EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book New Ways and Next Steps

    Book Details:
  • Author : Francis DeBernardo
  • Publisher : Liturgical Press
  • Release : 2023-09-15
  • ISBN : 0814668607
  • Pages : 160 pages

Download or read book New Ways and Next Steps written by Francis DeBernardo and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2023-09-15 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Ways and Next Steps is designed to help pastoral ministers develop LGBTQ+ ministry in their local parishes. Whether a parish is just initiating a ministry or already has one that needs fresh ideas, Francis DeBernardo brings pastoral ministers on a journey of discernment to help them discover the best path LGBTQ+ ministry should take in their local communities. Contemporary Topics in Parish Leadership is a series from Liturgical Press that addresses timely realities in parish leadership. Written primarily for parish staff, leadership teams, and parish councils, each topic affirms the pastoral realities facing today’s church leaders in a way that is engaging, relevant, and accessible. Short chapters grounded in real-world experiences invite readers to consider the depth of pastoral realities from a scriptural, theological, and ministerial perspective. “Questions for Reflection” and “Continuing the Conversation” at the end of each chapter encourage personal reflection, group discussion, and suggestions for practical implementation in today’s diverse parishes

Book New Ways and Next Steps

    Book Details:
  • Author : Francis DeBernardo
  • Publisher : Liturgical Press
  • Release : 2023-09-06
  • ISBN : 0814668615
  • Pages : 160 pages

Download or read book New Ways and Next Steps written by Francis DeBernardo and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2023-09-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Ways and Next Steps is designed to help pastoral ministers develop LGBTQ+ ministry in their local parishes. Whether a parish is just initiating a ministry or already has one that needs fresh ideas, Francis DeBernardo brings pastoral ministers on a journey of discernment to help them discover the best path LGBTQ+ ministry should take in their local communities.

Book The Next Generation of Solution Focused Practice

Download or read book The Next Generation of Solution Focused Practice written by Mark McKergow and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-04-12 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Next Generation of Solution Focused Practice shows how practitioners help create change by ‘stretching the world’ of their clients. The book brings new ideas from enactive cognition which show how skilled attention on the client and their words is important both practically and conceptually. It provides both a summary of the development of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) over time and how the latest developments form a newly coherent form of practice based on developing descriptions. The author has structured the book using simple and easy to understand metaphors to paint a rich, creative, and visual picture of therapy for the reader, which makes it an accessible read. This book will be of interest to a wide range of SF practitioners internationally, as well as to those involved in coaching, counselling, family therapy, education, social work, healthcare and organisational change.

Book Next Steps

Download or read book Next Steps written by Barbara Bird and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2019-04-08 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Next Steps: New Directions for/in Writing about Writing is the first collection of teacher and student voices on a writing pedagogy that puts expert knowledge at the center of the writing classroom. More than forty contributors report on implementations of writing-about-writing pedagogies from the basic writing classroom to the graduate seminar, in two-year and four-year schools, and in small colleges and research universities around the United States and the world. For more than ten years, WAW approaches have been emerging in all these sites and scenes of college writing instruction, and Next Steps offers an original look at the breadth of ways WAW pedagogy has been taken up by writing instructors and into an array of writing courses. Organized by some of the key foci of WAW instruction—writerly identity, process, and engagement—the book takes readers into thick classroom descriptions as well as vignettes offering shorter takes on particular strategies. The classroom descriptions are fleshed out in more personal ways by student vignettes, reflections on encountering writing about writing in college writing classes. As its theoretical basis, Next Steps includes chapters on threshold concepts, transfer of writing-related learning, and the history of WAW pedagogies. As the first extensive look into WAW pedagogies across courses and institutions, Next Steps is ideal for writing instructors looking for new approaches to college composition instruction or curious about what “writing about writing” pedagogy actually is, for graduate students in composition pedagogy and their faculty, and for those researching composition pedagogy, threshold concepts, and learning transfer. Contributors: Linda Adler-Kassner, Olga Aksakalova, Joy Arbor, Matthew Bryan, Shawn Casey, Gabriel Cutrufello, Jennifer deWinter, Kristen di Gennaro, Emma Gaier, Christina Grant, Gwen Hart, Kimberly Hoover, Rebecca Jackson, Frances Johnson, Elizabeth Kleinfeld, Katie Jo LaRiviere, Andrew Lucchesi, Cat Mahaffey, Michael Michaud, Rebecca S. Nowacek, Andrew Ogilvie, Sarah Read, Rebecca Robinson, Kevin Roozen, Mysti Rudd, Christian Smith, Nichole Stack, Samuel Stinson, Hiroki Sugimoto, Lisa Tremain, Valerie Vera, Megan Wallace, Elizabeth Wardle, Christy I. Wenger, Nancy Wilson, Dominique Zino

