Author

• Business
• Trading
• Psychology
• Personal Development

As you would expect from the title it advocates taking the emotions out of trading (providing advice on the psychology required to be a successful trader).

We begin with a cautionary tale of two traders (One who can control his emotions and one who can’t).

The book is then broken down into three main sections.

1. The skills you need to foster in order to become successful (including having a set of TRADING RULES).
2. The skills (habits and attitudes) you should avoid and neglect.
3. Self Development. The book recognises that self improvement is a big part of being a successful trader and hence provides this section on visualization and Psycho Cybernetics.

Although we may all trade different strategies and timeframes I believe that anyone considering trading should read this book first.

There are different guides and reference books out there for Forex, Options CFD’s etc but whichever vehicle you decide to trade there are useful nuggets of golden information in here.

YES

Larry Levin has his own online courses and even if the links below become redundant at some time I would hope that this book will be available via one of his courses.

DISCLAIMER: the links below are readily available on the net but are nothing to do with me or my company so I accept no responsibility for an quality or access issues with these sites, now or in the future.

• Downloadable e-book (pdf)

Free Download Links

• Business
• Management

It expands on the differences between leaders and managers and the fact that in today’s modern world we are all potential leaders.

The old feudal leadership model was propagated around a leader (or King) surrounded by “YES” men. Today we are surrounded by people who like to make up their own minds.

To become leaders of the new tribes we need to be heretics. Modern day heretics are people who are willing to change the status quo and have realised that safe can no longer be classed as secure.

The thing that stops most people form becoming leaders is fear, people just don’t like change. They will work in a business and even though it may be going bankrupt they refuse to leave because they wish to maintain the status quo.

We are told that businesses such as the record industry are going to fail if they refuse to adopt new methods (Believing they can maintain the status quo of their old distribution models).

He coins the term sheepwalking, “the concept of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient, giving them brain dead jobs and enough fear in an effort to keep them in line”. Leaders of the new tribes have a responsibility to break out of the sheepwalking mode!

The tribe is defined as “a group of people connected to a leader and connected to an idea”.

The size of the tribe can vary but a small tribe is not necessarily a bad thing.  The people we exclude from our group can add as much to its strength as the people we include as a small tribe can provide exclusivity.

“If you want to sell just one product you may get away with an overnight success but if you wish customers to return you need to provide value”.  The tribe theme is very much about niches and catering for our specific segment of the market.

We are told that it is not just our right but our obligation to become leaders of a tribe.

Senator Bill Bradley’s definition of a movement is having three elements: “1. A Narrative, 2. A connection, 3. Something to Do”.  The book tells us that too often organizations concentrate only on the third.

YES

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• Business
• Self Development

The habits are to be addressed in their specific order. The first three habits are character habits and the next three are personality habits. It is important to build a strong foundation in our character before we progress to our personality.

The method to the seventh habit is Learn it, Do it and then Teach it.

Instead of continuing to cut a tree down with a blunt saw it would make sense to stop cutting and take the time sharpen the saw before continuing. In the same vein, habit seven is about taking the time to preserve and enhance our assets of physical, spiritual, mental and emotional well being instead of continuing blindly on our current paths.

He compares the principles in the book to a lighthouse in that they don’t move either. There is a part in the book where the captain of a large ship is signalling an approaching boat to move (It turns out the approaching boat is actually a lighthouse),

YES

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• Business
• Self Development

The book is split into eight sections:

The Challenge of ideas, Understanding our creativity, Engaging with reality, Blind, Opening our eyes, Frozen, Interested and Integrated.

There is a section on the Myers Briggs personality test (That allows us to roughly gauge our personality) which gives some insight into our potential biases in relation to our profiles. The development of different areas of our personality can also influence our levels of acceptance.

At the back of the book Miller provides a table that allows us to compare the ideas we liked best (within each section) against her favourites. Our personal favourites will depend on our different personalities, experience and ideas.

One of my favourites was the fact that even the likes of Edison and Archimedes didn’t have plain sailing in their creative paths. The fact the Archimedes was in the bath before is well known inspiration surfaced gives some insight into this.

NO

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• Business
• Marketing

The meatball in the title is the previous mass marketing of everyday products to people. The sundae (with its various options for additions) is just like the new marketing opportunities (blogs etc).

Old style marketers think they can just bolt on the new marketing to the old products, hence the disjointed image of a meatball with a sundae on top.

