Snow days and holidays give me the opportunity to dip into as many books as possible, and Instant Brilliant 2010 has been waiting patiently for me over the holiday period.

Nicholas Bate has pulled together this excellent book from a series of blog posts on his excellent blog. I’m a huge fan of his writing style, short punchy lists that prompt you to think for yourself, asking you questions that provoke and inspire.

Instant Brilliant 2010 is full of tips and guidelines to help you be brilliant. Divided into a number of short chapters, Career, Wellness, Relationships and Money amongst many others – Nick makes some excellent suggestions to get you on your way.

You can order Instant Brilliant directly from blurb.com which also lists a number of other books by Nicholas Bate.

Thanks Nick for the early copy – an excellent read – highly recommended.

I confess, I do not believe in time. – Vladimir Nabokov

I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that time management is a myth – task management is where we should be focused. Validating the task, planning the task and executing the task – if it’s righteous, then it doesn’t matter how long it takes.

Focus on whether the task is the right thing to do – not how long it will take.

Sundays inspiration post had a track called Fitzcarraldo as the accompaniment – a song inspired by a Werner Herzog film of the same name. A story about a man who decides that the only way to fulfil his dream is to drag a steamboat over a mountain so that he can set up business in the Amazon, farming rubber.

It is a truly odd film, starring Klaus Kinski and about a zillion Peruvian tribesman, but the underlying theme is one of determination – the amazing quality that some people have for persistence. His dream is eventually fulfilled, despite some setbacks along the way, the scene of Fitzcarraldo smoking his cigar is one of my favourite film moments. 

I’m always fascinated by people with the relentless desire to improve and achieve – sportsmen that press on become champions, business leaders that continue when all else seems lost and people that drag boats over mountains in order to chase their dreams.

Next time the going gets tough, or all else fails – it might be worth remembering that persistence begins with the decision to continue – a small step, but the next one you MUST take if you are going to achieve.

What are you doing to achieve your dreams?

Disclosure – this book was given to me as a review copy from the Librarything early reviewers program. Check out my Librarything bookshelves now.

A nice quick read that focuses a good amount of time on the prevention of Getting into Debt – there are some good examples of how the reader can slip into debt.

Later the book shifts focus to the tougher process of getting out of debt, with some good common sense tips about tackling the debt. the examples and ideas are practical, actionable and easily customisable to your personal situation.

I read this in a few hours – it is a bit lightweight, but a good primer if you are facing into a problem of debt.

Buy ‘Getting out of Debt and staying out’ by Tony Palmer at Amazon now

What books are you reading right now?

Easily devoured in a short flight – ‘A Day at the Airport’ (Amazon UK link) is an interesting experiment of having an ‘author in residence’ at Heathrow Airport. Of course, it helps that the author in question is Alain de Botton, who has a significant following and some great books under his belt.

Unfortunately the book comes across a little bit as an extended brochure for Terminal 5, however as de Botton spent his time camped out in the middle of the Terminal concourse it is clear that he has exposed some good insight into the travellers he encountered. If you are on and off planes as often as I am, then you soon get to wonder about your fellow passengers, and this book does a great job of telling those stories.

It is a great intro to Alain De Botton, beautifully written and an interesting travel read.

Have you read any good travel writing lately?

Picked this up on the recommendation of a friend after discussing 1950’s calypso music, it’s a modern classic I hadn’t heard of telling the tale of a small group of (mainly) Trinidadian immigrants in London in the fifties.

Buy The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon on Amazon now

Sam Selvon eschews ‘Standard’ English and fuses the patois of the main characters into the language of the book – it is an interesting concept and challenges the reader to hear the characters much more clearly.

As the stories develop, the book exposes the pathos of an immigrants life in London, the colour bar, austerity Britain and a lack of jobs are in conflict with the natural indomitable spirit of Moses, Sir Galahad and Cap – the standout scene being a dance attended by all the key characters and hosted by a ‘lahdedah’ friend who tries to impress the white guests he has bought. Priceless images of calypso dances and ‘slackness’ ensue.

This is a marvellous book, that shows how cold and unforgiving London can be, and how the diversity of the city can also shine through.

This is a great book, combining sound theory, relevant examples and actionable suggestions with an easy readable style.  The main premise is that cultivating  ‘trust’ will enable you and your business to succeed. Most of this is talked about in terms of social networks or online media – but the key points can be practiced offline as well – be a trusted advisor and people will gravitate towards you when they need something, and then trust you with their information and leads.

It is sage advice indeed – and I ripped through this in a few days, coming away with some great suggestions on how to increase trust. Chris Brogan has an authentic voice in this area – having established a successful blog and social network, as well as putting his money where his mouth is – he is even open to giving the book away for charities and non profits.

The book proposes that it will help you drive sales, get hired without a resume or just make your business more awesome than the others. At the very least, it will be a disruptive influence in your current working styles, and that is never a bad thing

I wouldn’t disagree with any of that – I am confident this book will help you develop any relationship you have, beyond business.

Excellent read – buy Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith now.

What are you doing to build trust?

The Purple Cow stands out, because it is remarkable. In a field of black and white cows, the purple cow is the one that you would remember – turning to your travel companion and saying, “did you see…?”

That’s the premise of Seth Godin’s book from 2002, a highly enjoyable spin through the act of being remarkable, and how businesses have transformed their fortunes by standing out from the crowd.

Buy The Purple Cow by Seth Godin here (Amazon Link)

It is an inspiring read, prompting you to evaluate everything from your business models to your personal behaviour – and establish whether what you do is really outstanding.

I devoured this again in one sitting on a 2 hour plane ride – and have come away with a new set of ideas I’ll be implementing, including some that will make my support teams even more remarkable, and also some that will hopefully make me a step closer to ‘awesome’.

What are you doing to ensure you or your business/team are The Purple Cow?

Everyone is facing into the challenges of the new economy – and we could all use some sage advice. Luckily there is lots to be found in ‘Defiant!’ – a fantastic e-book packed with great strategies and simple suggestions for dealing with tough times.

Written by Rajesh Setty (subscribe now – I’ll wait while you do), and featuring tips from some of the most inspirational writers around, including Seth Godin and Phil Gerbyshak.

I enjoyed every page of this e-book – and found some great suggestions, you can download ‘Defiant!’ for free by clicking here. Add it to your reading list today.

What other great resources have you found?

I’ve invested some time in reading some highly recommended business/excellence books recently, and whilst I don’t suggest that you go away and read all of these, just one of the following 3 in your next Amazon order will reap maximum benefits.

• Nicholas Bate – Instant MBA- 52 great ways to think like a top MBA student, bite size and easily digestible – but full of great thought leadership.
• Ken Blanchard – The One Minute Manager- An oldie but a classic, you can read this in 60 minutes – and it will last a lifetime.
• Nancy Duarte – slide:ology- So much of our time is spent in presentations, why not try and make yourself excellent at them. Helps you break the PowerPoint shackles.

Why not add some of these to your Sunday morning reading list?