Ericka Spradley. Although I've never met Ericka, I've talked to her over the phone and by email. Last year she mailed me a copy of her book. We're both members of Ellevate Network, a global organization of professional women supporting each other.
I was supposed to meet her at the Black Enterprise Conference in early March of this year. I didn't go because I have asthma and I didn’t think I should risk it. Anyway, I got the vibe to read her book on the first day of the reading challenge and so I did. Before I add my key takeaways from Confident Career Woman I wanted to say that the more books you read, the more you’ll see how everything is connected.
A big lesson I learned in the book is to focus on your results, believe in yourself, and own your greatness!
The 3Cs to Pay Attention To
- Conformity
- Comparison
- Comfort
Conformity: That’s not good in most cases. I have a question to ask you instead. What can you improve to position yourself as an expert?
Compare: Never compare yourself to others. The only person to compete against is you. Instead, what makes you unique?
Comfort: Comfort breathes complacency, which breathes inertia. Where do you see yourself in the next three to 10 years? Visualize yourself achieving the goal, then work backwards. Take the actions you need to get there.
3Fs to Be Aware Of
- Follow-up: Be known as being reliable.
- Feedback: Find out how you’re doing, so you can improve.
- Fear: Lose it. It’s false expectations appearing real.
Have you read?
Summary: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
Zero to One by Peter Thiel, Book Review
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks – Book Review
Key Takeaways to Immediately Act On
- Replace you Buts with Ands. I first learned this in improv. Several years ago, I took an improv course at Second City. A great book is Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses “No, But” Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration–Lessons from The Second City
. - You’re enough and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
- Be clear about what you want. And it’s okay to showcase your value and accomplishments.
- Be yourself, take off the mask you’re wearing. It’s too stressful.
- Accept your flow and ditch the perfectionism trap. Benjamin Franklin strived for perfectionism and found that it didn’t exist. No one is or can be perfect.
- What does success look like for you? Write down what you want to accomplish then take action. Develop success habits.
- Amplify your strengths at least 10X. What would happen if you 10X what you think you can accomplish. This reminds me of three great books: The 10X Rule, Zero to One, and 10x Marketing Formula.
- How are you doing? Keep track of your progress.
- Develop emotional intelligence. It’s one of the skills the World Economic Forum says you need to thrive. Two great books are Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and Go Suck a Lemon.
- Take charge of your career because no one will do it for you. Manage your career with integrity, intellect, influence and be intentional.
- Stand up and be heard. If you’re not invited to the table, invite yourself. If you’re blocked from being at the table get your own table. Invite others who’ve been excluded.
- If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Ask for what you’re worth.
- Don’t get comfortable – keep improving. Don’t stay still. Play a bigger game.
- Get enough sleep to operate at an optimal rate.
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4 Stages of Competence
- Unconscious incompetence: You don’t yet know how to do something.
- Conscious competence: You make mistakes as you learn something for the first time.
- Conscious competence: You’re competent but the activity requires your focus.
- Unconscious competence: You do the activity without a thought because it’s part of you.
The above reminds me of Gay Hendricks’ Four Main Operating Zones in the Big Leap
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1 Key Takeaway from Confident Career Woman by Ericka Spradley
Success is yours for the taking. Decide what you want. Dream big. Take action. Be flexible. Own your greatness.
How Avil Can Help You!
If you do not want to gamify your reading, I invite you to Join the Performance Accelerator Plan that walks you through the process of learning key skills and more. You’ll be reading books to build skills and develop intercultural awareness. Get more reading and learning tips here.
In December 2020, I published two books on Amazon. I would greatly appreciate your support if you bought my two short e-books Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon and Performance Accelerator Plan: Guide to Learning and Mastering Key Skills for the Future.
Read 30 Books in 30 Days Like Francis Bacon is not about speed reading. It’s about approaching every book differently and reading only the sections that align with your purpose.
The Performance Accelerator Plan book is a stripped-down version of the paid reading challenge of the same name. Obviously, you won’t get all the resources that come with the program that I sell on my website. But if you are a self-directed learner, it will help you tremendously.
If someone clicks on a link and buys something from Amazon, the company will pay me a small commission.
