Horrible. This entire book could have been condensed into one page about how intending to do something isn't enough to make you do it. It keeps repeating the same thing over and over again with few or no practical steps other than be specific in your goal setting. I got half way through and called it quits. 208 Fast easy read. My key takeaway: avoidance is the enemy. Break tasks down and do a little piece. You’ll step up without the agony of starting something you dislike doing. Accountability helps a lot too.
“What may be done at any time will be done at no time“ - Scottish proverb
“If the wind fails, use the oars”
Chriscooper.co.uk 208
Walk, don't wobble.
While this book’s repetitiveness is something to be aware of, despite its style, I found The Power to Get Things Done incredibly useful and will definitely be rereading it -- 4 stars rounded up to 4.5 for its content value. I took five pages of notes while listening to the audiobook and then bought a physical copy off BookOutlet.
This was a fascinating lesson on the psychological reasons why we don’t follow through; the importance of assessing your intentions and “trying smarter, not harder”; and a prescriptive set of tools to teach us how to actually do what we intend to do. Chapters include both self-assessment questions and various real-world examples that practically apply Levinson’s rules for follow-through that I found useful on both a personal and professional level.
My main concern with this book was its repetitiveness. There were a number of chapters with subsections that provided only the slightest variations of the primary message. As an audiobook, it was easy to become disengaged, and a few of my notes said things like “still discussing ‘goo’ at page 47 - sigh”. However, this may not be quite as obvious in a written format as I normally find it useful when an author effectively reinforces their message.
Although this book could be more concise, overall I thought Levinson’s emphasis on the need for a manual means of follow-through as well as providing tools for doing so was extremely helpful. I know I’ll be rereading this frequently as I’m sure I only absorbed a small portion of its usefulness. I highly recommend this as a lesson on why we don’t achieve our well-intended goals and how to go about fixing that.
The Trusty Bookmark | Instagram | Pinterest 208 I picked up a few useful tidbits in this book, but overall it was not extremely helpful and it was very repetitive. I think there are better books out there to motivate you. 208 Таке враження що 95% книжки це вода яка була додана для об'єму, дуже багато повторень і історії в книжці як ніби штучні. Але в ній все ж є пару порад корисних 208
A psychologist and work coach collaborate on a cheat sheet of practical ways to turn good intentions into action.
Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, you've probably got a lot on your plate. Unfortunately, much of it may not be all that appetizing. Along with the portion of your work that you truly feel like doing comes a generous helping of things you'd rather not do. As consultants, Steve Levinson and Chris Cooper have seen countless clients struggle--and often fail--to do the many success-producing things they know they should do but don't feel like doing.
The Power to Get Things Done will teach readers how to consistently turn good intentions into action so that they can be as successful as possible in the work they do . . . whether or not they feel like filing tax forms and making follow-up calls. The book offers a host of practical solutions including: the correct way to think about and treat good intentions, the three key principles of following through and simple but powerful principles and strategies that will make it easy for readers to solve big problems quickly. The Power to Get Things Done: (Whether You Feel Like It or Not)
Decent advice, although it could've been summed up on one page. 208 This book is very impactful. But of course to put what the author teaches into practice then this is a book to read or listen to and take mental and paper notes several times until you have it down. But even practicing a few of the things that I remember will help me to improve in my follow through. 208 Too much book for too little info. 208 Why it's hard and why it's so important.
Motivation is not enough - logic trips us up. Much of what our brains tell us to do doesn't require or make us want to do that thing. So try to work with intentions (serious commitments you make to yourself) and put power towards doing them.
How: pick only a few things and not everything, be specific, focus on intention, make it harder to do the opposite of what you want to do - use levers; outwit temptation (get rid of, minimize, do right thing then permit to do a bit of the wrong thing); make the consequences (feel) real, make consequences over the top; get rid of the parts that make you avoid doing the task (may get you just started enough to get into doing a little more); get someone else to do it/pay someone; tell others & network w/ others/ hire a coach who will hold you accountable,
(Some overlap with other books which he cites.) 208 Remember when you had to make up a couple of hundred words so that your school essay passed the minimum word count? Well this entire book is those couple of hundred words.
The majority of it is made up of useless anecdotes that aren't relatable, and then the one or two good points would have been better presented in the style of Paul Arden.
Entire book summed up:
Blah
More blah
SMART Goals
Make it so that you have literally no other choice but to do the thing you hate
And then make it so that once you start you literally have no way of stopping.
I use the literallys literally.
If this review sounds snarky it's because I feel like I've just wasted $15 on a book that should've been $1.50 so save your money folks. 208