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The Book is Available (Finally)

Way too long! But, the book is the way I want it to be. Self publishing means, most of all, that the author retains complete control. So, was it worth the wait? You tell me. Go here to buy the book or for a free download, "Six Steps to Working Less and Making More. -sc

La Quinta

Linda and I have escaped the snows of Oregon and are enjoying the sun of the southwest. Our tandem bicycle is getting a good workout and I've been climbing in the surrounding hills.

The book will be in print by the end of the month, or maybe in the first part of March. It's been more work than I anticipated! We're taking orders now on the website . Also, on the website there is a download entitled "Twelve Thoughts on Working Less and Making More." Go to the site, add your email address, and we'll send it to you.

Here's an excerpt from Part 3 of the book, Work the System:

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The Printer Has the Book

This book has taken a while to get right. I would rewrite a chapter one day, thinking it was perfect. Then, the next day I would read it again and wonder if someone else had rewritten it during the night.  But, it's "good enough" now!

By mid-February we should have the book in-hand. Go to the website to order an autographed copy in advance.

It's 26 Chapters and 80,000 words. Here's another excerpt:

"Time and money wasted, is time and money gone forever. And a waste of time and money means some other positive thing that could have happened, didn’t. 

The “Good Enough” rule is especially applicable to Working Procedures. A 100 percent perfect document that took forever to create carries an imbedded imperfection: The extra time spent creating the masterpiece is lost forever, therefore the finished product carries an imbedded taint and — catch 22 — you can never call it “perfect.”

So, make your procedures detailed but don’t make them too detailed. They should be good enough so the desired results are consistently produced, and so someone “off the street” can execute them, but no more. See it this way: In putting your procedures together quickly, you are reaching a kind of perfection — the perfection of a useful product created without waste.

Throughout this book I have asserted that you must “tweak your procedures to perfection.” Now you better understand why my definition of perfection is 98 percent, not 100 percent. "

Back from NYC, Off to Seattle and Philadelphia

We've been home just a couple of weeks and it's off again, this time to Seattle for family, and then to Pennsylvania for marketing. The book goes to the printer next week. A galley will be produced, which will be proof read and then indexed. Then the book will be printed.The cover is almost done, a beautiful thing by our printer's graphic artist, Kathy. Following is another excerpt, one that I finished this weekend.

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Headed to NYC

The book is still in editing -- but almost out. I've met with the printer, have an indexer set up, and have a cover designed. It is time to begin publicity so Linda and I leave Monday for a week in NYC to meet with media. Here's another excerpt:

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The Editor has it Now

The book WILL be done soon. Here are three more excerpts.

Life is serious business and whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not, your personal systems are the threads of the fabric of your life. The sum total of all your personal systems adds up to you. And if you are like most people, you negotiate your days without seeing the systems of your life as the singular entities they are, some working well and some not working so well.

In the complexity that is your life, what if you could see each of these systems distinctly? Then, what if you could reach in and pluck a not-so-perfect system out of that complexity, make it perfect and then reinsert it? What if you could perform that system improvement process with every system that comprises your life?

What if, piece by piece, you could engineer your life to make it exactly what you want it to be without having to rely on luck, providence, blind faith or someone else’s largesse?

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Continue reading "The Editor has it Now"