Book The Spirit Led Leader

    Book Details:
  • Author : Timothy C. Geoffrion
  • Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
  • Release : 2005-11-14
  • ISBN : 1566996732
  • Pages : 255 pages

Download or read book The Spirit Led Leader written by Timothy C. Geoffrion and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-11-14 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our postmodern, experience-oriented culture, people are longing for greater authenticity, integrity, and depth in their pastors and leaders. Board directors, church members, and staff alike are all eagerly seeking leaders who effectively integrate their spirituality and leadership. Pastors and executives, however, often struggle with knowing how to integrate their spiritual values and practices into their leadership and management roles. Designed for pastors, executives, administrators, managers, coordinators, and all who see themselves as leaders and who want to fulfill their God-given purpose, The Spirit-Led Leader addresses the critical fusion of spiritual life and leadership for those who not only want to see results, but who also desire to care just as deeply about who they are and how they lead as they do about what they produce and accomplish. Geoffrion creates a new vision for spiritual leadership as partly an art, partly a result of careful planning, and always a working of the grace of God

Book Mychal Judge

Download or read book Mychal Judge written by Francis DeBernardo and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2022-04-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world came to know the Franciscan priest Mychal Judge through the bravery and self-sacrifice he displayed during the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001. But long before his lifeless body was carried out of the rubble (a moment captured in a photograph that became immediately famous), and before he was officially designated “Victim 0001” of that day’s attacks, Fr. Judge was, to a great many people, a beloved priest known for his compassion and faith. In Mychal Judge, Francis DeBernardo offers a spiritual biography that will move and fascinate readers. It details the personal history and experiences—including his Irish-American upbringing, his struggles with alcoholism, his care for the marginalized, and his ministry to firefighters—that formed the man who ultimately died running into the North Tower to try to save and minister to the terrified and the dying. Whether meeting him in these pages for the first time or getting to know him better, readers will encounter in Fr. Judge a figure they will not soon forget.

