It feels like yesterday was Friday of last week. What happened to the time?!?! Today represents the 23rd week since I started the weekly gratitude post!
What am I grateful for? Well, let’s see……
How about I start by giving you a sneak peek at what the table of contents looks like for my first-ever book?
Before I do that though, I want to express appreciation for those of you who have shared your enthusiasm and excitement over the book. Thanks to the BestSelling Blueprint program that I won as a result of submitting the “Most Life Changing Moment” video, I am truly harnessing the power of focus and shepherding myself through the process of making this book become a reality.
It’s 188 pages and contains several bite-sized chapters with short stories. Each chapter ends with a life lesson I learned. They range from the impact others made on my life to daring risks I took to some of the most embarrassing moments. Many of these stories were first written during the early 1990s, shortly after I quit Wall Street. When Adversity University was born in 1996, I transferred almost all of them over here.
And now for the first time, they will be made available in a cohesive fashion. Take a look at this:
Acknowledgements
Preface: “Take a Little Trip with Me”
Part I
- The Jordan Factor
- Power of Persistence
- You’re FIRED!
Part II
- Dare Take Risks: Swimming Championships
- Be The First to Admit You are Wrong
- Bad News
Part III
- It’s Okay to Stumble Along the Way
- The James Bond Lady with Red Lips and Red Wine
- Bluffing Ain’t Gonna Get You Anywhere
Part IV
- Everybody You Meet Has a Lesson Plan for You
- Never Underestimate the Power of Making a Difference
- Scrounging Up the Courage to Be Brave and Take the Leap
- Things Don’t Always Turn Out the Way You Plan
- The Grandmotherly Client From Hell
- Goodbye Wall Street!
Part V
- The World is Conspiring to Bless You If You Just Believe
- The Tale of the Lost Driver’s License: Everything Happens for a Reason
- Praying the Price for Your Dreams
- Have Courage to be Upfront - Car Loan
- Blizzard Housecleaning
Part VI
- The Flight Instructor Who Believed in Me
- Life is a Great Adventure or Nothing
- Overconfidence is Just as Bad as Not Enough
- Adversity at the Barber Shop
- The Leeza Show - Attitude of Gratitude
You guys will be among the first to have at it. The first release will be in e-book format followed by hard copy. I just finished re-editing the manuscript by hand today and have assigned myself the task of transferring the corrections over to the computer tomorrow. The next step after that will be to obtain testimonials for the back cover.
Once I’m satisfied that the book is finally ready for release, I will make it available for download at this blog for three thousand dollars a pop.
Alright, stop hyperventilating! I was just kidding - it won’t be that much!
On other news:
- Earlier this week, I went to add more money to my laundry card and put in a ten dollar bill into the machine. When I pushed the button to release the magnetic card, the digital screen said I had $20 on it. Thank God for small acts of abundance!
- Springtime is one of my favorite seasons and I’m glad it’s finally here after a long cold winter.
- I’m thankful this blog continues to draw in the right kind of audience. It feels good to know visitors are enjoying themselves here. I know this because many of you have taken the time to let me in on what you were thinking via private emails and the comment section. Thanks!
- I am supremely grateful that I continue to raise my level of consciousness to the point where I am taking full responsibility for my life. It’s not what happens to me that really matters but what I do about it. I’m always thinking about this statement and because of that, I am acutely aware of how I think, behave and act every waking moment. It means I am living my life consciously instead of unconsciously.
- One of my subscribers wrote me an email asking if I was in need of HP printer ink cartridges. We all know how much printer cartridges cost these days. Imagine my gratitude when I learned she was cleaning out her house and wanted to give them away. Thank you for your generosity!
Food for thought: What are you grateful for this week?
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Stephen, those are very compelling chapter titles. It will make anyone ready to dive in and start reading!
Sounds like a really good start to your book.
Editing is hard because those words are your babies and you don’t want to let go of one of them.
Thanks for keeping us us to date!
Actually, Stephen, I wouldn’t mind paying you “three thousand dollars a pop”… in monopoly dollars!
That’s wonderful about your book getting ready through the “assembly line” of preparation!! Looking forward to adding it to my bookshelf!!
