Author Archives: Harry K. Jones

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Andy Andrews

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For the next issue of the Top 10 Books, I’m reviewing two engaging books by this author: The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success and Mastering The Seven Decisions … that Determine Personal Success.

Based on conversations with a number of friends and associates, I found that few were actually familiar with this author’s previous work even though his talent is known world-wide. I found this somewhat baffling due to the research I conducted.

In the spirit of introduction, let me provide you with a number of reasons why you should become familiar with not only this author but also his body of work. I assure you that you’ll be delighted you did.

  • Andy Andrews is an internationally-known speaker and novelist whose combined works have sold millions of copies worldwide. In fact, a book by Andy Andrews is sold every single minute somewhere in the world!
  • He’s been hailed by a New York Times writer as a “modern day Will Rogers who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America.”
  • His work has appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com.
  • His work has appeared on these lists as fiction, nonfiction, business, religion, self-help, and literature!
  • His work has been translated into nearly 20 languages including Braille.
  • He has produced a home study audio program, Timeless Wisdom from the Traveler, and life-study curriculums in high schools, mental-health organizations, and prisons nationwide.
  • His books have been required reading for some of America’s high schools, as an aid to “principled rehabilitation” by the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and a “life skills” tool for the members of several franchises of Major League Baseball and the National Football League. The Traveler’s Gift is also used extensively in corporate climates all over the world by such companies as Microsoft, General Motors, AIG, Legg Mason, and KFC.
  • He has been received at the White House and has spoken at the request of four different United States presidents.
  • His two-hour PBS special is entitled Andy Andrews: The Seven Decisions and is now airing nationally to incredible reviews.
  • Every senior leader the United States Air Force has in Europe and the Middle East recently assemble in one room—at one time—to hear him speak.
  • He would walk the golf course with Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez as she played her last tournament as a touring professional.
  • He was invited to spend an afternoon with General Norman Schwarzkopf and his son, who was about to depart for college.
  • In the twilight of his life, 91-year-old Bob Hope invited him to chat alone by the swimming pool in the entertainer’s back yard.

Any one of the above accomplishments would be very significant on its own. Together they reflect evidence of why people are drawn to this author and professional speaker. He knows how to connect to his audience regardless of their age, race, religion, political beliefs, education or experience. He speaks in such a way that those who hear his words (in books, audio programs, or in person) are captivated and inspired to listen, learn and apply the lessons, tips, tools, and strategies he provides.

Andrews lived a relatively normal life until the age of nineteen, when both his parents died—his mother from cancer, his father in an automobile accident. “I took a bad situation and made it much worse,” Andrews says with a rueful smile, referring to choices he made during this tragic period of his life. Within a span of several years, the young man found himself literally homeless, sleeping occasionally under a pier on the gulf coast or in someone’s garage. It was at that time when Andrews asked the question that would focus his search for what would ultimately affect millions of people. The question? “Is life just a lottery ticket, or are there choices one can make to direct his future?” To find the answer, he first went to the library. There, over time, he read more than two hundred biographies of great men and women. How did they become the people they were? he wondered. Were they simply born this way? Or were there decisions made at critical junctures in their lives that led to such success? The young Andrews finally determined that there were seven characteristics that each person had in common. “What will happen,” he mused, “if I study these seven common denominators and harness them in my own life?”

The rest is history. “The Seven Decisions,” as he calls them, were the engines used to carry Andrews’ life in a different direction. And 20-plus years later, these same Seven Decisions became the outline around which he built the story of The Traveler’s Gift and the basis of his PBS Special.

Perhaps the most astounding fact about The Traveler’s Gift might be that, for all its success, the manuscript was turned down by 51 publishers before it was finally accepted after more than three years by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Now, of course, Andrews can laugh. “The seventh decision,” he says, “is ‘I will persist without exception.’ If anyone knew how many times I locked myself in my office and read my own book—they’d be amazed.”














About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Adjust Your Focus

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It’s hard to argue with the fact that you get what you focus on. It’s not only conventional wisdom, but it’s been proven time and time again. Most everyone has heard of the Pareto Principle … known to most as the 80/20 Rule. Let’s add another formula to your repertoire. It’s the 95/5
Principle.

The most productive people will focus on their challenges, limitations, barriers, and problems only 5% of the time. And when they do so, that time is focused on overcoming these negative restraints. They invest 95% of their time and energy on identifying and creating resources to pursue responses and solutions to removing those restraints.

