Destiny Defining Decisions: 11 Best-Selling Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Greatest Success Secrets

by Aleks George Srbinoski

"What was the thought process behind the best life decision you have ever made?" This is the central question answered in “Destiny Defining Decisions” which explores the keys to happiness, inspirational living and business success. It offers new and established entrepreneurs and self-improvement enthusiasts the opportunity to receive inspirational and practical guidance from 11 best-selling business experts.

Discover the 7 key skills of success, 10 guidelines for entrepreneurial and life happiness and a simple 5 phase step by step business plan to start-up or enhance your passions based small business immediately.

The list of guests include experts who run multi-million dollar companies, who publish New York Times Bestselling books (with some individual titles having sold more than 1 million copies on their own) and who have a combined net worth of over $300 million.

Receive:

· Executive coaching insights from Marshall Goldsmith, a top 5 world ranked executive coach (best-selling author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There)
· New secrets to “non-linear” time management from Steve Chandler, Success Coach trained in "psychological warfare" (best-selling author of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself and Time Warrior)
· Successful start from scratch business building tactics from Richard Koch, an extremely high net worth serial entrepreneur (best-selling author of The 80/20 Principle).
· Creativity tips from Randy Komisar, a leading Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist (best-selling author of The Monk and the Riddle)
· Life purpose clarity techniques from Tony Alessandra, a hall of fame motivational speaker (best-selling author of The Art of Managing People)
· Timeless self-development revelations from Tom Butler-Bowdon, classic books researcher (best-selling author of 50 Psychology Classics and 50 Self-Help Classics)
· Social entrepreneurship guidelines from Jenn Lim, the CEO of Delivering Happiness and Director of HR at Zappos.com (contributing author to Tony Hsieh’ #1 best-selling Delivering Happiness)
· Negotiation strategies from Stuart Diamond, one of the world's most respected negotiation teachers (best-selling author of Getting More)
· Presentation skills that build trust, respect and connection with John G. Miller, accountability expert (best-selling author of QBQ: The Question Behind the Question)
· Essential mindset requirements for writing and consulting success from Eve Adamson, freelance and celebrity ghostwriter (best-selling author with Bethany Frankel of A Place of Yes)
· Actions to create value and share your expert knowledge effectively with Andrew Griffiths, (best-selling author of The Me Myth and the 101 Ways Business Series)
· Special inspirational interview with Anthony Catalano

Primary author, interviewer and creator of additional strategies is Entrepreneurial Psychologist and Happiness Expert, Aleks George Srbinoski.

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2014

Reviews

[Gisela Hausmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably, "Destiny Defining Decisions: Best-Selling Entrepreneurs Reveal their Greatest Success Secrets," contains quite a bit of useful information, however it is just so darn unpleasant to read.

Quite obviously, the author wants to use this book as his "marketing brochure," his own website fulfillinghappiness.com is mentioned a whopping 19 times. Also, this book is not edited at all; the author presents transcribed radio shows.

Every interview starts with, " Aleks: Hello, and welcome. I’m Aleks George Srbinoski, founder of FulfillingHappiness.com, and today my guest is..."

OK, we get it - we know who you are! This could have been edited!!! - but obviously the purpose is to create a link to the author's website, again and again...

Also, the interview responses should have been edited a bit. Most people talk in run-off sentences, at least to some degree. These run-off sentences are printed in full which makes the book somewhat difficult to read.

One example from the interview with Richard Koch:

"... It was just a very interesting business to be in, but it was even more interesting if you were the boss of it, if you were able to take the company and decide who you would hire and decide which kinds of clients to go for and which products and services you would provide..."

That's a 54-word sentence.

And later, the fantasy gift in Andy Griffiths' chapter is described:

"... Made with real human skin and utilizing the world’s smallest and most powerful microchip, the Mini-Mentor fits seamlessly into any ear cavity and soothes the mind by altering brain waves for the task at hand while at the same time producing empowering action commands created by the world’s most successful people that are sure to inspire and energize..."

That's a 58-word sentence.

There are also other odd things. In his interview Marshall Goldsmith says, "...Again, I’m a Buddhist, I give everything away..." To my utter surprise I had to find out that Marshall Goldsmith's latest book is priced at $14.99 (Kindle edition) . In comparison, Mark Cuban's excellent book "How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It," (Kindle edition) sells for $2.99.