Book Embracing Progress

Download or read book Embracing Progress written by A. Sophie Wade and published by . This book was released on 2017-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ENGAGEMENT, PERSONALIZATION, INTEGRATION AND CHOICE. These four Priorities are core themes for any Future-of-Work transformation. Embrace them as you take the next steps to achieve a future-proofed, talent-focused, and progressive working environment. PROGRESS is at the heart of the American Dream and the significant ongoing workforce and workplace changes. Technological advances are enabling new ways of working that are long overdue--responding to decades of societal evolution and new understanding about what actually engages workers and increases productivity. Sophie Wade is an authority on the Future of Work, and in Embracing Progress she shares her expertise and insights to explain the current and project work environment. She outlines how you can take the new steps to transform your company successfully, applying first principles to develop your unique plan for progress. You will learn about the four Priorities and six Pillars to focus on and evolve and how to achieve as smooth a transition as possible. Embracing Progress will give you the tools you need to develop and execute a viable strategic plan to tackle ongoing workplace changes, allowing your company to flourish in the years ahead. "The way we work is going through a profound transformation. With Embracing Progress, Sophie Wade provides an essential guide for businesses of all sizes to create a more flexible, empathetic, purpose-driven, and human workplace that can meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities of this new era." --ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, founder and CEO, Thrive Global "Sophie Wade brings a thoughtful and refreshing perspective to the critical topic of the Future of Work. She has spent much time and energy assessing how we can achieve better performance, engagement, and career satisfaction in the workplace. Embracing Progress is full of good ideas that can help us all think more creatively about how we work. It couldn't come at a more important time." --MATT BREITFELDER, Chief Talent Officer, BlackRock "Sophie Wade brings to readers fresh ideas and terrific strategies aimed at helping them to succeed in today's and tomorrow's dynamic work environment, with experience from her own career that has been latticed and diverse." --Julie Silver, MD, Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Strategic Initiatives, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School -Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital "Sophie Wade tackles the Future of Work with a compelling big-picture vision and a smart understanding of its details. Her path of learning, questioning, and refining ideas delivers real-world approaches employers can use to help employees perform at their best. Whether dealing with the emerging understanding of creativity, the power of purpose, or the relationship between individuals and groups, Sophie understands the desire for fully-coherent workplaces that best empower the workforce of today and tomorrow." --Greg Parsons, Senior Vice President and Creative Director, Work, Herman Miller, Inc Sophie Wade has been deeply immersed in the Future of Work for several years, starting with her focus on workplace flexibility. She shares many brilliant insights about the changing demands of the workforce and explains how the workplace is being radically altered forever. Her approach is organic, continually absorbing and developing new perspectives illuminating the evolution of the Future of Work. The applications are so helpful supporting companies' adaptions to this very new way of working. You can't go forward without it --Faith Popcorn, CEO Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve Sophie Wade is a prime example that the most imaginative and insightful ideas come from those few among us comfortable traversing traditionally siloed fields and cross pollinating great ideas. Just as Steve Jobs turned his fascination with calligraphy into an unlikely, differentiating cornerstone of the early Apple experience, Wade delivers countless insights premised on her abili

Book Hidden Mercy

    Book Details:
  • Author : Michael J. O'Loughlin
  • Publisher : Broadleaf Books
  • Release : 2021-11-30
  • ISBN : 1506467717
  • Pages : 296 pages

Download or read book Hidden Mercy written by Michael J. O'Loughlin and published by Broadleaf Books . This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1980s and 1990s, the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States, was decades ago now, and many of the stories from this time remain hidden: A Catholic nun from a small Midwestern town packs up her life to move to New York City, where she throws herself into a community under assault from HIV and AIDS. A young priest sees himself in the many gay men dying from AIDS and grapples with how best to respond, eventually coming out as gay and putting his own career on the line. A gay Catholic with HIV loses his partner to AIDS and then flees the church, focusing his energy on his own health rather than fight an institution seemingly rejecting him. Set against the backdrop of the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the late twentieth century and the Catholic Church's crackdown on gay and lesbian activists, journalist Michael O'Loughlin searches out the untold stories of those who didn't look away, who at great personal cost chose compassion--even as he seeks insight for LGBTQ people of faith struggling to find a home in religious communities today. This is one journalist's--gay and Catholic himself--compelling picture of those quiet heroes who responded to human suffering when so much of society--and so much of the church--told them to look away. These pure acts of compassion and mercy offer us hope and inspiration as we continue to confront existential questions about what it means to be Americans, Christians, and human beings responding to those most in need.

Book RESULTS Coaching Next Steps

Download or read book RESULTS Coaching Next Steps written by Kathryn Kee and published by Corwin Press. This book was released on 2016-09-29 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grow yourself in order to grow your team. Do you spend your days managing others only to find you’re still putting out fires? Leadership coaching is a better way to impact change. At the crux of coaching culture is mindset—learn how to cultivate the mindset to grow yourself first before leading others. This book will help you: Learn to use neuroscience research productively Expand your use of communication skills Understand examples of leaders implementing coach-like behaviors into everyday practice Learn specific approaches to supervise and coach for growth Approach difficult conversations with confidence

Book The Artist s Way

    Book Details:
  • Author : Julia Cameron
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2002-03-04
  • ISBN : 1101156880
  • Pages : 295 pages

Download or read book The Artist s Way written by Julia Cameron and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2002-03-04 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.