He is not advocating against selling average products to average people he is just indicating that this will not provide enough growth.

Previous marketing was about suppliers capitalizing on the products they already had, this is not enough now and synchronizing the product with the marketing (and our client’s requirements) is the way ahead.

He uses the comparison of a book publisher (who is always seeking new readers for new writers) and a magazine editor (who is seeking new articles for his existing readers) to bring home one of the differences between old and new marketing.

The main body of the book is split into 14 current trends (trends that we must monitor if we wish to continue to grow as an organization).

YES

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• Business
• Time Management

If the first action (Your personal frog eating) that you complete each day is your worst possible task, any further tasks you undertake will seem easy.

The frog is an analogy for each individual’s event (that they are procrastinating about) and each individual must identify their own specific frog before they can eat it.

Goal setting is an important practice for time management and we are told that we need clarity and definition in what we are trying to achieve to help us proceed.

We are advised that just like any skill that we wish to develop, time management must be practised regularly.

As time management is about efficiency (more done in less time) it is of no surprise that there is a section on the 80 / 20 rule.

Starting the day with high value tasks until this becomes a habit is also a useful tip.

The strategies provided are very much in the vein of a Nike “Just do it” attitude.

YES

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During his visit he reflects on his previous time in England.

The bulk of the story covers his military service including his second world war bombing missions from England.

During the war he spent his limited downtime in the company of an elderly lady who taught him the principles of success.

The lessons she taught him were based on the teachings of the likes of Napoleon hill and other such mentors that she called her friends in high places. 

YES

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• Business
• Self Development

As we work through the book we find that the primary requirement is to adopt the following five skill sets:   

1.     A solution centred mindset, consisting of Aligning goals to passions, Cultivating optimism, Seeking knowledge relentlessly, Experimenting persistently and Pursuing objectivity.

2.     Kaleidoscopic thinking, consisting of Maintaining a Notebook, Practicing Ideaphoria, Discerning patterns, Expressing ideas visually and Exploring the roads not taken.

3.     Full spectrum engagement, consisting of Intensity and relaxation, Seriousness and playfulness, Sharing and protecting, Complexity and simplicity, Solitude and Team.

4.     Master mind collaboration, consisting of Recruiting, Designing, Inspiring, Rewarding and Networking.

5.     Super value creation, consisting of Linking to market trends, Tuning in to the target audience, Applying the right business model, Understanding scale of effects and Creating an unforgettable brand.

Each of the skill sets is explained in detail and we are even encouraged to learn to juggle to increase our grey matter.

YES

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• Business
• Customer Service

There is a separate section on customer feedback that teaches staff how to decide whether it is personal criticism (on their performance ) or targeted at the company

The philosophy of the book is about providing quality service delivery, utilizing the complaints of customers to improve services and maintain customers

We are provided an eight step formula for customer satisfaction

1 Say thank you,2 Explain why you appreciate the complainant’s feedback,3 Apologize for the mistake, 4 Promise to do something about the problem immediately (and accept responsibility),5 Ask for the necessary information, 6 correct the mistake promptly,7 check that you have achieved customer satisfaction, 8 Prevent future mistakes.

If companies are sending response letters they are advised not to just send a generic blurb response but to actually address the customer’s specific complaints.

In today’s information era the best way to utilize this philosophy on the internet is to engage customers in real conversations (blogs are ideal tools in this area).

When addressing feedback on the internet, even automated responses (as customers post complaints) need to have a personal feel.  Responses such as “While we can’t get back to you personally we value your input” don’t give the impression that the complaint will be actioned. We should provide a personal email that addresses their problem and is signed with a real person’s name.

As we read the book a lot of the suggestions seem common sense but as we are advised that since it was first published over ten years ago there is still sub standard service out there, it is apparently not so common.

YES

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• Self Development
• Finance

There are seven rules to the acquisition of money (I have changed some of the words):

1. Start by filling your wallet, 2. Control your expenditure, 3. Use your cash to earn more cash, 4. Protect your assets, 5. Choose the house you purchase wisely, 6. Ensure your future income, 7 increase your ability to earn.

Within the chapters the seven rules are further broken down with guides for us to achieve the required results. We are given Seven Cures for a lean purse (To help with rule 1) and the five laws of gold (to help us with rule 3).

YES

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• Free e book