Jim Randel, a graduate of the Columbia University College and Law School, has made his living as an entrepreneur. During his 30-year career, Jim has been the lead investor in many real estate and business deals. He has been a guest speaker at Harvard and NYU Business Schools, annual conventions for national organizations, and investor sessions in every large city in the United States. He has also appeared on numerous networks as an expert on investing. Recent engagements include ABC, CBS, Fox, Fox Business and BetterTV.com.
Throughout his career, Jim's passion has been to teach and write. His first book, The Real Estate Game (CCH), was published in 1986 and received national recognition from investors and critics. From 1988 to 1990 he was a daily commentator on the Financial News Network (now CNBC). In 2006 he wrote Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur (McGraw-Hill) which reached #1 in several Amazon categories.
In 2008 Jim founded Rand Media Co, which, under the imprint The Skinny On™, publishes a revolutionary line of illustrated non-fiction books.
The first book in this series, The Skinny on the Housing Crisis, was awarded First Prize in the prestigious Robert Bruss Real Estate Book competition sponsored by NAREE, a group of 600 journalists who cover business and finance. This was quickly followed by 8 more titles: The Skinny on Willpower, The Skinny on Credit Cards, The Skinny on Success, The Skinny on Real Estate Investing, The Skinny on Direct Sales (also available in Spanish as The Skinny on Venta Directa), The Skinny on Time Management, The Skinny on the Art of Persuasion, and the newest in the series, The Skinny on Networking.
Jim lives and works in Westport, Connecticut with his wife Carol. They have four grown children and two grandchildren.
For more information about the Skinny on series, go to: www.TheSkinnyOn.com.
The Skinny On: Willpower – Literally, Where There is a Will There is a Way!
Rating: 5 of 5: TMBOA Recommended
Author: Jim Randel Format: Paperback
What I like about Jim Randel’s The Skinny On books, is that they are like hiring an excerpt consultant to come and spend a couple of hours teaching from their extensive research and experience, all for the price of a couple of cups of coffee. Written in a power point type fashion with wonderfully simple but effective and well illustrated characters, Randel teaches through fictional case studies. Peppered throughout these studies are the wisdom of experts who have been well researched and quoted by Randel along with an extensive bibliography for those wanting to delve deeper. Usually when I attend a conference or listen to an expert speaker, I consider it well worth my time if I can learn one new factoid or item that I can put into practice. While I have read a number of the references Jim uses in his books, I still found multiple take-aways to use going forward making reading The Skinny On books well worth the time.
In The Skinny On: Willpower, Randel uses an example of eating properly (fewer marshmallows!) and losing weight to impart lessons regarding willpower. Given the number of dieting books, exercise videos, and overall size of this market, use of this example should resonate with many readers. Randel reiterates common lessons with respect to willpower which include goal setting. Important in this exercise is the specificity of the goals - how much, by when, etc. Generic goals – be happier – eat better, etc. are prone to failure because there isn’t anything objective to hold oneself accountable to.
Of even greater interest to me, however, was Randel’s focus on preparing for challenges. Inherent in needing to exercise willpower is the fact that one’s will will be challenged. For example, in dieting, one will be challenged with emotional stresses that could trigger unhealthy eating – before setting off on a new goal, one needs to anticipate what the potential challenges to the goal and one’s will will be and create a “willpower plan”. The idea is to think through these future stresses and how to manage them before they happen. By making a plan before the issue comes up, one is able to effectively plan a response and practice this response before the challenge comes. This way, when the eventual challenge comes the stress of the challenge itself does not break one’s will and success is easier to obtain. Randel provides some research suggesting that this practicing improves one’s willpower similar to training a muscle in athletics or the mind in intellectual pursuits.
Finally, I enjoyed the discussion on self discipline. Randel’s writes “self discipline is about doing things today that may not be your first choice for the pleasure of experiencing bigger and better things tomorrow.” Well said.
Regardless of the methods you use, Randel’s book contains a lot of information packed into a small and engaging package. Perhaps not all ideas will resonate with everyone, but there is so much good content here, everyone will gain a key take-away or two.
Where there’s a will there’s a way. Few people have success fall into their laps. Most have to work hard and smart to reach their goals. They have to be clear about what they want, make a plan, and then be persistent (very persistent) until the end is reached. Willpower is key.
The Skinny on Willpower is another great resource from the Skinny On series. Short and straightforward, these books get to the heart of the matter. Goals without a plan will fail. Dreams without action are doomed. You aren’t guaranteed success but if you really want it, take active steps toward your goals and persevere through the tough times you have a real chance at achieving your dreams.
Good tips, but this is a very shallow treatment on willpower and how to improve it. Lots of stick figure cartoons and visual sound bites. If you want to improve your willpower, start by reading a self-help book that offers depth and requires concentration (like Baumeister's).
到了為夢想付諸行動的時刻囉~我要在二月之前減重10斤,在三月之前ielts考band 7, 在四月之前將所有論文寫好... 打咩打咩! 毅力是有限的喲,我們付出的任何類型的毅力都會對其他任何形式的毅力產生即時的干擾作用(another citation from welcome to your brain), 所以給自己一點時間去恢復和增強力量啊喂。 當然,即使已經做好充足的前期準備工作,也將自己引導到能將能量最大化的道路之上,但是在實踐過程中,心理建設還是會有破防的時候,那該怎麼辦呢? 作者提出 a) 強迫自己想像一連串“非此即彼”的選擇的結果,釐清你的目標,在正確的時間做出正確的選擇 b)灌雞湯:相信你的毅力已經比你所意識到的強大多了
Được tặng quyển sách này phiên bản tiếng Việt vào dịp 8/3, kèm theo một cái postcard hình mèo từ công ty ^^ với lời chúc "May your day be filled with happiness, sweet smiles and warm hugs". Tự nhiên thấy cảm động gì đâu, và quyết tâm sẽ đọc liền cho nóng chứ không xếp cuối trong list những quyển sách đang đọc dài như sớ táo quân của mình...
Sách có nhiều điểm chung với những cuốn về phát triển bản thân mà mình đã từng đọc về ý chí và phấn đấu gặt hái thành công, có khác chăng là ngắn gọn súc tích hơn và có câu chuyện minh họa khá dễ thương về hai vợ chồng Bily và Beth. Từ khi hình thành mục tiêu đến lúc thực hiện được là cả một tiến trình dài đòi hỏi ý chí và nỗ lực không ngừng từ bản thân, vài điều mà mình rút ra được cho bản thân và cũng là phù hợp với mình nhất: - Hãy chắc chắn bạn ước muốn, khát khao thực hiện nó nhất trên đời này; - Đừng ôm đồm quá nhiều mục tiêu một lúc, hãy tập trung vào một mục tiêu trong một thời điểm và dồn hết tâm trí và cở thể cho nó, điều này sẽ giúp nó dễ được thực hiện hơn và bạn cũng không để trí óc và cơ thể overload. - "Chặng đường từ nơi bạn đứng đến nơi bạn muốn đến là gồm những bước nhỏ, dễ làm, đừng cố chạy hết chặng đường đua trong một chốc. Hãy chậm rãi và vững vàng, quan trọng là những miếng nhỏ dễ cắn, dễ nhai." -> để có thêm động lực và cảm thấy mình tiến bộ mỗi ngày, hãy chia nhỏ công việc thành từng miếng "dễ cắn" -> nếu đối mặt với việc khó khăn khi thực hiện mục tiêu, đừng bận tâm với việc chinh phục nó ngay tức khắc, thời gian sẽ ở bên bạn nếu bạn tiến bộ mỗi bước mỗi ngày... - Phân tích và lên kế hoạch chi tiết nhất có thể cho mục tiêu - Sắp đặt những thử thách của bạn theo cách vui vẻ, chứ không phải đau đớn (suy nghĩ tích cực và thay đổi cách nhìn nhận khó khăn theo hướng tích cực hơn...) -> có thêm động lực để kiên trì...
(đọc xong vào tháng 3 mùa dịch Covid-19 đang lan tràn)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Quick read, shallow, but practical. This book helps me to build a basic systematic understanding of what willpower is and how to achieve it. It also provides info for further reading for each part so that I can get more details if I need. I tried to write down all the tips and relate it to my real life and practice it.