Book Standing at the Crossroads

Download or read book Standing at the Crossroads written by Marian N. Ruderman and published by Jossey-Bass. This book was released on 2002-05-22 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on extensive research conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) with participants in The Women's Leadership Program, the book provides a basis for understanding the many choices, tradeoffs, and decisions that face women daily. Showcasing many personal stories, it spotlights five key themes that are essential to guiding executive women's development today - the need to act authentically, make connections, control one's destiny, achieve wholeness, and gain self-clarity."--BOOK JACKET.

Book Next Steps Toward Teaching the Reggio Way

Download or read book Next Steps Toward Teaching the Reggio Way written by Joanne Hendrick and published by Prentice Hall. This book was released on 2004 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than a presentation of the Reggio Emilia philosophy, yet not a "how to do it" volume, this book is a progress report of the steps American and Canadian teachers have taken in the last six years toward teaching the Reggio Emilia way. Comprising chapters by the leading advocates of the Reggio Emilia approach, it examines how real teachers in real classrooms are applying the principles of Reggio Emilia on an everyday basis. By combining discussion of Reggio Emilia concepts with examples of their application in American schools, it explores this emergent curriculum and helps future teachers see how to advocate for it in their own school or program. Discusses the Reggio system's support for the rights of the very young; Multicultural coverage guides readers to an understanding of the delicate balance between school and community--gives them practical strategies for building strong community bonds; Two chapters on working with parents examine the role of parents in children's educational development and the interplay between them and their children's teachers. Illustrates through examples the Reggio Emilia approach as it happens in American schools--highlights similarities and differences between the Italian curriculum and the American, as well as between American and Italian attitudes on education, children, parents, community, and other topics. For teachers or future teachers interested in learning more about the Reggio Emilia philosophy.

Book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

Download or read book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster written by Bill Gates and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

Book Next Steps

    Book Details:
  • Author : Lori D. Franklin
  • Publisher : Routledge
  • Release : 2019-05-07
  • ISBN : 1351013939
  • Pages : 218 pages

Download or read book Next Steps written by Lori D. Franklin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social work students consistently struggle to apply theory to practice, or use the knowledge of textbooks and classrooms in the field. Vignettes and scenarios represented in textbooks are often simplistic, too tidy to be realistic, and with clean resolutions. Next Steps: Decision Cases for Social Work Practice highlights the complex, messy nature of social work practice in a way that is engaging to students, allowing them to step into the role of a practicing social worker. This book is a collection of decision cases from multiple areas of social work practice, designed to enhance the quality and depth of classroom case discussion and analysis. These realistic, compelling cases present dilemmas about which even experienced practitioners may disagree. This allows rich classroom discussion that enhances critical thinking, provides real-life application, and creates numerous opportunities to apply content and knowledge acquired throughout a social work education experience.

Book Sales EQ

    Book Details:
  • Author : Jeb Blount
  • Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
  • Release : 2017-03-20
  • ISBN : 1119312574
  • Pages : 327 pages

