There are moments when you decide to become a businessperson where you hear names. These names always pop in discussions about entrepreneurship and speaking. Chris Cooper is one of those names. His name is not as big as a Tony Robbins or other major league motivational speakers, but those who know, kind of just know he’s primed to become a household name kind of guy. Right now, he is a household name where it counts: in the boardroom and in business offices looking to get organized and looking to get stronger.
We all know there are countless books out there than can help people get started on the path to becoming better people. Those books are everywhere. I tend to lump them into these categories:
1. Books by dudes who are ethereal: Books by people who tell you everything is going to work out if you just work hard (primarily written by famous people who are not really in touch with reality)
2. Self-Help books written by people who haven’t really done anything: (but they are important because they were in the right place at the right time and people listen to them, Steve Harvey comes to mind)
3. Books written by people that give an overview (These books kind of scratch the surface, but when you finish it doesn’t leave you with any real lesson learned and the motivation wears off pretty fast)
4. Books written that actually work (Get Sh*t Done: How to Stop Quitting and Start Succeeding
by Chris Cooper)
5. Books that give you a backstory and help you to carry the steps you learned from someone else forward (Of course this is One Hour To Wealth and my upcoming book The 30 Day Project, lol)
Seriously though, Chris Cooper has created a text that actually does something that is often overlooked. His book takes the working person, gives them the tools to become leaders at their jobs, and then the book takes those same lessons and allows those people who have excelled in their job to carry those skills into entrepreneurship. In other words, and I don’t say this lightly, Get Sh*t Done is not a self help book. It’s a book that dives to the core of why most people fail, procrastination. When I was in seventh grade I had a teacher named Mr. Evans. His two favorite words were “insubordination and procrastination.” When I would disrupt the class he would say, “Burns, you procrastinate and then it’s always insubordination with you, I’m writing you up.” To me, this was hilarious and whatever I was doing, I kept doing because I had gotten under his skin. What I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t doing anything special or smart and he was giving me a life lesson. If I could have listened, I wouldn’t have wasted a lot of years of my life.
Because I procrastinated, I rushed when I didn’t need to. Because of my procrastination, I used disrespect and insubordination to take the attention off of my failures. I eventually fell behind in school and lost major opportunities because of this. In Get Sh*t Done, Chris talks about how he could have written this book years ago, but he procrastinated. It’s that type of humble description that allows you to trust the information he is giving. See, what typically happens with me is I tune out books that seemingly regurgitate the same information. I tune it out because the person writing is talking at you, not to you. Chris Cooper lets you know that he is you. That he was the guy who procrastinated and for me that is a connective tissue. It’s cartilage between bones, blood vessels to the heart. I need to know that you went through it for me to buy it, which is what is happening everywhere now. People need to see what you’ve done to believe you. Get Sh*t Done allows for the discussion on how to improve your situation where you are. Not where you want to be and that makes the book a vital, living text. I give the book a 4 out of 5. Some of the information can be found elsewhere, but the instruction and personal narrative make the book worthwhile. Pick it up and learn how to Get Sh*t Done sooner rather than later.
https://www.facebook.com/christopher.j.cooper?fref=ts
I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris on Paul C Brunson’s Mentor Monday. In keeping with Chris’ instruction I could have procrastinated, but I realized that “buried under layers of excuses, delays, rationalization, procrastination…that keeps us from achieving,” I simply had to say yes to Ella and Paul and my life has been changed since that day. Click the link to read about that day and watch Chris Cooper on Mentor Monday.
http://www.cbpublish.com/business-being-ready-when-your-number-is-called/