Pastor Nathan introduced me to Napoleon Hill! This guys is amazing. Think and Grow Rich is a project that Andrew Carnegie had Napoleon take on. Andrew Carnegie asked Napoleon to study the top 50 wealthiest men in the world at that time. I believe Napoleon said it took him twenty years to write this book. He spent 20 years writing this book! Studying the lifestyles of the wealthiest men in the world. He found a lot of common factors on how these men became successful and rich. This book the outcome of his research.

Biggest Takeaway: The major factor in all of these men’s lives was faith. An unwavering confidence that no matter what, they would be successful. I thought it was interesting how much faith is a factor.

To be honest, I have to go back and reread this book at least another 3-4 times before the principles will even start to stick and be applied in my life. This is a must read book. In fact I’d make it a must read 3-4 times book.

Some Highlights:

• One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.

• It taught me to keep on keeping on, no matter how hard the going may be, a lesson I needed to learn before I could succeed in anything.

• Christianity is the greatest potential power in the world today, because its founder was an intense dreamer who had the vision and the imagination to see realities in their mental and spiritual form before they had been transmuted into physical form.

• If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no DESIRE of your own.

• The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going.

• Love is, without question, life’s greatest experience.

• Man’s greatest motivating force is his desire to please woman!

• NO MAN IS HAPPY OR COMPLETE WITHOUT THE MODIFYING INFLUENCE OF THE RIGHT WOMAN.

• If you neglect to make the start, or stop before you arrive, no one will be to blame, but YOU. This responsibility is yours.

• The fear of criticism robs man of his initiative, destroys his power of imagination, limits his individuality, takes away his self-reliance, and does him damage in a hundred other ways.

• A busy person seldom has time to think about dying. He finds life too thrilling to worry about death.

• “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”

I first heard of Mark Batterson when someone recommended reading his blog. After reading a few posts, I was really inspired by everything God is doing through his life and everything God’s revealed to him through the Word. Then I heard him speak at Catalyst West Coast, where he taught a lesson called “Out of Nowhere” that I’ll never forget.

Someone blessed me with a gift card to a book store and I got 2 of Mark’s books. Primal was my first read of the two and I absolutely loved it.

I loved it because the book has ONE focus: Getting you back to the place where ALL THAT MATTERS is loving God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength.

This book was so refreshing and I know I’m going to go back to it often throughout my spiritual journey. If you feel like you’re in a spiritual lull or want to strengthen your pursuit of God – you need to pick up this book.

Final Grade: 9.5 out of 10

Here are a few highlights:

• One of the turning points of my life came the day I stopped setting income goals and started setting giving goals.

• Any Christian worth their salt reads through the Bible every year

• Most of us are educated way beyond our obedience. We learn more and do less, thinking the whole while we’re growing spiritually

• Eternity won’t be long enogh to discover all that God is or praise Him for all He has done

• If you want to think new thoughts then read new things, meet new people, and go new places.

• One God idea has the potential to make more of a difference than a thousand good ideas

• You’ll never be ready, you’ll never be set, sometimes you have to just go for it

• As Christ followers we need to take a why not approach to life. It dares to dream. It’s bent toward action, and not looking for excuses not to do something

• You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right

• Vision is the cure to sin

• The moment you put your faith in Christ, the best you can do is no longer the best you can do. The best you can do is the best God can do.

• It’s not about what you can do for God, it’s about what God has done for you

• The universe is still expanding which means the original “Let their be light” it still expanding at the outer edge of our universe!

• If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream died,  it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you – the dream of Him.

• The impact God has planned for us doesn’t occur when we’re pursuing impact. It occurs when we’re pursuing God. At last after a lifetime of striving, God was enough. Not God and impact or God and ministry. Just Got.”

• At the end of the day – all that matters is God.

This was another recommendation from my friends, Zack Blair. I absolutely love Dave Ramsey! The first time I heard Dave, I went through his Financial Peace University curriculum when I was 19. I was in college, working part-time, and really didn’t have the mentality to do what the program suggests. Now, five years later, I read this book at an entirely new level. I’m ready for my Total Money Makeover!

“If you live like nobody else lives now, later you’ll live like nobody else!”

This book is great for developing and confirming a belief system in your heart about money. It’s about getting money to work for you instead of you working for your money. Dave’s plan is broken down into 7 baby steps:

1.) Get a $1,000 Emergency Fund

2.) Pay off all Debt Using the Debt Snowball

3.) Get 3-6 months worth of Expenses in Savings

4.) Invest 15% of household income to Roth IRA’s and Pre-Tax Retirement

5.) College Funding for your Children

6.) Pay off your Home Early

7.) Build Wealth and Give!

One of my favorite quotes is “Discipline is remembering what you want.”  – I want to be in a great place financially and be able to give tons of money away in my lifetime! This will only come through believing God and being a wise steward of the increase He brings into my life. This book is a must read and a must implement! I hope you’ll read it, become a fan of Dave, and have your life changed through your own Total Money Makeover!

Final Grade: 9.5 out of 10