This was one of the best books I’ve read over the past few years! The tagline of the book really explains what the book is all about:

Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job.

The book is Jon Acuff telling the story of his journey from working his day job to being able to work his dream job full-time and the lessons he learned in between. For me, the big takeaway was valuing your day job while you’re on your way to your dream job. For me, too often, I focus on my dream job rather than my day job. I was cheating my employer and cheating myself from getting everything I could get out of my day jobs.

I liked this book because it didn’t just focus on your dream job. It focused on the journey required to get to working your dream job.

If you find yourself working a job you’re not that wild about and dreaming and working all day long on your dream job, you need to grab this book immediate.

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Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling

I have a desire to be a professional speaker and an author. As a result, I try to intentionally grow and learn as much as I can about that field. I am always looking for great books on how authors and speakers build their platforms as well as their businesses. Through the recommendation of Michael Hyatt via his blog, I heard about “Book Yourself Solid” by Michael Port. I’m so glad Michael recommended it.

As I was reading the book, I made a to-do list for myself based off everything Michael suggested. When I finished the book, I had over 110 action items to do. I will keep that to-do list forever as I not only build my own platform, but as I build the reputation and platform of any organization I work for or cause that I believe in.

If you’re into building brands and platforms and want an extremely practical book on how to get started today, pick this one up! I promise you won’t regret it!

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And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.                                                                                               -Mark 16:15

Do you ever doubt yourself? Doubt anyone will listen to you? Doubt you are making a difference? Doubt that you matter? Doubt that your work is making a difference? I know I do all the time, but then I will have someone share with me that I have made a difference in their life and it encourages me to keep going.

I got the following message on Facebook from someone I have not talked to in 10-12 years. I get messages like this often and they always encourage me to keep going:

“Bubba, I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you. I have been following your postings and reading your blogs. Honestly, everything you write is extremely uplifting. I could have the worst day and I will read a quote you posted and it will immediately make me feel better! I want you to know, you have very much made an impact on me, and I’m sure so many others…”

I don’t share that to make myself look good, I share it because I want want to encourage you. What you have to say matters. When I get messages like this, I am reminded that what I have to say matters. A lot of you think that if you write a blog post, tweet a tweet, preach a sermon, share the Word with someone, or just simply call or text someone to encourage them, that it won’t really matter. That is a lie. The truth is: It does matter. It matters a lot. What you say matters.

When you believe you have something to say, and you say it: you never know who you could impact through your words. When you encourage a friend, you never know what you’re helping them get through. When you share the gospel with someone, it could change their life forever.

Bottom Line: You could change the world through what You have to say!

The best part: If you’re a Christian, God already gave us our message. We just have to share it with the world. In everything you say, just point people to Him, if you do, you’ll make an incredible impact in your lifetime.

So keep blogging, keep tweeting, keep preaching, keep getting the word out. Whether you know it or not, people are paying attention to you. You have a voice. You matter. Believe it!