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The Accidental Millionaire – by Gary Fong

Maybe you haven’t heard of Gary Fong. Even though I’m interested in photography, I hadn’t heard of him until a photographer buddy clued me in. He is known as an innovative wedding photographer, entrepreneur and writer.

In The Accidental Millionaire, Fong tells us his life story so far, giving the details of the personal philosophy that has worked so well for him. This is not the same recycled self-help crap everybody else writes. In contrast to vision, goals, tasks and actions, Fong’s more Zen-flavored philosophy comes down to exploring things that interest him, creating space for insights to happen and then working his ass off. He admits he acts on hunches, sometimes decides by flipping a coin and understands the role luck has in success.

This book will be appealing even if you aren’t a photographer.

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The Paradoxes of Freedom

I’ve been reading Guy Murchie’s The Seven Mysteries of Life, An Exploration of Science and Philosophy and it is amazing. The scope of the book is immense but somehow it is packed with details. You can read it online but the material is so dense I recommend buying the book. I feel like I could read this book 100 times and still have barely scratched the surface.

One topic in particular stuck in my mind: The Paradoxes of Freedom. I’ve excerpted the text of that part of the book and added some comments and questions below. Continue Reading…

Secrets to Winning at Office Politics – by Marie G. McIntyre

Like it or not, office politics is an inescapable part of working in a corporate environment. It may not always be visible but it is always there. It is a kind of game. Those that understand it and aren’t personally offended by it often get along well. Those that don’t understand it or are personally offended by it? Not so much. Continue Reading…