Carpe Diem!

In one of his mid-nineteenth-century writings, Peter Drucker, the father of management, penned: “there is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”

Ken Knox, a self-published book author of the 21st century, lives the same principle the father of management taught and lived in his lifetime. Knox’s published book, Carpe Diem: Simple Strategies to Move from Average to Extraordinary, highlights the value of doing what’s important and ignoring what’s not.

The book author also accounts his experiences being an average person enjoying an extraordinary life. Having worked for Fortune 500 companies and owned several small businesses, Knox deeply understands that the key to achievement is to focus on the right things and do them the right way.

“Seize the day” is what the Latin ‘carpe diem’ means and the essence of Knox’s published book. He has served small and large businesses in the last 15 years and is conducting trainings and seminars on the matter all over the US and abroad. The book author is also a professor in several colleges and universities.

One doesn’t have to be above average to perform above average results. One is never too young or old to start focusing on the right things. What’s important is that you seize the day.

Christmas rush

Holiday rush?  Yes, there is.

But I’m glad that it’s not really as bad as I expected it to be.

I went to one of the city malls early this morning so as not to get caught in a long queue for last-minute gift buying.  Thanks heavens, I didn’t have to fall in line to pay for the 3 items in my basket.

Must be the economic crunch, I told myself.  The mall was a bit “quiet” that I even had a quiet time having my cappuccino at Starbucks while reading a few pages of Follett’s Pillars of the Earth before going to my sister’s house to bring the gifts for the whole family.

A thought just crossed my mind as I was about to leave Starbucks: what does a book author do during Christmas? Giving books? Or probably thinking or planning about how to publish a book – a new one, a new plot, a new theme?

So much about publishing.  I need to get going and enjoy the chilly but very comforting air.

It’s a beautiful Christmas day.

random thoughts

I was cleaning my pad last weekend and was happy to find out that I only have 14 books left unread! Not bad.  It used to be 32!

And what’s more exciting was the fact that I have more than 50 books ready to be given away for Christmas.  I know some friends will be elated to receive them.

But the most exciting part of my weekend cleaning engagement was the rediscovery of my high school journals which were just sleeping inside a green box. I browsed through the pages and couldn’t help but laugh at my entries.

I’ve been writing journals since I was eight and I once dreamed of being a published book author on detective stories when I was still reading Nancy Drew  and Hardy Boys.  I became more imaginative when in 6th grade, I started reading Robert Ludlum and Agatha Christie (thanks to my best friend who owns a whole library of novels written by authors of different genres).

But will I ever get to publish a book?  That still remains a million-dollar question.  Publishing entails more than just dreaming of having a book displayed in bookstores.  It takes dedication, discipline and a firm decision to finish the manuscript.  Not only that, when published, the writer must be ready to face all kinds of critics and must be willing to take the risk of succeeding or failing.  I will expound this in another post.

As I was randomly musing on all these things about publishing, I stumbled upon a succinctly written article on how to publish.  It’s very helpful especially to those who are seriously working on a manuscript for publishing.

It’s very helpful to me, at least.

i live in a library

I spent the weekend with a close friend buying books at a local bookshop. We both bought about eight-hundred-dollar worth of books together and only heaven knows when I would ever finish reading all the ones I got for myself!

A newly published book by Erwin Raphael McManus, one of my favorite book authors, was available and I couldn’t resist buying it even if I haven’t even started reading his last book I bought only a few weeks ago!

Plus, there are several people on my Christmas list and what else is a better gift than a good book?

I think that now justifies my weekend indulgence. After all, my friend and I ended with a super nice massage in my favorite spa!

When I was finally home, I went through each name printed on the covers of the books I bought. I was wondering how many of these book authors actually knew how to get published when they were still starting their manuscripts…

Before I try to answer my question, there’s one pressing thing that I must do. Expand my bookshelf!

Books are just scattered everywhere that my pad now looks like a beleaguered library.