Commuting is a drag. There was a point in time that I had a 5 minute commute to work, then I decided to move and my company said I could just work from home. When it came time to switch jobs my walk down the stairs turned into a 45 minute (one-way) commute – and that was on a good day. So for the past two years I’ve found myself in the car for a minimum if an hour and a half each day. It seems insane at first thought, but I am a bit surprised how I have gotten used to it.

How do I pass the time? There are two main things I do that keep me sane: 1) Eat Sunflower seeds – this is mainly to keep me awake. I find I don’t get drowsy if I am constantly eating something and Spitz BBQ sunflower seeds are my addiction. 2) Listen to audio books.

Why audio books? A few reasons. First, I’m not much of a music person. I never have been. I will listen to music on occasion, but it gets old fast to me. I know, I’m strange in this regard. Second, I like learning new things. I don’t really get that from music. Third, there are lots of books I would like to read, but I just don’t have the time. My average weekday looks something like this:

4:00 AM – 6:30 AM: Freelance or independent work
6:30 AM – 7:15 AM: Shower & get dressed
7:15 AM – 8:00 AM: Commute to work
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Work my butt off!
5:00 PM – 5:45 PM: Commute home
5:45 PM – 8:00 PM: Family time (dinner, play with kids, etc)
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM: Time with my wife (watch TV, talk, eat ice-cream)
10:00 PM – 10:30 PM: Ready for bed, read, pray

So that is an average day, I wouldn’t say I stick to this schedule religiously, but it is somewhat predictable if nothing is on the schedule. So you can see I don’t really take the time to read. Dave Ramsey often says that the average millionaire reads one non-fiction book per month. So the best way for me to get in all the books I would like to read, is by listening to audio books.

Here are some of my favorite sources for audio books:

1. Audible.com: this like the Amazon of audio books. (In fact, they are now owned by Amazon). I have a monthly subscription that I pay $14.95 per month for. This gives me 1 credit per month. Each audio book is 1 credit. Also, as a subscription member, you get discounted pricing on all books. If a discounted price of a book is less than $14.95 I will likely purchase it without using a credit and save my credits for more expensive books. I’ve learned that credits will expire if you don’t use them, so this encourages me to continue to find new interesting books to read. I do find that my favorite are self-help type books like Zig Ziglar stuff. It energizes me. I look at the membership price as an investment in me.
2. BooksShouldBeFree.com: This is a very easy to navigate site with all kinds of audio books created from public domain sources. Check out the top 100 to see some of the great classics available. Sometime is is nice to step away from non-fiction books and just be entertained.
3. LibriVox.org: This may be a duplicate listing because it seems to me that all the listings in BooksShouldBeFree.com are essentially taken from LibriVox. It appears LibriVox is build on top of WordPress, so I mention them mainly because they are the source we can all thank for these free audio books, but their user interface will not be as nice as the custom interface of BooksShouldBeFree.com.
4. iTunes: While this integrates well with my iPhone, there are a few reasons I don’t use iTunes much. I have purchased AudioBooks on iTunes in the past and after switching computers and iPhones, I don’t have those books available and I can’t find them in my account history. I’m sure this has improved since the invention of iCloud. Second, they tend to be more expensive. Generally a book selling for $29.95 on iTunes I’ll just find on Audible.com and use 1 ($14.95) credit.
5. Podcasts: So I know they are not audio books per say, but if you run out of books you want to listen to, check out some podcasts that are in your interest area. The best place to find these are on iTunes, and most of them are free.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Before anything else, let me give you a little background as to how I first learned about this book and why I read it.

I have a brother in law that recommended the book a few years ago. He had two copies, one was autographed by the other, the other, was well read, which is the one he loaned to me. I took it home and read the introduction. I had some interest but I couldn’t help but think that Robert Kiyosaki was lying the whole time. I did some research on the internet and found John T. Reed’s analysis of the book which in my mind confirmed my suspicions about the author. So after only reading the first chapter I gave the book back and said I wasn’t interested in reading any further.

If you have read any of my previous posts, you know I’m a big Dave Ramsey fan. I was surprised to heard Dave often recommending this book to everyone on the radio, even though he is often disagreeing with Kiyosaki on other financial matters.

In the meantime my brother-in-law’s business has started turning a profit and another friend of mine that also recommended the book has continued to build his business. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll get the audio book from the library and listen in my spare time.

I have to admit there were many times in the book that I still thought his stories were a bunch of bunk and I still find John T. Reed’s site more accurate. Kiyosaki tells very detailed stories about when he was nine years old.

But on the other hand, I did appreciate a new way of looking at a few things. His definition of an asset is an interesting one and made me reevaluate what I would consider an asset.

All in all, I don’t think I’ll read anything else from Kiyosaki, nor will I ever claim to be a Kiyosaki fan, but I am glad that I read the book. It gave me a new perspective on certain ideas. This book alone will not make anyone rich because I don’t think it has any real usable advice, but the value comes in how you look at life and business. It will make you think and that is always a good thing.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I first noticed this book while I was browsing around Barnes & Noble. I wanted to get it, but I opted to check it out at the library instead.

I blew threw this book. It is such an easy read and it held my interest the whole way through. Now, I consider myself different for even having an interest in this book because I think the people who NEED to read this book would never even consider it. Jon Huntsman calls for a return of old time values where your word is your bond and you consider giving more than hoarding.

It was an excellent book and it helped me look at all aspects of my life and work and find room for improvement throughout. I highly recommend it to everyone with a conscience.

[tags]Business, Honesty, Ethics, Moral, Philanthropy, Huntsman, Book[/tags]

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

My new goal is to read one book per month, the do a short review on that book. I got this goal after becoming a huge Dave Ramsey fan. I read his book, Total Money Makeover and loved it. Now I listed to his free podcasts everyday.

One of the books he highly recommends is The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley. This book will change the way you look at your next door neighbor, and the way you may think while driving through an upper class neighborhood. This book shows you how the tortoise continually beats the hair in the race to building wealth.

The book does have it’s boring parts and can often read like an owners manual with lots of statistical data. But between all the stats and data the book can be highly motivating to help you save instead of spend. You’ll learn all about PAWS & UAWS and what it means to have a big hat and no cattle.

Without going too much into it, I would say that although dull it is a good read with lots of hard core statistical surprises.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

While reading this morning, I came across the following verses:

2 Nephi 25:23-26

23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.
25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.
26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

This reminded me of a book I read recently by the title of Believing Christ. This book explains clearly the role of Christ and our absolute need for his atonement. It makes things so clear and more than anything gives a person hope. While discussing this book a with a woman I know, she said this was the book that brought her back in to the church. Before reading it, she didn’t feel she had the strength to come back.

If you’ve ever felt that you’ve done something so terribly wrong that you cannot be forgiven, you don’t believe Christ when He says He can heal you. You may believe in Him. You may believe that He can forgive others, because certainly other people have not done things as terrible as you feel you have done. Well, this thinking is wrong. He can forgive you. He said He will forgive you. You must believe Him when He says this.

No matter how good or righteous you may feel anther person may be, they need the atonement just as much as you do – daily even. As verse 23 states, it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do. Ultimately, if not for the Savior’s grace, we are lost and fallen and no amount of righteousness can restore us until we accept the atonement of Christ and ask for forgiveness.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.