Ross Perot (computer billionaire, philanthropist, and independent Reform Party candidate for U.S. president in 1992 and 1996) was a man who lived by this principle, practiced it in every aspect of his life, and taught those he mentored to do the same. In the book, Irreconcilable Differences: Ross Perot Versus General Motors, we learn that he was the founder of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas, Texas. Perot was refused 77 times before he got his first contract. The company ultimately became a multibillion dollar corporation employing more than 70,000 people.

Perot sold EDS in 1984 to General Motors for $2.5 billion. He retained ownership in the company, which made him GM’s largest individual stockholder and a member of the board of directors. Perot applied his 95/5 focus at GM, butting heads with GM head Roger Smith almost daily.

The all-talk, no-action philosophy of GM at that time in history looked much like the reverse of the 95/5 Principle. Perot simply couldn’t tolerate such ignorance. He was best known for this observation of the GM culture:

“When someone sees a snake at EDS, we kill it! When someone sees a snake at GM, the first thing they do is form a committee on snakes. Then they bring in a team of outside consultants on snakes. They write a strategic plan for getting rid of snakes. Then six layers of managers delegate someone to kill the snake.”

Perot knew that if you don’t kill the snake when it’s small, you might be dealing with a monster later.

Perot was so insistent on this strategy that he became a thorn in GM’s side. In 1986, GM bought out Perot’s stock for $700 million! Two years later, he started a new computer service company, Perot Systems, which operates in the United States and Europe. Historians claim GM would be much better off today had they heeded the suggestions of Perot at that time rather than buying him out.

To be successful, focus much less (5%) on the challenges, limitations, barriers, and problems and much more (95%) identifying and creating resources to pursue responses and solutions to removing those restraints. You’ll find the results phenomenal!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Who Would Have Ever Dreamed?

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Let me begin by assuring you that this is not a joke. In fact, I’m going to fore go any of the many humorous remarks I could make on this subject. I’m not even sure where to start with this one, but it’s certainly worth mentioning in the spirit of Out-of-the-Box Thinking.

Let’s start with the old axiom that to be truly successful you simply need to: “Find a need and fill it.” With that in mind, consider this fact: Water is very heavy to carry into space. Next year, the number of residents on NASA’s space station will double from three to six … intensifying the magnitude of this challenge of water supply.

A system was developed in Russia in the 1980s to deal with this problem, but it was never used because of concerns over crew squeamishness. Today, we don’t have the luxury to shelf potential solutions to this growing challenge. Astronauts living on the International Space Station will soon take recycling to new extremes. They’ll get their drinking water from the toilet!

NASA has spent decades perfecting a system to transform urine into water that can be used in space for drinking, food preparation, and washing! Agency officials say the water from this system will be clearer than U.S. tap water.

The $250 million machine should be fully operational in six months. Recycling waste water is also gaining popularity on Earth. A dozen or so U.S. communities have plants that cleanse sewage so it can be added to aquifers that supply drinking water. The biggest plant, which can serve 500,000 people, opened this year in Orange County, California.

Officials admit that the recycled water poses “psychological issue to get past” but also point out that after tasting it many, many times, they can’t tell it apart from any other water. It’s no longer urine, it’s water.

I share this real-life example of thinking-out-of-the-box to illustrate the fact that there are no limits to what open, creative minds, focused determination, and a true challenge can produce. With our growing economic and environmental needs, I’m sure we’ll be witnessing more and more innovations such as this one.

It is indeed a prime example of the age-old adage uttered by Napoleon Hill: “What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Don’t allow current boundaries and beliefs to stifle your creativity. There was a time when air travel, cell phones, and heart transplants were thought to be impossible!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Middle-Management Crisis Escalates

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As if we didn’t have enough to deal with in today’s chaotic U.S. business environment, another obvious crisis is quickly rearing its head and must be seriously dealt with before it gets out of hand. Unfortunately, many organizations have not or are not able to recognize this challenge as the crisis it is.

It’s interesting to note a growing concern by many of our clients in refocusing their efforts on the development of their mid-management levels. Most are not doing this because of an interest in developing their future leaders … it’s being done, wisely, as a survival strategy!

Media at every level is reporting the increased stress levels and challenges facing businesses today for an alarming number of reasons, which include global competition, rising prices, expensive technical enhancements, decline of the dollar, consumer fears, political turmoil, and threats of a recession that many say has already arrived.

