I have been away for the last week in The English Lake District, hence why there have been no updates to the site. Whilst I was away, as well as getting in a good few chapters of the Getting Things Done book, I also took the time to read a book that has been on my bookshelf for quite some time.

The book I read was The Travelers Gift, Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success, by Andy Andrews. The book is in the same vein as titles by the great Og Mandino, and if you like Mandino books you will love the Travelers Gift. These books tell a story, and the story has meaning. I personally find these a great read. Don’t get me wrong, I love the generic motivational books from authors such as Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, and Brian Tracy, but I also feel that books such as this help to capture your imagination by guiding you through a story with meaning. The lessons to be learned from the book are intricately woven into the story line, providing substance and example behind their interpretations. I guess you can tell that I liked the book.

Anyway, the book is about a guy called David Ponder. David is made redundant from a chemical factory where he has worked his whole life. He then faces various life challenges and his life takes a drastic turn. This turn leaves him facing a journey of a lifetime that will introduce him to several key figures from the past, each with a message, and related story to tell, that make up the seven decisions that determine personal success. We start by visiting president Harry Truman, and end up with the Angel Gabriel. The last two chapters bring the whole story together and it leaves an excellent and positive impression on your mind.

Don’t just take my word for it but be sure to purchase this book and see for yourself. US readers can order the book from Amazon.com and UK visitors can order it from Amazon.co.uk by following the links.

I liked the seven decisions so much that I have created a mind map of them. The PDF of the Mind Map can be downloaded here. I am a real big fan of mind maps and tend to use them a lot. This is something that I have not yet blogged about here but I aim to mind map the whole Getting Things Done book once I have finished reading it as well as other topics related to personal success and motivation. I am very interested in your comments and feedback about the Seven Decisions Mind Map and if this were something you would like to see more of on this blog. Also, do you want these as PDFs or would you also like the mmap file as well for use with MindJet Mind Manager? Until next time.