How to Work for Yourself: 100 Ways to Make the Time, Energy and Priorities to Start a Business, Book or Blog

I found this book to be quite an eye opening about how much time we waste that can be used to build a healthy business of our own. It even tells you how to use your time wisely and how to train your body to get used to functioning on less sleep in order to accomplish more in a short period of time. This is a great read if you can handle learning the truth about yourself and overcoming your weaknesses. I received this product at a discount or free for my unbiased opinion.

I was interested in reading this book because I have tried several home businesses (some last for several years) and I sell things from home on a daily basis. This book does have some useful information in it. The author divided the book up into chapters but kept a running list of tips. Sometimes I felt like a few tips contradicted each other and other tips were common sense. I felt like a lot of the tips were focusing on how to manage your time. Take out some of the tips and this would be just like all other time management books or resources. I did find a few tips though that were unique. I think I was hoping for a little more information on how to make the business/blog/book, not just fitting it in. I think this book could have been more detailed and provided more resources rather than just one person's suggestions or thoughts. Overall, this is a great quick read for anyone that is looking for time management suggestions. I received this book at a discount in exchange for my honest review.

More than half of new businesses will fail within the first five years, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). Statistics show that 8 out of 10 new businesses will disappear within the first three years. Almost 80% of new businesses fail within their first year. According to Dun & Bradstreet, "Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years." While the reasons behind such dire forebodings have been justifiably argued as ranging from poor management skills to lack of proper capitalization, author Bryan Cohen argues there could be an even simpler underlying reason. In his book, “How to Work for Yourself,” he puts forth a basic concept for success—having the “right state of mind.” Cohen believes that with current access to tools and information from the Internet, nearly everyone has the ability to learn how to start a business. With so much expertise readily available, why do so many continue to fail? The answer, he says, is that most people lack the personal skills in time management, energy management and priority management. If you can’t get your “head on straight,” how can you expect your business to succeed? The author suggests finding the proper mindset applies not only to starting a business, but also to any creative project such writing a book or blog. What he offers is a collection of 100 ways for people to gain this right mindset, drawn from his own trial and error as well as other books and resources. The result is a thought provoking, albeit somewhat simplistic, listing of ideas that seek to encourage creative entrepreneurship. Chapter One starts with one of the most basic threats to a new entrepreneur: lack of time management. Many new business owners fail to figure out what are the most productive things possible to do for the business, instead getting lost in details. Learning to focus remedies the need to constantly double check details. Often, this is as simple as eliminating distractions such as constantly responding to your phone, tablet or laptop. One great distractor, email, should be answered only in the morning and evening. Too often, the author suggests, we check our email 10 or 15 times a day out of the need to feel important or loved. If you want to be successful, get over it. One of the hardest of time savers is being an emotional rock. If you’re wasting time on petty arguments or reacting to others instead of using logic, you won’t have time to run the business. If you want to get tuned to this focused entrepreneurial mindset, try giving up Facebook, TV or mobile Internet for 30 days, Cohen suggests. If skipping Facebook for that period of time “sends shivers down your spine,” that’s reason enough for doing it, he says. Another error that many entrepreneurs make is the failure to manage their own physical energy. Physical energy is created by your level of physical fitness, type of food eaten and even the amount of sleep you get. While these concerns are not usually taken into consideration when starting a creative project or business, Cohen suggests they are vital for productivity. Equally important is to get energy from others. Healthy relationships boost energy levels as well as allowing for more time to work on creative projects. Though a new endeavor is often time consuming, spending even an hour a month helping others or a charitable cause can be energizing. While good health practices and social relationships build the energy necessary to support a business, the most important source of energy is you, Cohen says. Creating a positive outlook, interrupting your negative thoughts and building your self-esteem are building blocks for success in your business. “The people who are most successful with their businesses, books and blogs believe in themselves,” Cohen says. Any aspiring business owner should review the book’s section on goal setting. The exercise on modeling your goals based on someone who has been successful in the same or similar business could certainly provide a boost in your own processes. “How to Work for Yourself” provides valuable insight into the personal mindset needed to be successful. The author makes the argument that perhaps more than spreadsheets and business plans, a clear, focused intent and right attitude may just be the most necessary tool for creating a long-lasting business.

