Weekly Bookmarks
62nd Edition – April 12, 2020
The hardest war to win is one you don’t even realize you are fighting, and the hardest enemy to defeat is the one you don’t even know exists. Every day you are at war with resistance.
Matthew Kelly – Resisting Happiness
1. A Reading Challenge Between 2 Prominent Leaders
I think I’ve worked more hours in the past 30 days than the first 2 months combined. I was hoping during the past 3 weeks I could relax the mind and spend some time learning new concepts and step up my reading. This has not happened.
And then I got a little kick from the behind after reading about a challenge between 2 very busy men.
2. About 2 Books Per Week
During the last 4 years of his presidency, George W. Bush and Karl Rove competed over who read the most books. The idea was sparked by a New Year’s resolution of Rove to start reading more books (sound familiar?).
By the end of 2006, Rove won round one by a score of 110 to 95. That’s about 2 books per week for each person.
I’m also 100% certain the aim was not just quantity, but learning and growth too.
Sources:
The Secret Literary Life of George W Bush – The Guardian
Bush is a Book Lover – WSJ
Hey, if they can do it, so can I. Challenge accepted.
3. Alan Mulally’s Favorites
Speaking of reading, several of us attended a webinar last week where we got to hear how Alan Mulally led during times of economic calamity. Near the end of the webinar he gave us several titles that he has gifted the most recently:
The Advantage (Lencioni)
The Motive (Lencioni)
Become (Hannum)
Work Is Love Made Visible (Goldsmith)
You can catch the replay of the video here.
4. Loan Packaging 101
Some of you have already secured your PPP proceeds from your local bank. Will it be enough?
I’m predicting that traditional loan financing will be harder to come by in the months ahead unless your company’s narrative reveals servicing the debt can be handled in even the worst of scenarios that you outline in your proposal.
In this week’s podcast, I teach my CRAWL process for loan packaging where:
C – (Intense) clarity of the purpose of the loan and how it will be paid back. The 5 Cs are revisited as well.
R – reporting, but not the garden variety that’s spit out from SAP, Navision, Epicor, or Sage products.
A – action plans required to service the new debt.
W – winning presentation addressing three banker emotions that need to be addressed.
L – loan packaging itself – the act of assembling every document making the work of the banker easier.
5. Is Prioritizing More Important Than Ever?
We’re commenting on the obvious, but many famous entrepreneurs typically have words of advice for their followers around the topic of prioritization. The late Felix Dennis found his fame and fortune in the publishing industry (computer and hobby magazines).
During a time of uncertainty and unrest, his words on prioritization are meaningful and apt:
There is only one enemy. Time. Health, wealth, even love and affection can be reclaimed if all goes for the best; time never can. Time wasted can never be recaptured.
If you will not prioritize your tasks for the day, the week, the month (even for the year) and execute them on the basis of their relative importance, you remain at the mercy of your idle subconscious and happenstance.
The making of lists of things to do can be helpful, but not if ticking off items on lists in a random manner becomes a habit. It scarcely needs saying that the most difficult or odious tasks are those that require tackling first.
All excerpts are from The Narrow Road: A Brief Guide to the Getting of Money.
Action Item
Write down 5 books you want to read or listen to in the next 10 weeks. Buy them and write in your calendar when you’ll start reading each title. Challenge yourself to keep learning and reading during this pandemic.
Recent Bookmarks – 61 | 60 | 59
Thank You For Reading
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Take care and stay confident and strong this week. Always be learning and growing in times of hardship.
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