How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free offers inspirational advice on how to enjoy life to its fullest. The key to achieving an active and satisfying retirement involves a great deal more than having adequate financial resources; it also encompasses all other aspects of life -- interesting leisure activities, creative pursuits, physical well-being, mental well-being, and solid social support. World-class author and innovator Ernie J. Zelinski guides you to: Gain courage to take early retirement; in fact, the earlier the better. Put money in proper perspective so that you don't need a million dollars to retire. Generate purpose in your retirement life with meaningful creative pursuits. Follow your dreams instead of someone else's. Take charge of your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Better envision you retirement goals -- including where you want to live. Above all, make you retirement years the best time of your life. What sets this retirement book apart from all the others is its holistic approach to the fears, hopes, and dreams that people have about retirement. This international bestseller (over 110,000 copies sold in its first edition) goes way beyond the numbers that is often the main focus of retirement planning in most retirement books. There are many ingredients of a happy retirement and several retirement planning tools that help retirees plan for their retirement in new and more meaningful ways. One of the most powerful tools is The Get-a-Life Tree that you won't find in any other retirement books. In short, the retirement wisdom in this book will prove to be much more important than how much money you have saved. How to Retire Happy Wild, and Free helps readers create an active, satisfying, and happy retirement in a way such that they don't need a million dollars to retire.

Fierce Conversations is a way of conducting business. An attitude. A way of life. Susan Scott has spent sixteen years training clients in the art of fierce conversations, empowering them to achieve exceptional results through successful communication. Now she brings her expertise to readers everywhere. Fierce Conversations illuminates the path to a new degree of authenticity, a new way of expressing who you are and what you believe, as a person and a leader. In it, Scott explains the keys to regularly engaging in frontier conversations with yourself, colleagues, customers, friends, family, and the unknown future emerging around you. Fierce Conversations teaches you how to: *overcome barriers to meaningful conversation * master the courage and skill to interrogate reality-yours and others' * obey your instincts in every conversation * confront tough issues with courage, confidence, and care * inspire followers, attract believers, and build visions that become reality * leverage new skills for frictionless debate * handle strong emotions-your own as well as others' * operate from a base of authentic self-knowledge * enrich your most challenging relationships * build breakthrough relationships with colleagues, clients, friends, and family Having mastered the principles and practice of courageous, transformative dialogue, you will begin to change your life-one conversation at a time. "A rare and delightful blend of stimulating ideas and practical advice. Exciting and well written, Fierce Conversations is the perfect gift for anyone you care about, and above all yourself! This is a book you'll treasure and, I predict, will want to reread often." (Sheldon Bowles, co-author of Gung Ho! Turn On the People in Any Organization) "When the authentic conversations so clearly described in this book book catch on everywhere, it will be the end of gossip, corporate politics, bad marriages, and 360o feedback. Fierce Conversations is today's primer for success as well as for survival in our ever-changing world." (Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul, and John Christensen, co-author Fish! and Fish! Tales) "Susan Scott delivers a wealth of uncommon common sense in Fierce Conversations. Her warmth and skill as coach and counselor provide the healthy nudges we all need from time to time to jump in, get engaged, and manage ourselves and the world around us more directly, positively and productively. It's a reminder that 'the way out is through,' and she provides great techniques for navigating the passage." (David Allen, President of David Allen&Co. and author of Getting Things Done "If conversations are the lifeblood of our most important relationships, this book is a transfusion of ideas and inspiration. Susan Scott has written a life-affirming primer for moving us toward the conversations we need to have most." (Doug Stone, co-author of Difficult Conversations) "The path to a fierce conversation is lined with the velvet words of wisdom of Susan Scott. Her deep insights artfully show us how most life problems can be solved or dissolved with a fierce conversation." (Arielle Ford, President of the Ford Group and author of Magical Souvenirs: True Spiritual Adventures From Around the World) "I was captivated by this magnificent book right from the start. Fierce Conversations insightfully captures and clearly interrogates the heart of 'real' conversation. Spending time with Susan Scott's principles has the potential to make a significant difference in our work, our relationships, and in our understanding of ourselves." (Richard Carr, President&CEO, TEC International) "Susan Scott is the master teacher of positive change through powerful communication." (Peter Neill, Executive Director, AT&T Wireless) "I love this book. What a refreshing departure from typical management superficialities! Susan Scott zeros in brilliantly, and charmingly, on the single most important activity of management and leadership-engagement through conversation-and she does it not by offering simplistic techniques, but by fostering what people appreciate most in their managers-genuineness. A must read for managers certainly-and for anyone who cares about improving relationships." (Richard Farson, President, Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, and co-author of Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins: The Paradox of Innovation "Susan Scott's emphasis on authentic communications, like all good therapy, directs readers to become conscious of their inner conflicts. She encourages readers to reach for their more authentic growth tendencies and ultimately to seek the rewards of self-actualization. She quite accurately directs readers to recognize that life's distress is often the result of inauthenticity. She builds a strong case and provides helpful tools for becoming more authentic." (Stephen M. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director of the Association for the Advancement of Psychology) "A fierce convesation propels you from your mind into your guts, giving you the strength and confidence to make rapid and insightful decisions." (Victor Villasenor, author of Rain of Gold)

