Amazon Kindle
I have to admit I still love holding a book in my hand. However when you are traveling the Amazon Kindle cannot be beat. It is lightweight, compact, and easy to use. I was buying books on the train, as I was cruising through Europe with my family. That beats the hell out of trying to find a book in English worth reading in a foreign bookstore.
Amazon Kindle now has The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living , along with 1000’s of other books. Click link below to order
Enjoy the New Year and happy reading.
Top 3 Reasons New Year’s Resolutions Fail
A new year is almost upon us. I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays and has gotten to spend quality time with family and friends. I am having fun with my family and traveling a lot with them over the next few months.
For many of us, this is a time to set New Years goals or resolutions, the problem is they never usually work. Here is why.
Top 3 reasons New Years Resolutions fail
1. The goal we set is to big and we expect results to quickly and then we get discouraged and quit.
2. We are not serious about the goal.
3. We are not passionate enough about the resolution or goal we have set and therefor never get the motivation to start it.
How to succeed with your resolutions
1. Pick a goal you are passionate about! If it is losing weight don’t focus on the amount of weight, focus on all of the reasons it will be important to lose the weight (for example, extra years of life, improved self esteem, your will have more energy, your mate will find you more attractive, your clothes will fit better) you must tie emotion to the goal!!
2. Pick one or two big goals that are easy to track and focus on those goals .
3. Set up a reasonable way to track the goals over the next twelve months. If it is investing break it down to how much you must invest per day to reach your goal by the end of the year. if it is losing weight break it down to a weekly goal of weight loss and always weight yourself at the same time of day wearing the same clothes so you can get accurate measurements.
4. Be patient and give yourself some time to start to see results
5. Be very specific about the goal. Losing weight is not a goal, losing 20 lbs over the next 12 months at .38 lbs per week is a goal! It is also something you can measure as you go.
Happy New Year! Make it a great one!
I will be updating the practical blog regularly with tips about health, work, customer service, travel and other useful tips.
Why I am Quitting Facebook and Twitter
My publisher will think I am crazy but I have to practice what I preach. Effective in the next 48 hours I will be quitting Facebook and Twitter. Here are the top 10 reasons why.
- The time I have spent on Facebook and Twitter over the past 18 months would have been much better spent with my family or building my businesses.
- I don’t understand it… Admittedly I am technologically challenged.
- I have over 300 fans for my book The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living and less than 10 % have actually bought it or read it?
- I am always looking for ways to decrease my time on the computer not increase it. Hell, I struggle with returning email!
- It takes too much time to keep up with
- I really do not care what people are having for lunch, that your work day sucked or if you have a sick pet
- I have not really reconnected with anyone on a personal level (if you really want to get back in touch send me an email jim@garlandcommunication.com)
- It has not created any measurable value in my life
- I have over 500 “friends” many of which I have never met and do not know
- At the end of the day nobody really cares what we are doing, do they?
If you have bought my book and enjoyed it, please share it with others. If you have not bought my book, you should, or buy it for someone else as a gift. Please click here for the page at Amazon.
To contact me please email me at jim@garlandcommunication.com
Connect with me on linked in at www.linkedin.com/in/jimgarland1
To follow my blog click here: www.thepracticalblog.com
To visit my YouTube page click here: www.youtube.com/user/Jimgarlandbook
To visit my web sites click here: www.sharpdetails.com or www.thepracticalbook.com
Farwell, Merry Christmas, vote Republican, and buy my book (I promise this is the last attempt at self promotion)
From the Trunk of a Car to $3,500,000… – Jim Garland
Article by Devesh Dwivedi -Entrepreneur In Making
Today, we are going to talk to Jim Garland, who is an entrepreneur, business owner, author, professional speaker and business consultant. He started his first company Sharp Details, Inc. literally from the trunk of his car as a boat cleaning service in 1991. Today Sharp Details, Inc provides corporate aircraft cleaning and support services to fortune 100 and 500 companies, has 60 employees and produces $3,500,000 in annual revenue. But guess what? Jim also was an employee once, just like you so lets talk to him and find out how he broke out of the 9-5 jail?