At a time when most organizations are therefore required to do more with less, recent reports from staffing professionals indicate that the attrition rate among middle-level managers has risen to 20 to 25 percent. And, if measures are not taken, this situation could worsen profoundly in the next two to three years.

The role of the middle manager has become all the more crucial simply because they are the liaison between the frontline staff and senior management. If top management is described as “thinkers,” then middle management represents the “doers.” They have the capability to make or break the company as they harness the potential of the entire staff in their effort to achieve organizational goals.

While experts agree that there is a scarcity of middle-management talent today, many feel that the organization itself is to be blamed for this development. This condition has emerged and continues to grow because leadership had ceased or minimized investments in training at this level and no longer develop their future leaders as thoroughly as they once did.

We’ve been fortunate over the years to consult and train in a wide variety of industries and organizations of every size all over North America. While diversity is apparent, we’ve witnessed countless similarities in both leadership and middle-management behavior in the last few years.

As we’ve worked with newly appointed managers and supervisors, several identical concerns have been voiced again and again. See if they sound familiar. From middle-management, we’ve heard:

  • “I was outstanding in my individual performance and, as a result, was promoted to a position of leadership or supervising others. However, I knew nothing of the skill set required to lead and develop others. I felt that, overnight, I was expected to produce immediate results with little or no training or development.”
  • “I feel as though I was simply thrown into the fire and expected to learn through experience alone.”
  • “After my promotion, I heard nothing in the way of expectations or goals. I was just told to get to work. That’s very difficult to do with no training or preparation. I’m considering a return to my old position where I knew what I was doing.”

From leadership we hear comments such as:

  • “Time, budget, and current challenges simply don’t allow us the luxury of developing our middle-management staff to the degree we’d like to.”
  • “While we’d like to see more training and development of our mid-managers, they seem to be handling things as well as can be expected at the moment.”
  • “Fortunately we’ve had few, if any, complaints from middle-management staff thus far and we plan to focus more on their development as soon as things get back to normal.”

First, of course, reality tells us that we shouldn’t expect to return to “normal” anytime soon, if ever.

Second, how would you know if they couldn’t be doing an even better job if they had the proper training, development, mentoring, and expectations?

Developing this critical group of employees should be viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury.

We must realize that until reaching this level, these employees have been doing what they’ve been told. NOW … we’re asking them to think, problem-solve, and make decisions, as well as lead and develop others to do the same.

Top leadership today must realize that it is indeed crucial to mentor, nurture, and grow productive middle-management talent.

We congratulate those who have recognized this challenge and opportunity and have taken the necessary action to deal with it successfully. They will enjoy a substantial return on their investment in the future.

Those that refuse, for whatever reason, to acknowledge the seriousness of this issue or delay action in dealing with it, will pay a price which could prove to be extremely costly in a number of ways.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Pass the Torch

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I’m currently preparing a commencement address for one of many graduating classes who are about to enter the next phase of their lives. This group happens to be in Florida, but consider, for a moment, how many young people from coast to coast are approaching this milestone.

The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that 3.3 million high school diplomas will be awarded this year and just over 3 million college degrees will be conferred on campuses all over the nation. Add that to the 1.2 million projected high school drop-outs, and we’re looking at close to 8 million young people who are about to embark upon what must be an exciting, but frightening, journey.

Some will go on to the next level of education, some into the work force, and some into military service. While a good education is a wonderful thing, it’s only a spoke in the wheel of what they need to face the challenges which await them. Other elements might include experience, street smarts, luck, common sense, support, role models, good advice and the wisdom which only a mentor can provide.

I consider this assignment to be a rare privilege as well as an awe-inspiring responsibility. At this moment, I really don’t know what I’m going to say to these students. However, in researching many possibilities, I know what I’d like to share with every adult in the nation as these young people prepare to enter society at a time in which they must face a great number of daunting challenges.

In reviewing those elements I mentioned earlier which may be of assistance to these graduates, you’ll quickly see that many of them can be provided by US — you and I … as mentors. And it doesn’t have to stop with students. We can pave the way and make the journey a little less ominous by sharing whatever knowledge and experience we may have gained over the years with anyone who has not yet had that opportunity.