Unfortunately, this book leaves you with more questions than answers... Which is weird, because this is supposed to be like a synopsis, right? Which makes me feel like it should have been almost entirely answers and conclusions. If the answer to willpower is so simple, then a book such as this would be rendered entirely superfluous. Unhelpful. Do not recommend.
Có vẻ kiểu sách như thế này hài hước và dêc đọc đối với một số cá nhân nhưng mình lại cảm thấy có nhiều chỗ cợt nhả như nào ấy. Có lẽ nó không phù hợp với mình!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is part of a new series that attempts to provide a plain-English explanation of some of today’s most important topics. A team of researchers and readers read everything they can get their hands on about a certain topic, like willpower, and distills it into a book intended for busy people.
The book follows Billy, who needs to lose some weight, and his wife, Beth, who wants to start her own business, but they are having problems in the willpower department. The author takes them through the entire process of committing to something, sticking with it and dealing with negative thoughts.
Instead of saying something vague, like "I need to get healthy" on January 1, like most people, then give up after a few weeks, make it more definite and achievable. For instance, try "I will go for an after-dinner walk three times a week" or "I will cut out soda and potato chips." Break a large task into smaller mini-tasks. If you would like to start your own business, then start with "I will write out a business plan." After that, "I will submit my business plan to my local bank for a loan."
When it comes to willpower in general, first and foremost, you must be totally committed to "it," whatever it is. If it doesn’t produce a fire in your belly, then why bother? Get ready for a difficult journey. Be as specific and concrete as you can about your goal, and how you plan to get there. Learn to deal with the self-doubt and negative thoughts that will inevitably occur. Willpower is like a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it will be for next time.
Don’t let the stick figure illustrations get in the way of enjoying an excellent book. It is very easy to read, and is full of information on how to clean out mental clutter and get anyone moving toward their personal and business goals. This one is very highly recommended.
From my review on Bookvisions htt://bookvisions.blogspot.com
The Skinny on Willpower –how to develop self-discipline is another in The Skinny On series. I previously reviewed The Skinny on Time Management. The Skinny On books are designed to bring a power pack of information in a quick-read form. Introduced with “Give us about an hour to read about Bill and Beth’s struggles with the willpower they need to accomplish their goals”. The book delivers what it promises.
The stick figures are back, and I would have missed them if they had not! The pictures and lesson layout make this an interesting way to study this important topic. Preparation, goals setting, goals management, thought control, challenges, and focus are all covered in these simple lessons.
No matter what you are trying to accomplish, keeping your focus on track can be a difficult project. The Skinny on Willpower will give you the tools to help the reader accomplish their goals.
I'm one of the people who really need to read this kind of book, this book is great and i think it will help me a lot, its make things clear for me. here is two or three facts about this book:
-This book is really skinny on, it point out all the thoughts with less words.
-This book don't tell you what u should do or give u a foot steps to walk with, its just simplify the willpower matter and give it to u.
-Most what u will read in this book its just things u already know, but there is a really new good thoughts (new for me at less) and its organize the old thoughts for u.
so its helpful any way, and i recommend it to every one :)
The format is a bit odd at first with its large font and almost bullet point like writing, but I got used to it quickly. It's full of helpful information distilled from a variety of experts on the subject and presented in a brief and effective manner. I really learned a lot from this book and plan to read others in the series.
I like the two "skinny on ..." Books that I've read. They don't have much new info, but they are a great distillation of the multitude of info that's already out there. Not in great detail, mind you, but perfect as a review, or as an introduction to the concepts for anyone struggling in the area of self-discipline. (Adolescents in the house, perhaps?)
I enjoyed this book. It was full of stick figures but I made great reference to other great books. It accomplished its goal of reviewing all the other books on the topic and giving us the important facts and theories.
I honestly thought I'd hate this book. Stick figures, cartoon strips - it all seemed a bit basic. But actually the finer points distilled into a short, visual quick read was just the ticket. Some really interesting points to think about too.