Archive for 'Books'
New Year’s Resolutions and Champagne
Posted on 01. Jan, 2009 by Karen.
Happy New Year everyone!! On this first day of 2009 that started with the popping cork of a favorite champagne, I’m inspired by more than the bubbles. Did you know that champagne as we know it today was created by a woman! She was Madame Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin or better know as “la Veuve (widow) Clicquot” which, by the way, is the name of my absolutely very favorite champagne.
Madame Clicquot grew up during the French Revolution. She was widowed in her 20s when her winemaker husband died of typhoid. Despite the odds of being alone and a single parent, la Veuve grew the family business into an empire and became a world renowned entrepreneur at a time when women were not typically welcomed in the business world. Demand for her champagne spread across Europe like wildfire and at one point la Veuve made the equivalent of $1 million on a single shipment of her famous product.
The story of la Veuve’s life and how she made a fortune perfecting the process of making tiny bubbles is chronicled in a recent book by Tilar J. Mazzeo. As I read the book, it seems that la Veuve’s success was less about champagne and more about her mindset. Her philosophy was that:
The world is in perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow. On must go before others, be determined and exacting, and let your intelligence direct your life. Act with audacity.
So what does it mean to be audacious? It means to act with courage, bravery, nerve — that thing the old folks called “guts”. So as I launch into 2009, I’m following la Veuve’s recipe for success and approaching my goals with audacity.
Let’s all be audacious this year!
Continue Reading
It’s Never Too Late to Think and Grow Rich
Posted on 18. Nov, 2008 by Karen.
Last night I came across an iTunes gift card in my purse. I won it in a raffle at a conference I attended recently. I’ve been feeling antsy about the economy lately — haven’t we all — and decided that I shouldn’t just let the gift card sit there. Something led me to the audiobooks on iTunes and then to Napoleon Hill’s timeless book on success — Think and Grow Rich.
It was written after the last major economic crash and told the stories of people who became hugely successful despite all odds. How, you ask? Well I’ve never read the book all the way through. So I can’t answer the question now. But check back with me in a week. It strikes me that this book is probably more relevant now than it’s been since it was written.
Napoleon Hill once said
It takes half your life before you discover that life is a do-it-yourself project.
So from where I sit now in the middle of midlife, our bad economy isn’t the only reason to tap into the wisdom of Think and Grow Rich. Why don’t you join me? If you don’t have an iPod, click here for your free, yes that’s FREE download of the book and then let’s compare notes. I’m betting that:
It’s never too late to think and grow rich.
Continue Reading
worksheet for free when you sign up for
Amazing Life After 50's FREE newsletter -
50 Plus Magazine