I can best summarize the power and importance of mentoring by sharing another Generational Gem that was written by an acclaimed author who was born in 1860. I mention this date as I find it amazing that this short poem is as applicable today as it was at that time. Maybe even more so. “The Bridge Builder” was written by Will Allen Dromgoole in 1900. She also wrote over 7,500 poems, 5,000 essays, and published 13 books. This particular poem remains quite popular to this day and has even graced plaques on real bridges across the country. It is also used by many fraternities to promote the idea of building links for the future and passing the torch along to the next generation.

Read it over and consider the importance of your role in passing this critical torch to those facing the many growing challenges we see today. Then do something about it!

THE BRIDGE BUILDER
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you this bridge at the evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Take Me out to the Ball Game

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As I’ve so often mentioned, I’m always on the look out for examples of creative thinking. I like to share them during keynote presentations and seminars with those who claim:

  • “I am not creative.”
  • “Creativity requires an extensive education.”
  • “I don’t have the experience to be innovative.”
  • “Creativity is reserved for our R & D Department.”

And the list goes on. Over the years, I’ve heard just about every excuse in the book. And they’ve all been proven to be false — by those who have no time for excuses. They’re too busy being creative!

Well, I’ve found another unique example. Most people go out to the ball park to relax, have a beer and a hot dog, spend time with friends and/or family, and enjoy the age-old ambiance that inhabits any stadium that plays host to American’s favorite past time. Some even watch the game as they pay allegiance to their favorite team!

However, some creative souls grab a fish net, tie their kayak to the top of the car, apply sun tan lotion, grab a transistor radio and an ice chest of sandwiches and beer and head to the ball park.

This particular ball park happens to be in San Francisco. Once known as Candlestick Park, it is now AT&T Park. Just beyond the right field wall is a tranquil section of San Francisco Bay called McCovey Cove, named after famed Giants first baseman Willie McCovey.

During the heydays of Willie McCovey and more recently Barry Bonds, as many as 50 kayaks used to float in McCovey Cove just outside the park, with individuals poised to fish out a home-run ball hit into the water by the super sluggers. Last year, as Bonds seemed to be in the spotlight constantly, a large number of advertisers paid as much as $20,000 to have their brands put on the kayaks in hopes of appearing on TV!

Now that’s creative! Can you imagine being paid 20 grand to float in the serenity of McCovey Cove, taking in the sun, feasting on your favorite sandwich, quenching your thirst by sipping your brew of choice, listening to the game on the radio while you listen for that distinctive “crack” of the bat that means a valuable collector’s item may very well be on its way to your fishing net? Nab the right baseball at the right time and you just might be adding to that figure of $20,000! Kind of sheds a whole new light to “Take Me out to the Ball Game,” doesn’t it?

True, the economy has impacted attendance, fewer home run balls are reaching the Cove, Barry Bonds has left the building and advertising revenues are more than likely on a downward trend. That’s not the point. The idea was creative. It’s proven to be successful. Its time will return, and it’s another example of an idea which was conceived, believed and achieved! Now it’s your turn. Do your thing!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Dr. Denis Waitley

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I must admit that I’m a little biased about this particular author as I’ve read everything he’s written, attended numerous seminars at which he was a keynote speaker, and have been strongly influenced during my career by his work.

Early in my career, as a regional manager for an international firm, I was charged with the task of finding a keynote speaker for our annual award’s banquet. Having read several of his books and having attended one his seminars, I contacted his organization to learn more about scheduling him for our special event. We chatted several times in preparation for his appearance and I must admit he made me feel as though I had known him for quite some time.

We had dinner together the evening before his presentation, and I shared the fact that I’d give anything to be able to impact people the way he does. His simple reply was: “Why don’t you?” I explained that public speaking scared me to death, and I would be indeed fortunate to survive his introduction the next day as that task also fell to me. He spent the rest of the evening sharing his wisdom on the importance of self esteem, self confidence, and risk taking. He obviously didn’t have to do that, but I certainly appreciated it and it was a turning point in my career! That’s the kind of man he is.

I managed to survive his introduction the following day, and he congratulated me after the program, suggesting that I pursue my aspiration to become a speaker. That was 25 years ago, and since that time I’ve had the privilege and opportunity to speak professionally to national and international audiences in a wide variety of industries … none of which would have happened without his encouraging words. I’m certain he wouldn’t recognize me if we bumped into each other face to face in an airport today. However, he’s been an inspiration to me for decades.

