ChangeThis
The original idea behind ChangeThis came from Seth Godin, and was built in the summer of 2004 by Amit Gupta, Catherine Hickey, Noah Weiss, Phoebe Espiritu, and Michelle Sriwongtong. In the summer of 2005, ChangeThis was turned over to 800-CEO-READ. In addition to selling and writing about books, they kept ChangeThis up and running as a standalone website for 14 years. In 2019, 800-CEO-READ became Porchlight, and we pulled ChangeThis together with the rest of our editorial content under the website you see now. We remain committed to the high-design quality and independent spirit of the original team that brought ChangeThis into the world.
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Blog / ChangeThis
DREAM, DARE, DO!
By Ben Tiggelaar
"Everybody has dreams regarding work, relationships, health and personal development... But what does it take to go from Dream to Dare and, eventually, Do? What are the secrets of real and lasting change? You know exactly how it feels: you are frustrated, angry and unhappy. It's time to make that change. It's time to improve your relationships, start your own business, get that promotion, lose that weight, get those abs tuned, stop smoking, see your friends more often, start saving for your kids education, start applying for a different job... etc,etc. Good luck! You will need it, because the odds are against you. Of all people who consciously start personal change, more than 80% will have returned to their old habits within two years. No wonder the world is filled with cynical people, that are still in the same job they have hated for over 10 years, still smoke 2 packs of cigarettes everyday and still spend too little time with their kids. It's time for change."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
THE FASCINATION FACTOR (and how you can use it to write books)
By Mark Levy
"One of the hats I wear is that of writing coach. I guide businesspeople in writing books. During a typical first session, my client isn't sure what their book will be about, but they take guesses. They tell me about what they think the marketplace wants, what they believe they can sell, and what might elevate them to guru status. They start tossing around premises. I stop them. Books indeed need readers, so thinking about audience is important. Books also help writers achieve career goals, so thinking strategically about how a book can advance one's business makes sense. But looking at those things too early leads to a bland book. Why?"
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
The White Space of Life
By Terry Barber
"Most of my career has been in advertising, branding, and writing. Over the years, I've seen hundreds of ads, letters, proposals, and commercials. In the past, I would judge these creative renderings based on their message and intended audience—still not a bad consideration within the process. But now, as I begin passing judgment, I find myself critiquing something else: the white space. Does it have enough white space? I can't say it enough: I hate being crowded, and I really despise crowded letters, crowded ads, crowded 60-second spots. They try to say so much that I can't hear anything. Like the train, like the highway, like my closet, these communiqus and radio spots are all calling out in one accord, 'MORE WHITE SPACE. PLEASE!'"
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
When Chaos Moves In, and How to Conquer It: The True Story of Entrepreneurship
By Clate Mask, Scott Martineau
"Proponents of entrepreneurship love to celebrate the freedom and adventure of owning and running a company. Established business owners put on a smile, perfect their elevator speech about "being their own boss," and proceed to sell you their product or service. The media tells us story after story about the multi-million dollar opportunities grown out of a garage or dorm room. But few people tell the true story of entrepreneurship—the story of long hours, sleepless nights, endless worry, mental and physical stress, strained family relationships and non-existent social life. Instead, would-be entrepreneurs buy into a dream that few will ever achieve. Believing in a promise of more money, more time, and freedom from the corporate world, entrepreneurs ignore the less-than-encouraging small business statistics and take the plunge into ownership. That's when chaos moves in."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Why the Future of Business Depends on the Young World Rising
By Rob Salkowitz
"More than half of the world's 6.8 billion people are under the age of 30, and most of them live in countries where the per-capita income is lower than $1000 per year. Meanwhile, projections show the average age of the United States, Europe, Russia, Japan and even China pushing dramatically upward, with declining numbers of young workers struggling to support mushrooming populations of elderly retirees. As the old centers of the global economy face aging workforces and declining fertility rates, the future increasingly depends on tapping into the energy and ideas of the rising Young World."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Intelligence Multipliers: Tapping Into Every Company's Underutilized Resource
By Liz Wiseman
"Multipliers liberate people from the inherently oppressive forces within corporate hierarchy. They liberate people to think, to speak, and to act with reason. They create an environment where the best ideas surface and where people do their best work. Multipliers liberate people from the intimidation of hierarchical organizations and the domination of tyrannical leaders. They create intelligence around them, and they release it into the organization so it can be freely utilized at its highest point of contribution. They create an environment where ideas can be heard and where intelligence can be given, grown, and stretched through challenge. They give people permission to think. These Multipliers create genius everywhere and they make everyone smarter and more capable."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
168 Hours: The Blank Slate of Time
By Laura VanderKam
"It is an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are all starved for time. With the rise of 2-income families, extreme jobs, and the ability to log on to the world around the clock, we can barely find time to breathe. At least that's the way the story goes. Yet there are some people who don't seem to feel this way. Not only do they have full personal and professional lives, they often claim they could fit more in if they wished! How do these people do so much with their time? How do they do so much and not even feel stressed about it?"
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
The Four-Letter Word That Makes You and Your Work Irresistible
By Mark Sanborn
"Some years ago I wrote a book about an extraordinary individual who loves his work. My editor at the time deleted the word love every place I used it. Instead, he suggested using the phrase 'generosity of spirit.' 'Why not love?' I inquired. 'Because the word love freaks out businesspeople,' he responded."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
How To Shrink the Human Footprint: And How Going Back To Nature Would Be a Disaster For Nature
By Matt Ridley
"I am going to argue that the ecological footprint of human activity is probably shrinking at an accelerating rate and that we are getting more sustainable, not less, in the way we use the planet. In a nutshell, the most sustainable thing we can do, and the best for the planet, is to accelerate technological change and economic growth."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Management By Shared Mindset: Leadership That Makes Work Meaningful and Profitable At the Same Time
By Dave Ulrich, Wendy Ulrich
"In the last few years, leaders have been encouraged to be bold, confident, authentic and grounded so that they can make decisions that help get things done. In the economic recession, these leaders responded quickly and decisively. We admire leaders who lead. But, we suggest that coming out of the recession, leaders need to shift their approach to lead by becoming meaning makers."
Categories: changethis