Finally! A book about economics that won't put you to sleep. In fact, you won't be able to put this one down.Naked Economics makes up for all of those Econ 101 lectures you slept through (or avoided) in college, demystifying key concepts, laying bare the truths behind the numbers, and answering those questions you have always been too embarrassed to ask. For all the discussion of Alan Greenspan in the media, does anyone know what the Fed actually does? And what about those blackouts in California? Were they a conspiracy on the part of the power companies? Economics is life. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's no reason to fear this highly relevant subject. With the commonsensical examples and brilliantly acerbic commentary we've come to associate with The Economist, Wheelan brings economics to life. Amazingly, he does so with nary a chart, graph, or mathematical equation in sight—certainly a feat to be witnessed firsthand. Economics is a crucial subject. There's no way to understand the important issues without it. Now, with Charles Wheelan's breezy tour, there's also no reason to fear it.

How government operates is going through a revolution that will result in an estimated $3 trillion of new business opportunities for private enterprise. Cities are outsourcing functions as mundane as parking garages; public-private partnerships are forming to replace aging bridges and other infrastructure projects; and government at all levels is looking to private enterprise to streamline operations and invent solutions to stubborn problems. Governments at all levels have to rethink how they deliver services and what services can be more efficiently delivered in collaboration with private enterprise. Nabers, who served for more than a decade as a statewide executive, pulls back the curtain on what makes government officials tick, the practical and political cross-currents that are unique challenges to doing business with government, and how to bridge the cultural divide between public officials and corporate executives who live in different worlds, speak different languages, and have distinctly different ways of doing business.

Getting an MBA is an expensive choice-one almost impossible to justify regardless of the state of the economy. Even the elite schools like Harvard and Wharton offer outdated, assembly-line programs that teach you more about PowerPoint presentations and unnecessary financial models than what it takes to run a real business. You can get better results (and save hundreds of thousands of dollars) by skipping B-school altogether. Josh Kaufman founded PersonalMBA.com as an alternative to the business school boondoggle. His blog has introduced hundreds of thousands of readers to the best business books and most powerful business concepts of all time. Now, he shares the essentials of entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, negotiation, operations, productivity, systems design, and much more, in one comprehensive volume. The Personal MBA distills the most valuable business lessons into simple, memorable mental models that can be applied to real-world challenges. The Personal MBA explains concepts such as: * The Iron Law of the Market: Why every business is limited by the size and quality of the market it attempts to serve-and how to find large, hungry markets. * The 12 Forms of Value: Products and services are only two of the twelve ways you can create value for your customers. * The Pricing Uncertainty Principle: All prices are malleable. Raising your prices is the best way to dramatically increase profitability-if you know how to support the price you're asking. * 4 Methods to Increase Revenue: There are only four ways a business can bring in more money. Do you know what they are? True leaders aren't made by business schools-they make themselves, seeking out the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to succeed. Read this book and you will learn the principles it takes most business professionals a lifetime of trial and error to master.