Allow me to explain why. The day after our dinner meeting, I watched this man stroll to the center of the stage and, within moments, captivate an audience of close to 1,200 people! Using no podium, no notes, no slides, no PowerPoint, he stared into the eyes of his audience and delivered his message of inspiration in a very quiet, precise, and informative way. You could have heard a pin drop. At the end of his presentation, the entire room stood as one and applauded for what seemed forever. I’ll never forget that presentation and the inspiration he provided to me and the other 1,199 people in that auditorium that snowy night in Fort Wayne.

Let me share with you some of the many reasons why this man can mesmerize an audience with what appears to be a great deal of ease.

Denis Waitley is much more than a best-selling author, speaker, poet and lyricist … he’s the world’s foremost producer of personal development and motivational audio programs. He is one of the most sought-after speakers in the world. His program “The Psychology of Winning” is the all-time, best-selling audio cassette program on personal and professional excellence based on his studies and consults in the following areas:

  • Apollo astronauts pre and post their illustrious flights into space.
  • Fortune 500 top executives from every walk of life.
  • World-renowned Olympic gold medalists from many countries.
  • Super Bowl champions from a variety of teams.
  • Returning POWs from several conflicts.
  • Heads of state from all over the world.
  • Boardrooms of top multinational corporations.
  • Classrooms of students of all ages and cultures.

From years of interviewing “winners” from every walk of life, he created The Psychology of Winning in which he shares a remarkable set of strategies that can change your life dramatically. He found there is often only a small difference between the top leaders in every field and those who merely “do well.” In The Psychology of Winning, Denis Waitley offers simple, yet profound principles of thought and healthy behavior that guide men and women to the top in every field of endeavor … principles that give you the winning edge in every situation.

This very popular theme lead to additional international best sellers such as Seeds of Greatness, Being the Best, The Winner’s Edge, The Joy of Working, and Empires of the Mind. With over 10 million audio programs and many non-fiction books sold in 14 languages, Denis Waitley is the most listened-to voice on personal and career success.

For the past 40 years, he has inspired, informed, and enlightened millions of individuals with his 15 non-fiction books, hundreds of audio programs, and entertaining, penetrating live keynote lectures, seminars and television appearances.

Denis Waitley has painted word pictures of optimism, core values, motivation and resiliency that have become indelible and legendary in their positive impact on society.

Denis has been described by his peers as “the poet laureate” of modern-day philosophers. Career highlights include:

  • B.S., U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis
  • Ph.D. in Human Behavioral Psychology
  • Simulation Trainer for the Apollo Astronaut Program
  • Rehabilitation coordinator for Vietnam POWs and Iranian hostages
  • Former Visiting Scholar at the University of Southern California
  • President of La Jolla Clinic Research Foundation
  • President of the International Society for Advanced Education
  • President’s Council on Vocational Education
  • Author of “The Winning Generation,” a student-oriented video workshop used in over 1,000 schools nationwide
  • Founding Director of National Council on Self-Esteem
  • Associated with Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Science
  • Former Chairman of Psychology, Sports Medicine Council, U.S. Olympic Committee
  • Received the National Youth Award for outstanding work with young people

If you’re interested in learning more about the concept of winning, check out some of the following titles:









Check Amazon.com for a list of his many audio cassette programs.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Caffeine in the Shower

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It was bound to happen soon or later! Whether your chosen delivery device is a White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks or the ever-popular liter of Mountain Dew, nothing beats the gentle jolt into full wakefulness provided by the humble C8H10N4O2 molecule (caffeine). Apparently there are many who simply can’t wait until they shower, dress, and drive to their local coffee shop or 7-11. And someone responded to that lack of patience.

Someone has added caffeine to soap. That way, all you need to do is to stumble out of bed and into the shower, wash with a bar of caffeine-infused soap, and you’re well on your way to full wakefulness. Engraved with a glorious “C” for caffeine, scented with peppermint oil and infused with caffeine anhydrous, each caffeine soap bar contains approximately 12 servings/showers per 4-ounce bar with 200 milligrams of caffeine per serving. No, we’re not kidding and no you don’t eat it. The caffeinated soap is absorbed through the skin.

CNN says the world’s first caffeinated soap is called Shower Shock and comes to us from the good folks at ThinkGeek. At $6.99 per bar that’s only 58 cents per serving. Not bad! And if you spill it, it doesn’t matter!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Napoleon Hill

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Napoleon Hill passed away 38 years ago in 1970. However, you’d have to look long and hard to find a leader in today’s business environment that wasn’t strongly influenced by his work. This American author is considered to have influenced more people to become successful than any other person in history. He has been perhaps the most influential author in the area of personal success technique development, primarily through his classic book Think and Grow Rich, one of the best-selling books of all time.

