I agree with John these books are awesome. I am on my second reading of Brand You right now.
Source: John Porcaro's Weblog
Tom Peters Knows His Stuff. Just got a short note from Tom Peters in my inbox. He quotes James Dean: "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."
Tom is so right on. Just this morning, I bought a copy of a book my new director recommended (Buck Up, Suck Up... by James Carville and Paul Begala). Tom has a quote on the back jacket that amuses and inspires me:
"Carvill asked me to blurb this book. He doesn't know me from Adam. He kissed my ass. I read the manuscript. ... There's real wisdom here--1,000 miles from the usual self-help crap."
I need to learn more about being passionate and convicted and human and real. It's inspiring.
Perusing Tom's website, I ran across a section from his latest book series, the 50 Series (Brand You, Project You, Professional Service You). He shares his 50LIST WITHIN A 50LIST: THE RENEWAL50. I'm tempted to post them all, but I won't. Here are my favorites:
4. Buy a packet of 3x5-inch notecards. Carry them around with you. Always. Record cool stuff. Awful stuff. Daily. Review your card pack every Sunday. (Obsess on this!) [I call this my blog! jp]
6. Project stuck in a rut? Look through your Rolodex. Who's the oddest duck in there? Call her/him. Invite her/him to lunch. Pick her/his brain for a couple of hours about your project.
8. New habit: You're in a meeting. Someone you don't know makes an interesting contribution. Invite him/her to lunch...… in the next two weeks.
9. You run across somebody interesting. As a matter of course, ask her (him) what's the best thing she/he's read in the last 90 days. Order it from Amazon.com this afternoon.
15. Read a provocative article in a business journal. Triggers a thought? E-mail the author. So what if you never hear back? (The odds are actually pretty high that you will. Trust me.) [I've done this, and have struck up nice conversations with Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Tim Sanders, and others! jp]
18. A crummy little assignment comes along. But it would give you a chance to work with a group of people you've never worked with before. Take the assignment.
22. A really cool job opening overseas comes up. It fits your skill set. You couldn't possibly consider it. You've got a nine-year-old and your husband is
24. The eighth grade teacher is looking for chaperones for the natural history museum. You're a law firm partner, for God's sake, making $350,000 a year. Volunteer.
30. You know "the action is at the front line." Spend a month (two days a week) on a self-styled training program that rotates you through all the front-line jobs in the hotel/distribution center/whatever.
34. Institute a monthly Brown Bag Lunch Session. Encourage all your colleagues to nominate interesting people to be invited. Criterion: "I wouldn't have expected us to invite ---------."
45. Develop a set of probing questions to use at meetings. "Will this really make a difference?" "Will anybody remember what we're doing here two years from now?" "Can we brag to our spouse/kids about this project?"
50. Build a great sandcastle!
My goal, get through them all by the end of the year. :)
[John Porcaro's Weblog]
7:58:41 AM 
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