DD: Jim, welcome & thanks for your time! Now, lets start, tell me who you are and what kind of corporate job were you at?
JG: My name is Jim Garland and I am a husband to my wonderful wife (high school sweet heart) and a father to our four great kids. I am an entrepreneur, author, and business consultant. I am the CEO of two companies, Sharp Details, Inc., a private and corporate aircraft cleaning and support company which started in the trunk of my car in 1991, and Garland Communication, LLC, which started in 2009. This second company promotes my book and provides small business consulting and seminars. I held two corporate jobs before moving out on my own. One job was selling office coffee services/supplies and the other was selling medical supplies. I did each for less than a year.
DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?
JG: I left my second corporate job because I could see that if I wanted to succeed on a large scale I would have to dedicate myself to my business venture full time. I also wanted to be in control of my own destiny and the only way this was possible was to go out on my own. I can remember sitting at my desk at my second corporate job, looking at the numbers I produced and then thinking, “There is no way I can do this for 40 more years, I have so much more to offer!” That was the day I gave my notice.
DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How were the initial days/months/challenges of the transition?
JG: When I stopped my day job I continued waiting tables at night, something I was already doing for extra income. My thought process was that I could wait tables at night 4-5 times per week and pursue my boat cleaning service during the day. In this way, money was coming in to pay the bills and I wouldn’t starve to death. I took the leap of faith; it had to work or I would be stuck waiting tables for the rest of my life!!
DD: What are your Top 5 (or more) tips for employees who want to be entrepreneurs but are hung up on something?
JG: 1) Figure out what you are passionate about and find a way to turn that into a business. This way no matter how hard you have to work you will still love it.
2) Start the business while you still have a full time job.
3) Start it from home and on a shoestring so that you have very little capital exposure. Remember Bill Gates started Microsoft in his parent’s garage.
4) Plow every penny you make back into the business for the first 12-24 months to give it a good base of cash.
5) BE PATIENT!
6) Read the following books: Think and Grow Rich, The E-Myth , The Secret and How To Win Friends and Influence People. These will guide you along your journey.
DD: How are you now? Are you still in the same business, and how do you feel?
JG: My original business, Barnacle Jim’s Boat Service that started in 1991 cleaning boats is now called Sharp Details, Inc. We are a $3,500,000 business with 60 employees from VA to CT and we clean corporate and private jets. I feel great about the business right now and I can see the economy and the private aviation industry start to come back. I have built a company that runs day to day with a management team in place. This has allowed me to spend more time with my wife and four kids and write my first book, “The Practical Guide To Exceptional Living”, which is now available on Amazon. I am enjoying my business more now and having more fun than I have had in the last 20 years.
DD: Wow Jim! What a great story! Thank you so much for sharing it with me and good luck with your company in the future. It seems your idea literally managed to take off!
JG: Thank you, Devesh, for having an interest in my story of becoming an entrepreneur. It’s great to know there is such an interest out there in what people like me have done with their otherwise boring 9to5 lives. Good luck in all you do.
DD: Well everyone, that was Jim Garland the entrepreneur, author, and business consultant. Please keep in mind the books he suggested, as well as his first book, “The Practical Guide To Exceptional Living”, which is currently available. It sounds like that read could do us all some good!
Christmas Gift Ideas
Christmas is just around the corner so I wanted to offer a helpful gift idea:
BOOKS!!
They are easy to order, easy to ship, and they can have a great impact on peoples lives who receive them.
Here are a few to consider:
The Practical Guide to Exceptional Living
It is inexpensive and an easy read and packed with great information about health, increasing your income and creating the life of your dreams. It is perfect gift for family members, friends, customers and employees. You can purchase it on Amazon (click here) or directly on my web site (click here) where you will receive discounts for multiple copies and free shipping.