In his many bestsellers, Hill taught people how achievement actually occurs, created a formula for the process, and made the average person feel as though they could achieve success. He summed up the process with a simple statement that will live on forever:

“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe … it can achieve!”

What a powerful statement! One that continues to be proven valid each and every day! Think about it.

If you can come up with an idea, strategy, concept, product, service, innovation, etc. …

If you believe in your heart and mind that it can be accomplished …

You’ll find a way to make it happen!

That simple but powerful declaration has served as a battle cry for many individuals, teams, organizations etc. for decades!

Napoleon Hill’s many works examined the power of personal beliefs and the critical role they play in your personal success. Many leaders in a wide variety of organizations credit their success to information they assimilated from his books, audio tapes, and personal appearance across the country.

Napoleon Hill was born into poverty in a one-room cabin in Wise County, Virginia. He began his writing career at age 13 as a “mountain reporter” for small town newspapers and went on to become America’s most beloved motivational author. His early career as a reporter helped finance his way through law school.

He was given an assignment to write a series of success stories of famous men, and his big break came when he was asked to interview steel-magnate Andrew Carnegie, one of the world’s wealthiest businessman and philanthropist.

Mr. Carnegie commissioned Hill to interview over 500 millionaires to find a success formula that could be used by the average person. These included Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Charles M. Schwab, Theodore Roosevelt, William Wrigley Jr, WIlliam Jennings Bryan, George Eastman, Woodrow Wilson, William H. Taft, John D. Rockefeller, and F. W. Woolworth among others.

He became an adviser to Andrew Carnegie, and with Carnegie’s help he formulated a philosophy of success, drawing on the thoughts and experience of a multitude of rags-to-riches tycoons. It took Hill over 20 years to produce his Personal Development classic Think and Grow Rich. As you read it, you must remember that you’re receiving advice from some of the greatest minds in the world!

This particular masterpiece has sold over 7 million copies and has helped thousands achieve success. He has also inspired many other authors and success gurus to follow in his footsteps.

Napoleon Hill enjoyed a long and successful career writing, teaching, and lecturing about the principles of success. His work stands as a monument to individual achievement and is the cornerstone of modern motivation.

Here are some interesting observations by one of our greatest gurus on achieving success, Napoleon Hill:

  • “Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements!”
  • “You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of the referee!”
  • “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.”
  • “Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye, and you will be drawn toward it.”
  • “The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.”
  • “Until you have learned to be tolerant with those who do not always agree with you; until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire; until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.”

To insure a complete and authentic corporate or personal business library, make certain it contains as many of the following titles as possible:












About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Obvious Questions – The List Grows

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Thus far we’ve provided questions that could be categorized as “obvious questions that simply aren’t asked or answered.” Every time we add some, we discover another multitude of questions that certainly should qualify for this growing list.

I’m not talking about questions that will end wars, abolish poverty, cure all diseases, or eliminate the world’s problems. I’m talking about the questions that drive us crazy due to their simplicity and the questions that absolutely no one seems to be able to answer.

If you’re interested in reviewing any of the previous questions, simply click on Is It Just Me? and you’ll find them listed under articles titled “Obvious Questions.” Here are a few more.

  • Why do we spend thousands of dollars on a school bus to haul our children one mile and then build a million-dollar gymnasium for them to get exercise?
  • Why is it that most nudists are people you don’t want to see naked?
  • Why is there a permanent press setting on most irons?
  • Why is it when you put the two words “The” and “IRS” together it spells “Theirs.”
  • Why is it that our children can’t read a Bible in school, but they can in prison?
  • Does that screwdriver belong to Phillip?
  • Why aren’t there ever any guilty bystanders?
  • Why do they place non-removable stickers on the lens of new sunglasses?
  • Why do they put that stupid little hanging plastic tag between the lenses so you can’t try them on without looking stupid, and why are there always 20 people standing around when you do try them on?
  • Why is it that when the power goes out, you discover every flashlight you have has dead batteries?
  • Why is it that when the power goes out, you can find 100 candles and no matches?
  • Why do we sing “Take me out to the ball game” when we are already there?
  • If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
  • Why do you have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed outside?

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.