I am all in favor of books costing some money, I really do not appreciate the current system which encourages authors to put their books on sale or free at times; however I fail to see the connection of Buddhist thinking (" I give everything away") and pricing a Kindle book at $14.99.

Personally, I think that the interview with Steve Chandler about maximizing time through “non-linear” prioritization methods is the best in the whole book.

Most ridiculous is the "Fantasy Gift – The Auto-Writer Gloves" in connection with “Fearless Freelancer” Eve Adamson's interview.
It begins with the words, "So many of us dream of becoming experts with best-selling books to our name, but who wants to write? Being cooped up in a room all by yourself with nothing but you and the blank page..."

Let me set the record straight - Already in 2012 Bowker reported that 3,500 books were published in the US e a c h d a y. (Today it's supposed to be 4,500). Please note that Bowker only registers books from authors/publishers who use their own ISBN number, but not the vast number of books from authors who use Amazon's/Smashwords'/Createspace's free ISBN Numbers.

3,500 books x 365 days equates to a staggering 1,.277,500 books per year; though in reality the number of published books is probably closer to 2 million books p e r y e ar. Obviously, not all of them can be bestsellers. So, when this author describes the fantasy gift, "... these gloves are guaranteed to guide you in writing your best seller with no effort.." I have to conclude that the author has no idea what he is talking about or he wants to promise things that are simply impossible.

This book contains some good tips but readers will have to dig for them.

Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d love to be a best-selling author, which, I’ve learned, might mean I have to become some kind of entrepreneur. So the chance to read the secrets of 11 best-selling entrepreneurs is certainly attractive. Aleks George interviewed all these people and transcribes their conversations very invitingly in this short book. The pages are bright and well-laid out. Dialog is offered with nice clear images of the speakers to keep the reader focused. And each interview is presented with a “Here’s what you’ll learn” section at the start, and “Here’s how to practice what you learned” at the end. Fantasy “Gifts” turn lessons learned into imaginative images, helping readers keep them in mind. And further resources are offered online, from audio interviews to cheat sheets and more.

The list of expert contributors includes at least a few people I’ve heard of before, and several authors of self-help and motivational books. Okay, I’m not a big motivational book reader, and phrases like “the science of happiness” tend to evoke more cynicism than enthusiasm in me. But the author brings all his training in Clinical Psychology, plus the testimony of his own experiences, to his choice of subject matter and questions. The writing’s quick, clear and conversational, with plenty of immediately relevant examples, and a very authentic feel. The practical applications are clear and interesting. And even the casual reader will learn something of value as the pages turn.

For myself, I enjoyed the final interview most, if only for its unique human touch and the upbeat character of a speaker who has more cause than most to let the world get him down. That said, all the interviews contain valuable, well-highlighted nuggets, and the lessons are nicely drawn. Pleasingly presented and practical, this book offers a nice reminder that it’s not all about money, and finding your passion matters more than achieving somebody else’s success.

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review.

[Michiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way this book is structured, is one of the best ways a book dealing with this kind of topic could have been structured. The author outlines 7 keys to entrepreneurial success, which he discusses against the backdrop of interviews with 11 highly successful entrepreneurs. As the author rightly says: “The entrepreneurial road is such a tough and lonely road”. In order to get where you want to be, you need guidance. And what better guidance than that from successful entrepreneurs; high-level experts in what it takes to be your own boss and run your own business. By way of interviews, you get the opportunity to learn from a whole range of very successful entrepreneurs, each with their own special ideas and skills. You get to learn from their successes but also from their failures and fears.

The interviews center around one main question, namely “what was the thought process behind the best life-changing decision you have ever made?” This encourages the interviewees to go into some of the thoughts behind the decisions that ultimately shaped the success in their life, enhancing insight in what it really takes to be an entrepreneur.

This book is an interesting read for anyone who wants to follow his passion and run his own business. If you have always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur but fears have held you back, then this is the book that you should get. It offers inspirational and practical guidance from successful entrepreneurs and also contains useful psychological exercises to help enhance your self-development.