Book Challenge – Lanre Dahunsi

Book Summary: Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance by Bob Buford

May 5, 2020 In Book Challenge 7 Mins Read

If the first half was a quest for success, the second half is a journey to significance

Book Title: Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance
Author: Bob Buford (Author), Jim Collins (Foreword)

Halftime by Bob Buford is a great book as it contains a lot of thought-provoking questions on transitioning from success to significance.

Here are my favourite take aways from reading Halftime by Bob Buford:

Halftime : Two halves Sport analogy of Life:

During the first half of your life, you probably did not have time to think about how you would spend the rest of your life. You probably rushed through college, fell in love, married, embarked on a career, climbed upward, and acquired a few things to help make the journey comfortable.

You played a hard-fought first half. You even may have been winning. But sooner or later you begin to wonder if this really is as good as it gets. Somehow, keeping score does not offer the thrill it once did. You may have taken some vicious hits. A good share of men and women never make it to halftime without pain. Serious pain. Divorce. Too much alcohol. Not enough time for your kids. Guilt. Loneliness. Like many good players, you started the half with good intentions but got blindsided along the way.

Book Summary: The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch

April 29, 2020 In Book Challenge 4 Mins Read

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

The 80/20 Principle shows how we can achieve much more with much less effort, time, and resources, simply by identifying and focusing our efforts on the 20 percent that really counts.

The unspoken corollary to the 80/20 principle is that little of what we spend our time on actually counts. But by concentrating on those things that do, we can unlock the enormous potential of the magic 20 percent, and transform our effectiveness in our jobs, our careers, our businesses, and our lives.

Conventional wisdom is not to put all your eggs in one basket. 80/20 wisdom is to choose a basket carefully, load all your eggs into it, and then watch it like a hawk.

Here are my favourite takeaways from reading the 80/20 principle:

Book Summary: The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Bob Iger

April 28, 2020 In Book Challenge 9 Mins Read

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Bob Iger shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees, and he explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership,

The ride of a lifetime book is about the relentless curiosity that has driven Iger for forty-five years, since the day he started as the lowliest studio grunt at ABC. It’s also about thoughtfulness and respect, and a decency-over-dollars approach that has become the bedrock of every project and partnership Iger pursues, from a deep friendship with Steve Jobs in his final years to an abiding love of the Star Wars mythology.

Managing your own time and respecting others’ time is one of the most vital things to do as a manager

Bob Iger is one of my favourite business executive of all time and the Walt Disney Company, a paragon of excellence. In the book, Bob shares a lot of insights such as: fostering curiosity, pursuit of excellence, integrity, taking full responsibility for your actions, decisiveness and candor, I find the Ride of a lifetime by Bob Iger to be a very good read and I would highly recommend it.

Innovate or die, and there’s no innovation if you operate out of fear of the new or untested.

Here are some of my favourite take-aways from reading the Ride of a lifetime by Bob Iger:

Book Summary: The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

April 27, 2020 In Book Challenge 9 Mins Read

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller is one of the most important books have ever read. I keep going back to it because it contains lots of gems, anecdotes, insights and strategies on living a more productive life by focusing on ONE thing.

Here are my favourite take aways from Reading the ONE Thing by Gary Keller:

Going Small

“Going small” is ignoring all the things you could do and doing what you should do. It’s recognizing that not all things matter equally and finding the things that matter most. It’s a tighter way to connect what you do with what you want. It’s realizing that extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus.

Book Summary: The Art of the Start 2.0 by Guy Kawasaki

April 20, 2020 In Book Challenge 7 Mins Read

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great– Zig Ziglar

I first read the Art of the Start 1.0 by Guy Kawasaki around 2008 and it left a great impression on me. The Art of the Start 2.0 is the revised version which according to Guy is 64 percent longer than the original Art of the Start. The Book is one of my all time favourite book on Entrepreneurship as it distill insights and practical advice on Entrepreneurship, Fund Raising, Boot Strapping, Pitching, Social Media and many other topics.

Here are my Favourite Take Aways from Reading: Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything.

If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.—Reid Hoffman

The first version of a product is always flawed, but how it evolves is as important as how it begins. The fortunate startups are the ones who are still around because they eventually got the product and business model right, so give yourself a break.
Entrepreneurship is at its best when it alters the future, and it alters the future when it jumps curves.

Book Summary: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

April 6, 2020 In Book Challenge 11 Mins Read

The idea that it’s valuable to maintain vast numbers of weak-tie social connections is largely an invention of the past decade or so—the detritus of overexuberant network scientists spilling inappropriately into the social sphere. Humans have maintained rich and fulfilling social lives for our entire history without needing the ability to send a few bits of information each month to people we knew briefly during high school. Nothing about your life will notably diminish when you return to this steady state.

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

The Digital Minimalism book by Cal Newport is by far one of the most influential books I have ever read because it contained lots of insights and suggestions on dealing with the social media pandemic/addiction.

After reading the book, I took some very tough decision which have been experimenting with for some couple of years (Since February 10, 2018) such as among other things:

Deactivated my Personal Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Accounts.
I go directly to the pages I want to view instead of going to the homepage of the platforms directly for example:
www.linkedin.com/in/lanredahunsi instead of www.linkedin.com
I only install whatsapp, 1-3 times per week to respond to messages and make some international calls. I have found that whatsapp is one of the hardest platforms to leave and one of the major time wasters as people always have your attention all the time.
I use tools such as Rescue Time and Freedom to help me stay focused, block distracting websites and stay locked in with major goals I want to achieve.
Remove all notifications on my phone
Digital Declutter: Deleted all apps on my phones and only have In and Out apps such as Google Map, Podcast App, Screentime, Google Authenticator,
Have high quality activity to replace the always on the internet habits. I replaced the digital maximalism with Reading Books (100 Books Reading Challenge), Ran Multiple Marathons, Run my Blog(s), Exercise More, Dedicate more time to writing IT Certifications, Listen to more Audiobooks.