The Four Hour Body (get it at Amazon by clicking here) by famed author Tim Ferris who wrote the international Best seller The Four Hour Work Week
The Alchemist (get it at Amazon by clicking here) by Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. It has been hailed as a modern classic. The Alchemist was originally written in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.
Happy Holidays and have fun.
The Four Hour Body
You have heard me talk about Tim Ferris’s first book The Four Hour Work Week. This book has completely changed my life and my business and I have recommended it over and over. If you have not yet purchased this book you should do it now. The ideas contained in this book have helped me to purposely set up my business so it can run without me. With an awesome team in place to handle all of the day to day business and the use of modern technology, I am currently travelling to 30 countries over the next nine months with my family. I could not have done this without reading Tim’s book.
I was excited to see that Tim has released his long awaited new master piece The Four Hour Body. Like his first book this one will be packed with valuable information that will transform your life and your health. Please click on the link below to learn more.
Escape Reality
Sometimes getting away from your day to day environment can help clear your head and allow your brain to slow down a little. I am currently in Playa Langosta, Costa Rica with my family for the start of a big family adventure we are taking. If you have never been to Costa Rica it has so much to offer, beaches, surfing, rain forests, zip lining, canopy tours, monkeys, birds of all colors and best of all the friendly locals, known as Tico’s. These people exude “Pura Vida”, which is the saying here that means “pure life”.
While here, we are spending most of our days at the beach in Tamarindo at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp. This place is the best. They have a great restaurant right off the beach, a great little pool, and best of all a big selection of surf boards and surf lessons. If you want a couple of days to try something completely different, and escape the 9-5, this is the place. Most locals do not wear watches and time seems to just slowly go by. Even if you have never surfed before they will have you riding waves in a day or two. I have also posted a couple of pictures of my kids, ages 5-13, they were all riding waves within an hour of their first lesson.
Check out www.witchsrock.com Pura Vida!
$ For Your Results vs $ For Your Time
How do you currently get paid? Is it for your time (salary or hourly) or is it for the results you produce? The latter always produces a more productive work force and more money in your pocket.
Paid for your time (the greatest risk and smallest reward):
Think hourly laborer or salaried employee…
- you only get paid if you show up
- no matter how hard you work the pay is the same for each hour
- benefits are usually low or non existent
- if you get sick or your child gets sick and you cannot work you don’t get paid
- you do not control your destiny
Getting paid for what you produce (still risky but huge reward):
Think sales people, executives, and entrepreneurs…
- you get paid for the results you produce
- the harder you work the more money you make
- you have control over your time and how you spend it
- you can work smarter and not harder and enjoy more freedom
Find a way to put yourself in a position to get paid for your results, not for your time. You will have more control and best of all you will have more $$$$.
5 Easy Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol
- Cut back on red meat to only twice per week
- Take a tabespoon of apple cider vinegar mixed with 8oz of water 1-2 times per day (Braggs apple cider vinegar is best)
- Take cholestene red rice yeast
- Take a fish oil pill ( I use resq 1250)
- Get off your bum and start working out 30-60 minutes per day
I have naturally high cholesterol that runs in my family. I was able to lower my overall level from 280 to 211 by following this regimen.
Company Culture
Here is an example of the company culture that has been created at Sharp Details, Inc. cover the past ten years. These are the 8 things that guide our thoughts and action as a company every day. Please notice that the first thing on the list is attitude. We hire people that enjoy a challenge, like to learn, want to grow, and that we want to be with every day.
The ASAP Philosophy
- Attitude
- Safety
- Appearance
- Performance
The Referability Habits
- Show up on time
- Do what you say you will do
- Finish what you start
- Say please and thank you
Two great books on culture are Delivering Happiness and Good to Great. Have a great week
Buy the Book
Jim in the Media
-
Follow Me
