Books make the greatest gifts — to give and to receive.
Even if I have a stack of shiny new books vying for my attention, I’ll crack open the book a friend or colleague has given to me (or recommended to me) before all others.
Such was the case with Tim Sanders‘ new book, Today We Are Rich. A colleague gave me an autographed copy recently and it immediately went to the top of the lineup.
I don’t typically devour motivational self-help books. I’ll often skim their surfaces or jump around from chapter to chapter and stop when something strikes me as personally relevant. But I read Today We Are Rich cover to cover because it was a different kind of self-help book.
For starters, it had a strong narrative and chapter sequence that built on itself. More importantly, though, the book is about achieving and leveraging a true sense of confidence that comes from living beyond one’s self in the service of others.
That beyond-self message is conveyed in a folksy, commonsensical and down-to-earth tone centered on the wisdom and life lessons passed down to Tim by the grandmother-sage who raised him, Billye King Coffman.
True to the spirit of the its message, Today We Are Rich doesn’t try to be anything but immensely helpful, providing a lifetime’s worth of tried and true tips, tidings, tools and takeaways.
The loving — yes, loving (that’s Tim’s thing) — spirit of the book was captured best in the epilogue:
You see, by making a difference in my life and later noticing and accepting it, Billye entered the good loop of life. She’s got rocket fuel, an endless supply of it… This is a place I want to end up, a virtuous cycle, where I can make a different to others and let the results continually refresh my soul and body. And I’m excited to know that it’s possible, as long as I’m willing to faithfully practice the timeless principles Billye handed down to me. I invite you into this loop too. It’s big enough for all of us.
I love the phrase, “the good loop of life.” What a great way to describe what social responsibility, social media and social marketing — being “social” — is all about. When organizations and individuals come together, not as companies and consumers but as citizens with a common cause, they really do enter “the good loop” together.
So, what are the 7 principles that will put you on the path to the good loop of life?
1. Feed Your Mind Good Stuff
2. Move The Conversation Forward
3. Exercise Your Gratitude Muscle
4. Give To Be Rich
5. Prepare Your Self
6. Balance Your Confidence
7. Promise Made, Promise Kept
That’s the skeleton. You’ll have to read the book to get the meat off those bones.
-Matthew DiGirolamo, Cause Catalysts
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