Friday, April 26, 2013

{Book Tour} Review--Lifetime of Achievement by Jordan Maylea Ramirez


My thoughts:
This slim little volume may very well become my bible. It's funny how simple things, things we already think we know, seem to click that light bulb on in our heads just by stating and outlining simple concepts. That's what this book does.

The book focuses on seven strategies to achieve our goals and they are all solid guidelines for those of us who struggle with goal setting and implementation. I am a master at procrastination. A book like this, referred to often, is the ticket I need to regularly work to overcome my "put it off until tomorrow, Scarlet" mindset.

The strategies that really spoke to me the most were Create a Plan of Action, in which you break your goals down in 90 day (seasonal, really) increments. Instead of making New Year's resolutions once a year, you make, work toward, and reevaluate your goals every 90 days. Ramirez also advocates creating a visual "map" which I love. Dealing with Fear was great because, let's face it, we all deal with fear when it comes to the goals we set, even if it's a small fear. The best thing to always be thinking is, "What's the worst that can happen?" If I write this story/novel, yes, it might be rejected, but then again, it might not. You can't let fear stop you from possibly experiencing that it won't be rejected. Ramirez says that "FEAR IS: False Evidence Appearing Real." Telling, isn't it? I think this last one is my favorite: Never Ever Quit. Yes, we might fail time and again, but the point is to never give up. We need to always hold onto that childhood mentality of the sky's the limit. This passage from the book nearly brought me to tears (yes, I'm an emotional wreck):

Do you remember what it felt like to be that age? Do you remember with what kind of anticipation you would respond when someone asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" You couldn't wait. Being grown up was going to be awesome.

So what happened? Where did it go wrong? At what point did you take those dreams and place them in a box at the back of the closet to gather dust? At what point did you say to yourself, "Well, that would be nice...but it will never happen."

I believe it can happen. I believe it does happen for those who are too stubborn or too stupid (or maybe a little bit of both) to put their dreams in that box. I believe your dreams should be displayed proudly on the shelf where you can look at them every day and say with confidence and expectation, "That is where I am headed!", but you will never get there if you quit.

I want to display my dreams on the shelf! I want to say to myself every day, "That's where I'm headed!"...and I will. Ramirez also included in this chapter a favorite quote of mine from Theodore Roosevelt:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Awesome!

"The best days of your life, regardless of your age, should be the days ahead; the days you have not yet lived," says Ramirez. I wholeheartedly agree! A lifetime of achievement is to have your dreams, strive toward those dreams, to not be afraid of the journey, and to never quit that journey. If you're searching for something to help you along on your journey, get this book. I know it will now be a constant resource in my life.


About the book:
There are too many people going through life content with mediocrity. People going to jobs they hate, to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like. People who are dreading Monday, looking forward to hump day and praying for Friday; and let’s not even talk about those two weeks of paid vacation… those are gold!

How long have we been this way? Is this really what life is all about? I don’t believe we were created to be content with a mediocre lifestyle we never wanted in the first place. What happened to being a rock star, an astronaut, or an actor? What happened to the hopes and dreams we each had as children? Perhaps, over time, our dreams have changed… but our propensity for dreaming is still inside us.

Lifetime of Achievement outlines seven goal-setting strategies to help get you from where you are to where you want to be. In its chapters you will find knowledge from some of the worlds most popular personal development masterpieces, taken down to a level that is easy to read and simple to understand.

Learn the steps to discovering who you truly are, creating goals in perfect alignment with that discovery and implementing an action plan that, when followed, has been proven to produce results. Learn how to conquer fear, to activate the powers of the human mind and discover two of the most important factors shared by virtually every successful individual throughout history.

This book takes proven strategies and puts them into an easy-to-read, easy-to-implement format that can be read in as little as a few hours. Discover the steps, put them to work, and become prepared for a Lifetime of Achievement!

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Book Excerpt:

Time has a funny way of passing whether we are prepared for it or not. The sun continues to rise and set, signaling the beginning and the end of another day; what we do with the time that passes is up to us.

Fate. Chance. Luck. We live in a time where these words are passed around like a “get out of jail free” card; relieving people of the burden of personal responsibility. Instead of believing our choices shape our future, we turn a blind eye and believe the common thread connecting those successful people in our world is nothing more than some lucky gene one is either born with, or not.

What a horrible way to live!

People skirt the idea of personal responsibility because it frightens them. The idea of owning each and every one of our mistakes can be a tough one. What people miss though is the unexplainable freedom, joy and liberation that can come with the simple act of becoming responsible for your life!

It was right at 5 years before writing this book that the idea of personal responsibility took hold of my psyche. At that point, I had dabbled in personal development for several years, begun my own business and experienced very little real success. The idea began with a seed planted by my therapist (yeah, I’m not kidding.) when he said to me, “You are responsible for your own happiness. You must become your own secure base in this world.”

The idea confounded me. It took hold and, before long, began to grow rapidly as a result of the books I began reading and the philosophy I began to adopt into my life. Do you hear the freedom in those words? YOU are responsible for your own happiness. YOU ARE! Not your family, not your friends. Not your circumstances, not your environment. You! You are responsible!





About the author:
Jordan lives with her husband Robert in Lubbock, Texas with their 3 dogs and two horses. Because both her parents have always been self-employed, she had an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age and began her first business at the age of 17. It was at that time that she first became fascinated with the subject of personal development and the impact a personal education can have on a person’s life. She grew up riding horses and competing in Dressage shows all across Texas and New Mexico. The sport continues to be one of the primary passions in her life and if she is not working or spending time with her family you can usually find her at the barn. Jordan has two younger siblings, Clayton and Paige, whom she is very close to, and she greatly enjoys spending time with her family. She and Robert enjoy entertaining friends at their home (especially during football season – Go Red Raiders!) and they love to travel the world and experience new countries and cultures together.

Her latest book is Lifetime of Achievement.

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This is a Pump Up Your Book Book Tour: Visit other blogs on the tour TOUR SCHEDULE.

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A copy of this book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for providing it.

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