Nita
:::Making room on my bookshelf::::
Karen Putz / DeafMom’s last blog post..Marlee Matlin–Still Dancing!
Stephen, your book sounds like a big success already. Andrea Hess tells me to always express gratitude when I ask for anything from my intuitive sources. So thank you, thank you, thank you for your much looked forward to book. I will definitely order a copy too when it comes out.
What I am thankful for this week is all of the wonderful blogging friends that I have met since I started blogging last June. Those friends include you, Andrea and Corinne Edwards. My world has been so enriched by each of you.
Patricia
Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker’s last blog post..Tools Of The Ego
Patricia, Karen, Corrine and Nita:
Thank you for your continuing support! Indeed, the blogging world has become a special place for some of us. I’m very excited about releasing this book - it’s the first time I’m ever doing it so I’m working with spirit to make it into something people will smile, laugh, cry, contemplate and anything else I hadn’t thought of.
You’re right Corinne - self editing is tough, which is why I had someone else help me with it recently and I’m looking at it for the last time after not reading it in a long while. Gives me fresh perspective that way.
Have a great weekend!
Stephen, I just pitched your book in my own gratitude article on my blog. I felt so good after reading your gratitude list today that I went and wrote my own. Have a glorious day.
Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker’s last blog post..Tools Of The Ego
Ohhh I can’t wait to read, Everybody You Meet has a Lesson Plan for You, and a few others really stand out to ME. Sounds like really exciting times for you, not to mention a priceless learning journey.
Have a great weekend.
Lisa Callsen’s last blog post..Technical college pays $175,000 for not providing an interpreter
I am so proud of you, and happy to have been a part of your book’s great journey! I expect a SIGNED COPY!
Always enjoy reading your weekly gratitude post. The story titles of your new book sound intriguing and inspiring. In addition to your videos you’re putting forth another milestone on sharing yourself with the world.
I love it and am thankful to have you and my other blogger friends as a source of motivation and inspiration.
Pat R’s last blog post..Learning How to Awaken
Patricia (Spiritual Light Journey):
Wow, you pitched my book at your blog when it hasn’t yet been published? What a wonderful gift! Thank you.
Lisa:
It’s true, isn’t it that everyone you meet has a lesson plan for you? They may not realize it but they do. That chapter is a story about a boss I used to work for. Enough said…for now.
Cari:
Yes, you were indeed part of the book’s journey! In fact, you’re in the acknowledgment section! You will most definitely get a signed copy - maybe your library will order one when it comes out in hard copy?
Pat R:
Thanks to blogging, I am continually learning how to stretch myself and reach out to the community.
I appreciate, very much, the connection we share and look forward to the day we all meet. Some of you are going to SOBCon08 in Chicago, which will be the first time I’m meeting you in the flesh - I’m looking forward to that. Others will have an opportunity to meet me somewhere along the line, I’m sure.
Enjoy the remainder of your weekend!
Thank you Stephen for making us a part of your book and keeping us updated. I can’t beleive how far you have come on it so far. This is so exciting!! I think my favorite will be Never Underestimate the Power of Making a Difference.
Pat, you are a source of motivation and inspiration to us as well. I’m thankful for you!
At this time I am greatly overwhelmed with gratitude to God for allowing me the opportunity to know and learn at the feet of one of the greatest men who ever walked on the earth. I am so grateful that I took the opportunity last week to sit with him the night before he died. I only wish everyone had the opportunity to know Ron Wilkins. I will be posting a tribute to him shortly so maybe you can get a glimpse into what made this man so rare. I am who I am today because of this man.
Jennifer’s last blog post..Ingredients for Inner Peace - How to Get Your Priorities in Order
Hey there Jennifer:
I’m so glad you have become a strong part of the community! Thanks for sharing your heartfelt thoughts and comments, adding more value to this conversation.
Being “greatly overwhelmed with gratitude” is a fabulous place to be mentally because it gives off such powerful energy, one that the universe will surely respond to. It has to! The more your gratitude is supported by genuine feelings, the more “pull” you will experience.
Bless you for sitting down with Ron Wilkins before he died last week. That’s got to be a great feeling because you were there just in time. It was something you were supposed to do and it happened! That’s awesome. I’ve heard many people regret that they didn’t get to say “goodbye” before someone was “taken home.”