Selected by Amazon.com and The Financial Times as one of the best business books of the year, Fooled by Randomness is an instant classic. Already published in 14 languages, the book?s title has entered our vocabulary. After reading the excitement expressed below for Fooled by Randomness one realizes that its world-wide bestseller status is no random event. This book is about luck ? or more precisely how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. It is already a landmark work and its title has entered our vocabulary. In its second edition, Fooled by Randomness is now a cornerstone for anyone interested in random outcomes. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill ? the world of trading ? Fooled by Randomness is a captivating insight into one of the least understood factors of all our lives. Writting in an entertaining and narrative style, the author succeeds in tackling three major intellectual issues: the problem of induction, the survivorship biases, and our genetic unfitness to the modern word. In this second edition, Taleb manages to use stories and anecdotes to illustrate our overestimation of causality and the heuristics that make us view the world as far more explainable than it actually is. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance. Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? It may be impossible to guard ourselves against the vagaries of the Goddess Fortuna, but after reading Fooled by Randomness we can be a little better prepared.

The reputation of the financial industry could hardly be worse than it is today in the painful aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. New York Times best-selling economist Robert Shiller is no apologist for the sins of finance--he is probably the only person to have predicted both the stock market bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble that led up to the subprime mortgage meltdown. But in this important and timely book, Shiller argues that, rather than condemning finance, we need to reclaim it for the common good. He makes a powerful case for recognizing that finance, far from being a parasite on society, is one of the most powerful tools we have for solving our common problems and increasing the general well-being. We need more financial innovation--not less--and finance should play a larger role in helping society achieve its goals. Challenging the public and its leaders to rethink finance and its role in society, Shiller argues that finance should be defined not merely as the manipulation of money or the management of risk but as the stewardship of society's assets. He explains how people in financial careers--from CEO, investment manager, and banker to insurer, lawyer, and regulator--can and do manage, protect, and increase these assets. He describes how finance has historically contributed to the good of society through inventions such as insurance, mortgages, savings accounts, and pensions, and argues that we need to envision new ways to rechannel financial creativity to benefit society as a whole. Ultimately, Shiller shows how society can once again harness the power of finance for the greater good.

No matter where you are on the organizational ladder, the odds are high that you've delivered a high-stakes presentation to your peers, your boss, your customers, or the general public. Presentation software is one of the few tools that requires professionals to think visually on an almost daily basis. But unlike verbal skills, effective visual expression is not easy, natural, or actively taught in schools or business training programs. slide:ology fills that void. Written by Nancy Duarte, President and CEO of Duarte Design, the firm that created the presentation for Al Gore's Oscar-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, this book is full of practical approaches to visual story development that can be applied by anyone. The book combines conceptual thinking and inspirational design, with insightful case studies from the world's leading brands. With slide:ology you'll learn to: Connect with specific audiences Turn ideas into informative graphics Use sketching and diagramming techniques effectively Create graphics that enable audiences to process information easily Develop truly influential presentations Utilize presentation technology to your advantage Millions of presentations and billions of slides have been produced -- and most of them miss the mark. slide:ology will challenge your traditional approach to creating slides by teaching you how to be a visual thinker. And it will help your career by creating momentum for your cause.

In this groundbreaking alternative history of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free-market economic revolution, Naomi Klein challenges the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory. From Chile in 1973 to Iraq today, Klein shows how Friedman and his followers have repeatedly harnessed terrible shocks and violence to implement their radical policies. As John Gray wrote in The Guardian, "There are very few books that really help us understand the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books."

This is one of the bestselling books ever published on the topic of project management. Now in a revised new third edition, it presents you with a wealth of proven techniques for managing projects—from establishing project objectives to building schedules to projecting costs. It includes all the basics on defining, planning, and tracking a project, as well as building stronger project teams. This new edition includes new chapters on Agile Project Management, PMI exam prep, and more.