Think about this: If you use social Media/stare at your screen all day:

Social Media – 2 hrs /day – 730 Hours /Year = 1 Month/year = Every 12 years = 1 year on Social Media
TV/Laptop/Entertainment : 2 hrs/Day =730 Hours /Year = 1 Month/year = Every 12 years = 1 year on Social Media

Book Summary: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear #100BookChallenge

March 22, 2020 In Book Challenge 8 Mins Read

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.― Carl Jung

In the book, Atomic Habits by Author James Clear shares the step-by-step plan for building better habits, why tiny atomic changes can make a big difference in forming good and breaking bad habits. The book is rich with insights, examples, anecdotes and real life scenarios which is easy to connect with.

The book expands on the concepts earlier shared by Charles Duhigg, in his book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Atomic Habits are tiny changes with marginal gains, 1% improvement, tiny incremental changes which if sustained to for a long period of time leads to significant changes.

Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall improvement. At first, these tiny routines seem insignificant, but soon they build on each other and fuel bigger wins that multiply to a degree that far outweighs the cost of their initial investment.

The basic premise of the book is that small incremental changes lead to long term result. Here are some the ways have been using the atomic habits to enhance my productivity:

50 Audiobooks listening Challenge 2020

March 18, 2020 In Book Challenge 2 Mins Read

I would be experimenting with listening to 50 audiobooks by December 31st 2020. Audiobooks and podcasts are my favourite learning strategies in my quest to get better daily.

Strategy

Buy one Audiobook every month which comes with my monthly subscription on Audible.com
Borrow Audiobooks from the Public Library
Re-Listen to more audiobooks in my compilation as I have come to realize that with repeated listens I get the concepts better.

Listening Times –

First thing in the morning and last thing in the evening.
While in commute and in the Gym.

Book Summary: Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

March 15, 2020 In Book Challenge 7 Mins Read

“Loss, grief, and disappointment are profoundly personal. We all have unique circumstances and reactions to them.”

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

Losing my mum is by far the toughest thing have had to Endure thus far and in healing/grieving, so many lessons have been learnt in the process.

The Book Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant made me teary a lot while reading it as I could totally relate with most of the stories, anecdotes, pain and experiences she shared on losing her husband Dave Goldberg.

The book explores the psychology of recovery and the challenges of regaining confidence and rediscovering joy. Option B shares Insights on facing adversity, building resilience, and finding joy.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.- Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl

Book Summary: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team By Patrick Lencioni

March 12, 2020 In Book Challenge 12 Mins Read

“A fractured team is just like a broken arm or leg; fixing it is always painful, and sometimes you have to rebreak it to make it heal correctly. And the rebreak hurts a lot more than the initial break, because you have to do it on purpose.”

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team book explores the fundamental causes of organizational politics, cohesion and team failure. The book details many pitfalls that teams face as they seek to “grow together”.

According to the book, organizations fail to achieve teamwork because they unknowingly fall prey to five natural but dangerous pitfalls, called the Five Dysfunctions:

Book Summary: Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life by Gary John Bishop

March 10, 2020 In Book Challenge 13 Mins Read

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing – Theodore Roosevelt

Print | Kindle (eBook) | Audiobook

In Unfu*k Yourself, Bishop explains the concept of Getting out of your head with a series of seven assertions:

I am willing.
I am wired to win.
I got this.
I embrace the uncertainty.
I am not my thoughts; I am what I do.
I am relentless.
I expect nothing and accept everything.

Assertion One: I am Willing

Willingness is a state in which we can engage with life and see a situation from a new perspective. It starts with you and ends with you.

How to Read 100 Books in a Year

February 25, 2020 In Book Challenge 5 Mins Read

I first explored the idea of reading 100 books in a year in 2016. It was part of my new year resolution and have tried to do it yearly ever since: a

2016

Goal: Read 100 Hardcover Books
Outcome: Read 50+ Books by December 31st 2016

2017:

Goal: Read 100 Books from my Amazon Kindle.
Outcome: Read 80+ Books by December 31st 2017

2018:

Goal: Read 100 Books from my Amazon Kindle
Outcome: Read 10+ but stopped to make & execute some life decisions (Relocation et al)

2019:

I did not set the goal to read 100 Books but read some books: was not counting but I guess I read 20+ books all year round.

I am presently committed to reading 100 books in 2020 through my 100 Books reading Challenge, You might be wondering how do I intend to read 100 books in 365 days? Here are the strategies that would enable Me (you) achieve it:

Start with Why

100 Books Reading Challenge 2020

February 16, 2020 In Book Challenge 4 Mins Read

I would be reading 100 books in 2020 and this post is for public pressure and documentation. I tried reading 100 books for the first time in 2016 and also tried it in 2017, also started in 2018 but had to stop in February 2018 because I was making some life changing decisions.

Here is the scorecard for the previous Book Challenges:

2016

Goal: Read 100 Hardcover Books
Outcome: Read 50+ Books by December 31st 2016

2017:

Goal: Read 100 Books from my Amazon Kindle.
Outcome: Read 80+ Books by December 31st 2017

2018:

Goal: Read 100 Books from my Amazon Kindle
Outcome: Read 10+ but stopped to make & execute some life decisions (Relocation et al)

2019:

Did not set the goal to read 100 Books but read some books : was not counting but I guess I read 20+ books all year round.

2020

Goal: Read 100 hardcover Books by December 31st 2020
Strategy: Borrow the books from the Public Library.