I just read Everything Is Negotiable by Gavin Kennedy and it's a brilliant guide to the best tactics and tips to make sure you do well in negotiations. It makes the point that negotiatons are not a battle where one wins and one loses, but the desireable outcome in negotiations are that both parties come away happy with the agreement.

This book also serves as a kind of business self defence guide, by making you aware of the various negotiation strategies that people may try to use against you.

Now in its 4th edition, I have no hesitation in recommending Everything Is Negotiable by Gavin Kennedy

Labels: book review, business

How To Be Brilliant: Change your wars in 90 Days!

This book by Michael Heppell drew me in with a slightly hypnotic cover design, and a title which sounds really engaging. Just the word "brilliant" is bursting with energy and enthusiasm for doing things to the best of your abilities.

The great thing I found about this book is the simplicity by which is conveys its themes. Straight forward messages and tips presented in a very easy to understand format.

The chapters in the book are:

• A brilliant life balance
• The fiver characteristics of brilliant people
• Brilliant goal settng
• Time to be brilliant
• Brilliant belief systems
• Brilliant rock busting
• Brilliant values
• Brilliant teams
• Brilliant vision
• Brilliance into action

I really enjoyed Heppell's book. This was an impulse purchase for me when I saw it in Waterstones at Piccadilly, London and I've found it a great little resource that kept me reading until the end.

Check your usual bookstores for How To Be Brilliant by Michael Heppel

Labels: book review, how to be brilliant

Donna Farhi is a qualified Yoga instructor and The Breathing Book is a really enlightening read, with all the tools you need to learn better quality breathing. Of course we're always breathing else we'd die so to some the idea of learning breathing techniques might seem silly, but Donna does a great job of explaining why breathing in certain ways can be a lot better for you and improve your health and wellbeing. After the information on why you should improve your breathing, there's a whole series of practical exercises showing how to do it.

I really enjoyed this book and at a time in my life when I was suffering from anxiety and shallow breathing, this book was a real godsend to me. I'd happily recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their vitality through improved breathing techniques.

Labels: book review, breathing, donna farhi

The Mind Gym is a really useful resource. It collates various methodologies and techniques that have been proven over the years through research and presents them in a really easy understand format. Each chapter relates to a different core skill such as improving your creative thinking, becoming more influential, learning how to make decisions to people and even breaking bad news to people. Backing up the book is a website that you can log in to and use it to chart your progress. The twin track approach of book + website is really useful. Mind Gym is definitely a book to check out - available at Amazon and all good book stores.

Labels: book review, mind gym