Download or read book Sales EQ written by Jeb Blount and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New Psychology of Selling The sales profession is in the midst of a perfect storm. Buyers have more power—more information, more at stake, and more control over the sales process—than any time in history. Technology is bringing disruptive change at an ever-increasing pace, creating fear and uncertainty that leaves buyers clinging to the status quo. Deteriorating attention spans have made it difficult to get buyers to sit still long enough to “challenge,” “teach,” “help,” give “insight,” or sell “value.” And a relentless onslaught of “me-too” competitors have made differentiating on the attributes of products, services, or even price more difficult than ever. Legions of salespeople and their leaders are coming face to face with a cold hard truth: what once gave salespeople a competitive edge—controlling the sales process, command of product knowledge, an arsenal of technology, and a great pitch—are no longer guarantees of success. Yet this is where the vast majority of the roughly $20 billion spent each year on sales training goes. It’s no wonder many companies are seeing 50 percent or more of their salespeople miss quota. Yet, in this new paradigm, an elite group of top 1 percent sales professionals are crushing it. In our age of technology where information is ubiquitous and buyer attention spans are fleeting, these superstars have learned how to leverage a new psychology of selling—Sales EQ—to keep prospects engaged, create true competitive differentiation, as well as shape and influence buying decisions. These top earners are acutely aware that the experience of buying from them is far more important than products, prices, features, and solutions. In Sales EQ, Jeb Blount takes you on an unprecedented journey into the behaviors, techniques, and secrets of the highest earning salespeople in every industry and field. You’ll learn: How to answer the 5 Most Important Questions in Sales to make it virtually impossible for prospects to say no How to master 7 People Principles that will give you the power to influence anyone to do almost anything How to shape and align the 3 Processes of Sales to lock out competitors and shorten the sales cycle How to Flip the Buyer Script to gain complete control of the sales conversation How to Disrupt Expectations to pull buyers towards you, direct their attention, and keep them engaged How to leverage Non-Complementary Behavior to eliminate resistance, conflict, and objections How to employ the Bridge Technique to gain the micro-commitments and next steps you need to keep your deals from stalling How to tame Irrational Buyers, shake them out of their comfort zone, and shape the decision making process How to measure and increase you own Sales EQ using the 15 Sales Specific Emotional Intelligence Markers And so much more! Sales EQ begins where The Challenger Sale, Strategic Selling, and Spin Selling leave off. It addresses the human relationship gap in the modern sales process at a time when sales organizations are failing because many salespeople have never been taught the human skills required to effectively engage buyers at the emotional level. Jeb Blount makes a compelling case that sales specific emotional intelligence (Sales EQ) is more essential to success than education, experience, industry awareness, product knowledge, skills, or raw IQ; and, sales professionals who invest in developing and improving Sales EQ gain a decisive competitive advantage in the hyper-competitive global marketplace. Sales EQ arms salespeople and sales leaders with the tools to identify their most important sales specific emotional intelligence developmental needs along with strategies, techniques, and frameworks for reaching ultra-high performance and earnings, regardless of sales process, industry, deal complexity, role (inside or outside), product or service (B2B or B2C).

Book The Only Sales Guide You ll Ever Need

Download or read book The Only Sales Guide You ll Ever Need written by Anthony Iannarino and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The USA Today bestseller by the star sales speaker and author of The Sales Blog that reveals how all salespeople can attain huge sales success through strategies backed by extensive research and experience. Anthony Iannarino never set out to become a salesman, let alone a sales manager, speaker, coach, or writer of the most prominent blog about the art and science of great selling. He fell into his profession by accident, as a day job while pursuing rock-and-roll stardom. Once he realized he'd never become the next Mick Jagger, Iannarino turned his focus to a question that's been debated for at least a century: Why are a small number of salespeople in any field hugely successful, while the rest get mediocre results at best? The answer is simple: it’s not about the market, the product, or the competition—it’s all about the seller. And consequently, any salesperson can sell more and better, all the time. Over twenty-five years, Iannarino has boiled down everything he's learned and tested into one convenient book that explains what all successful sellers, regardless of industry or organization, share: a mind-set of powerful beliefs and a skill-set of key actions, including... ·Self-discipline: How to keep your commitments to yourself and others. ·Accountability: How to own the outcomes you sell. ·Competitiveness: How to embrace competition rather than let it intimidate you. ·Resourcefulness: How to blend your imagination, experience, and knowledge into unique solutions. ·Storytelling: How to create deeper relationships by presenting a story in which the client is the hero and you're their guide. ·Diagnosing: How to look below the surface to figure out someone else's real challenges and needs. Once you learn Iannarino's core strategies, picking up the specific tactics for your product and customers will be that much easier. Whether you sell to big companies, small companies, or individual consumers, this is the book you'll turn to again and again for proven wisdom, strategies, and tips that really work.

Book The First 20 Hours

    Book Details:
  • Author : Josh Kaufman
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2013-06-13
  • ISBN : 1101623047
  • Pages : 290 pages

Download or read book The First 20 Hours written by Josh Kaufman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-06-13 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.