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Four months down (8 to go) and I have already gone through 30 awesome reads! April had some very interesting reads, mostly in the areas of Marketing and Sales... And a few extra good reads too! As I am going through my reading this year, I have really harnessed a simple practice that makes a world of difference... Note taking. Do it!!! Many people read books and take notes, but I have now expanded this into recording my ideas when reading blogs and listening to podcasts.  I highly recommend using a traditional notepad or an app like Evernote to read or listen to your book while also taking notes. It's a simple concept but very effective. I am able to retain much more information while note-taking and referring back to later. Here are my books for April 2017!  

The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin

This is a must read book for all marketers and entrepreneurs! Seth Godin has a very artistic way of expressing his idea of entrepreneurship as an art... And...

The "UGHHH... It's Monday..." attitude is one that plagued me for years of my life. Maybe you have been there, living for the weekend and dreading weekdays. Depending on our circumstances and our season in life, it's almost inevitable that we wake up feeling exhausted, worn out, and wishing we had a three (or maybe 4) day weekend at some point. Unfortunately, those who are "stuck" here consistently may suffer from a discontentment in some area of their lives. Maybe it's the reality that you are waking up to go to a job that you hate, and it's sucking the life right out of you. For everyone who has been here, you know that you need a change. Some of those changes might be hard, uncomfortable, and even risky... but regardless of the change, you know it's needed.

Let me present you with a simple change that anyone can make, and it may just impact the rest of your life.

You see, I'm convinced there are two types of people in this world.

(1) The "IT'S MONDAYYYYY" people. And the...
...

Over the first three months of the year I have now read 23 books total (my goal is one per week), which leaves me already 10 books ahead of my goal. WOW! March was probably my favorite month so far because I feel like I'm discovering a whole new world of learning. If you are doing something similar, I highly recommend using a traditional notepad or an app like Evernote to read or listen to your book while also taking notes. It's a simple concept but very effective. I am able to retain much more information while note-taking and referring back to later. Here are my books for March 2017!  

Do Less, Get More by Shaa Washmund

I read this book last year and decided to review it again. It was definitely the first book that caused me to deeply rethink the way I was approaching work (and life). In the midst of a busy life that is always filled with places to be, people to see, and projects that need to be done, this book takes a different approach. By reading this book, it forced me...

Does this sound like you?

• I am experiencing signs of burnout.
• I have too many irons in the fire.
• I feel like I’m spread too thin.
• I’m running on a hamster wheel.
• I feel like throwing spaghetti on the wall!
• Do you feel like you are majoring in minor activities?
• Do you feel like you are busy but not productive?
• Do you feel over-worked and underutilized?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is to concentrate on your life essentials! 

One of the biggest problems that exists in our work culture today is that we have the tendency to value those who are full of projects and tasks. We place value on those who are at every single meeting and are always there whenever they are needed. Although this may seem like a great quality, this type of tendency will lead to the consequences listed above. These people will feel overwhelmed, burnt out and spread too thin. Let’s talk about something that is much more effective, the way of the essentialist.
By...

Will Baggett is the Author of "The Blueprint for a Successful Career: A Foundation for Developing Young Professionals" and Founder of Executive Image, teaching young professionals how to get a job without saying a word. On a personal level, I have now known and followed Will for a few months and one of the things that I immediately noticed was his influence. It's apparent that the quality and impact of his work is life-changing to those who have allowed Will to sow into them. Will's personal brand exemplifies integrity, consistency, and authenticity. The pleasure has been all mine to feature this interview with a true Millennial Leader.

Here is my full MillenniaLeadership interview with Will Baggett with commentary by myself, Randall Garcia. 

Q: Who are you (in 25 words or less)?

Will: I am a God-fearing young man who is dedicated to helping others maximize their potential through professional development and confidence-building initiatives....

Think of your favorite athlete. Now think about your favorite musician. How about your favorite businessman, entrepreneur, speaker, writer? Many successful people may have several things in common such as determination, persistence and a hard-work ethic. These traits are good to have but there is one quality that sets these successful people apart from the rest.  I discovered something that is arguably more important. The lazy answer is to say developing successful habits because habits sustain you over a long period of time. Simply stating that it is important to develop successful habits doesn't really mean anything to me. I'm the type of person that asks way too many annoying questions like...

We live in the technology age where nearly anything can be read, accessed, or learned with the device we hold in our fingertips. Here's one life hack you can use to take MAJOR advantage of it. The average American spends 101 minutes per day in their car. In addition to commuting to work, those who drop their kids off and pick them up everyday may spend more. A few years ago I decided I would take full advantage of this time. Rather than listening to biased media garbage, sports talk radio, or the latest mainstream music... I decided to listen to podcasts and audiobooks. One of the best decisions of my life. I rotate between a few major categories: 1. Spiritual 2. Business/Entrepreneurial 3. Leadership & Productivity 4. Marriage & Family 5. Other self development You're probably wondering just how productive this can be... Well, I never used to track anything, I just developed the habit of going back and forth between podcasts and audiobooks... this year I'm tracking...

Jonathan Jones is a transformational speaker & #1 Amazon Best-selling Author of "Process: 14 Surprisingly Simple Behaviors to Skyrocket Millennials to Success" and founder of his own company Jonathan Jones Speaks. This interview will inspire many of you to own the heart of servant leadership, embrace authenticity and work to change the perception of our generation.

Here is our full interview with Jonathan Jones with commentary by Randall Garcia of MillenniaLeadership.

Q: Who are you (in 25 words or less)?

Jonathan: I am the son of two phenomenal parents who view life through an optimistic lens. I realize that serving others is the secret to my success. Randall: I love that answer. It's funny, but most people have a difficult time answering this question so clearly. We're off to a great start, I am always preaching servant leadership... And it seems like you have a servant's heart. In my opinion, this is one of the key things that contributes to the leader's...

If you follow my posts you know that I am on a mission to listen to 52 audiobooks this year and read 12 books in text. My idea is that I can listen to one audiobook per week and read one book per month. Well, I have some good news! I am much ahead of the game, as of the end of February I have already finished 14 audiobooks and 2 books (in 8 weeks). Looks like I need to up my goal! This is one of the best decisions that I have ever made in my life. I highly recommend to anyone who reads this that they develop a personal development strategy centered around the areas that they intend to grow. In my last post "Life Hack: The 90 Minutes Difference That Can Make All The Difference", I outlined exactly what you can accomplish if you take on my strategy.

"If I only include weekdays, I spend approximately 23,400 minutes in my car per year. That’s a lot of learning time, in fact, that’s almost as much as you would spend in two semesters worth of college. With this...

I recently wrote a blog on How To Turn Your Resolutions Into SMARTER Goals to show the clear distinction between making a counterproductive resolutions, setting generic goals, and setting SMARTER goals. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with resolutions or goal setting, but I do have a problem with goal setting that has an extreme lack of details, planning, and accountability. A New Year's resolution, to me, is a baby step in the right direction of goal setting, but they aren't equal. Even goal setting is decent on it's own, but there is something that is much more effective! If everyone did this, it would be an absolute KILLER for New Year's Resolutions. People would have much more clarity in their lives, they would live every single day with more intention, and they would absolutely crush their goals. More dreams would be achieved, more small businesses would thrive, and six-pack abs would be more common among top-performing professionals (that's not a...