Here are my notes on, Platform (Amazon), By: Michael Hyatt:

As one of my favorite marketing gurus, David Ogilvy, once wrote, “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.” How true.

We don’t need more messages or products or services. Instead, we need better messages, products, and services.

The truth is, mediocrity is natural. You don’t have to do anything to drift there. It just happens. But if you want to create truly wow experiences—and if you want to build your platform—then it is going to require courage. Are you willing to be brave?

Outline what would have to be true . Rather than merely asking how to get from where you are to where you want to go (strategy), I like asking what would have to be true for my dream to become a reality. For example, when I set a goal of hitting the best-sellers list, I realized I would have to write a compelling book, become its chief spokesperson, get major media exposure, and so forth. I started with the dream and worked backward. 

Don’t listen to that mocking little voice that tells you to be more realistic. Ignore it. You can either accept reality as it is or create it as you wish it to be. This is the essence of dreaming—and thinking big.

Perfectionism is the mother of procrastination.

If you are a hobby blogger, you can get away with the occasional post that strays from your primary message or brand. But if you are trying to build a platform, you need to find an editorial focus and stick to it. A tighter focus leads to higher traffic. This is why I have tried to narrow my own focus to four areas: leadership, productivity, social media, and publishing. If I want to write on something else (e.g., fitness), I do so through one of these four lenses.

Here are my notes on, Safari (Amazon), By: Geoffrey Kent.

They say only time heals a broken heart, but any man with a purpose knows that the far faster cure is adventure—and there’s no greater adventure than a safari.

One day on safari is the great adventure that will change the rest of an individual’s life.

Travel teaches us as much about ourselves as it does about the world—it shifts our focus away from the meager challenges of every day and recalibrates our life’s vision to something broader and much more significant. One of my prevailing philosophies is that if any individual were to find out that he or she had only six days to live, all people’s final thoughts would revolve around life’s most important things: the people they’ve loved and the places they’ve explored. Nothing shapes an individual as much as these two influences.

Adventure by day, security and luxury at night. I could live this way forever.

Together we visit a Cape Town art gallery, and for the first time I find myself curious about paintings—funny how a budding romance can make even the least likely thing so interesting to a boy.

I conclude that what I love best about travel is all the new people one meets—fast friends with open minds, always eager for a laugh and up for an adventure.

“You need a career that will harness all your passion.” “That’s right,” says General Frost. “Find the one thing that would make you feel as though you’ve done nothing with your life if you don’t accomplish it. It’s nice seeing the world, but England is my home. The army will fly you anywhere you like at the end of your service. You have to decide where your home is, as well.”

Travel is the best test of compatibility there is—especially when you and your companion are both thrill-seekers.

In all seriousness, it’s true. No matter whom you’re hosting or where you are, the most important effect of travel is that it does in fact change a person’s life and their perspective on the world.