Is “Amazing Things Will Happen” worth buying?

Yes. Feel free to skip the rest and buy a copy here – that isn’t an affiliate link because I live in North Carolina (wah wah wah).

First off, thanks to Jay Baer and C.C. Chapman for the copy of the book. I was selected by Jay via a blog post to receive a free copy and agreed to review the book. Pretty standard stuff. Thank you both for a copy of this great book!

A kick in the pants.

Possibly the teeth… A couple of questions to think about before I dive into the book:

• Are you happy? Seriously. With life? Work? The balance between the two?
• Are you passionate (a Passion Hit as C.C. calls it)? Do you wake up with enthusiasm to get your day going?
• Are you challenging the status quo in a healthy way?
• What are you leaving behind?

Think about those for a few minutes before reading further.

My guess is that most of the people reading this will answer “kind of” to the first three and may have a conflict to the last question.

I read this book in less than 36 hours.

Not straight of course… I read faster than that. I couldn’t really put the book down. The first reading session led me through 104 pages. The next day, I finished the book. It is a great read – and a quick one (in a good way). I have a busy job, a wife, an energetic 16 month old son, and we’re in the process of building a home. Things are busy. But, some things are worth making time for.

That’s an important premise in the book. Life is short. You live once.

Why settle for anything less than happiness?

Pause. Pause. Pause.

Where is the dramatic effect button? I’ve written a post about dealing with ambition. My last post was a video with Seth Godin about making art and leaving things behind. This was relevant to me.

I’m thankful. I have a great family. I have a great job. I have the ability to workshift within reason. I also have my share of challenges. Stretch goals. Internal conflicts. Doubt. Worry. Angst. Even finding ways to find an outlet for things I’m passionate about. This book will help with all of that.

Most of us cheat ourselves.

Yep. I do it. If you have a dream and a manageable set of objections you can work around, why the hell aren’t you chasing it? Objections can include finances, location, time, family obligation, risk, etc. But, many times these are excuses. Some bigger than others. Some more difficult than others to overcome.

But again, we live once. 1. One. Uno. Once.

Regret is a bitter pill to swallow.

C.C. talks through this in a masterful way. You’ll read this book and feel like you need to switch some things up. Some of you will make drastic changes. All of you will be energized.

Then you take the keys.

What are you doing with your passion? If you can plan around your objections, what next? How can you start to do something about it?

That’s where I’m at now. I have a plan. A loose one :). But, once I can start making some progress on it… I’ll share. I’ll probably share it first with my family and inner circle. And hopefully C.C. if he wants to hear it.

I’m putting what I’ve learned into action. I’ll take the ripple approach as I can’t really make the big splash at this time. But, any amount of progress is progress.

The book is awesome.

Go read it.