I almost read this book in one sitting. With our busy lives, there's always something on our "to do list" that could uproot our reading time. Our personal growth research time." How To Work For Yourself" got to the 100 tips without wasting words. Where the author needed to elaborate.. he did. Otherwise, he moved on to the next tip. I appreciated that style of writing. I also enjoyed the format. As the author did have chapters for each idea, I liked how he placed each of his tips in the right chapter placement. Yes, some ideas were basic. But, who are we to say we have arrived on all of these ideas of personal growth. Experts says we need to hear things repeated and repeated to us so that we retain it. All of the tips were important to connect to the overall wholeness of a person being able to work for oneself. Is this book for the newcomer...yes. Is it still appropriate for the more "schooled person"... Yes! We all can benefit from review. The marketing ideas were frustrating but that's just me. I want to write more and market less. I want to just write which is something my son and I talk about all the time. Many of the author's ideas confirmed what I have read in other books. That's great too. I know I am on the right track as others in the field confirm their successes and "how to's" in their own words that confirm others. I give it a five! It didn't waste my time to talk down to me about the simple things I should do that I hadn't done yet. The advice was positive, uplifting, and to the point.

I'm a writer who is venturing into self-publishing for the first time. Within a few minutes of posting about my new book online, Bryan - who I have worked with in Chicago before - jumped on my post and offered me some great marketing advice I've already put to use. Bryan is passionate about helping other people launch their own business. Many of the tips in this book are common sense strategies, but they're always good to read again, with some examples to back it up. If you already have an established business, this is probably not the book for you, but if you're just starting out - and you know you're somewhat lacking in organizational skills - and need some advice, this is a great download.

This "how to" is a huge let-down. It's really nothing other than a promo for the author's real money-maker: the course he offers in time management. As such, it should have been offered on his web-site as a freebie. It offers nothing that one couldn't have thought up one's self, and many of the 100 ideas are just plain ridiculous (in other words, fillers to reach the target of 100). Usually, in these kinds of lists, one expects a couple of gems in among all the rocks, but in this one, nothing doing. Shoot me down if you like, but I think the Internet has become a way for too many out there to make a fast buck. But, I suppose I should blame myself. By not being more discerning in my selections, I add to the stats that buoy the "how to" industry. But you don't have to take my word for it. Why not spend some of your hard-earned lucre on this title and see for yourself.

In this book you have 100 ideas to help you apply while building your business there is ways to organize time and ideas to apply to complete your projects and work for yourself as it states. It gave me many ideas to start with very and states the importance of sleep and eating right I say this is very good advice and I will definitely find me using some of these.

Two of the best chapters in this book are Chapter 3: Physical Energy and Chapter 6: Massive Physical and Emotional Energy Boosts. While there is nothing new in these chapters, I truly believe that it is a good habit to remind ourselves of what we are capable of and what we should do to treat our body (and mind) well. How to Work for Yourself: 100 Ways to Make the Time, Energy and Priorities also contains other excellent tips like: 'Go to bed five minutes earlier every day' (+ elaboration on resulting effects) and 'Try something new with your mind, hands or body'. Clearly Bryan Cohen knows a lot about living healthy and how to get to that stage. Unfortunately this author misunderstood Guy Kawasaki, Apple's former evangelist, who said: "Remember that a finished product is more important than a perfect one'. Guy Kawasaki was speaking about computers and computer programs, who have a short shelf life by nature of industry. Books should not necessarily follow that principle and when they do, like this one, readers get confused because things just don't add up. Presenting three quotes from the author: 1) Work long hours and get free help before you pay anybody to work for you. 2) I pride myself on spending equal time on my personal life and professional life. 3) Spend twice as much time on marketing as you did on creating your project. I addressed this earlier with John Riddle's 20 percent writing/80 percent marketing rule, but you need to spend a lot of time on your marketing to make your product a success. Spend at least twice, if not four times as much time to get your product out there. Considering that the author wrote 30 books "on the side" while also maintaining a regular job these statements just don't add up. Something does not fit. This book contains some excellent advice, some neat summations of what we have heard before plus some strange contradictions. Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger