This week’s book review is Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell.
Conwell was a war hero, lawyer, businessman, educator, orator, minister, and visionary who is probably most famous for founding Temple University and for his trademark lecture “Acres of Diamonds.” This book is a transcript of the lecture along with a biography of his life and a commentary of the impact he has made on the world before his death in 1925.
The central point of the Acres of Diamonds lecture is that we do not need to look in exotic places to find business opportunity. Business opportunities are all around us. All we need to do is change our focus to looking at the needs of society and the people around us . . . If we strive to serve their needs, business opportunity will present itself!
My takeaway from this book are these three statements from Conwell’s lecture:
- “There is wealth right within the sound of your voice”
- “You must first know what people need, and then invest yourself where you are most needed”
- “Whatsoever he had to do at all, he put his whole mind into it and held it all there until that was all done”
If we apply these three simple principles to our lives and businesses, we will make a huge impact in this world!
Note that I have previously reviewed the following books in 2017:
- Les McKeown’s Predictable Success
- Exponential Organzations by Salim Ismail, Michael S. Malone and Yuri van Geest
- Smart Thinking by Art Markman
- Arianna Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution
- RG LeTourneau’s Mover of Men and Mountains
- Kevin Kelly’s The Inevitable
- Ram Charan’s The Attacker’s Advantage
- Jeff Goins’s The Art of Work
- Ron Karr’s Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way
- Timothy Ferriss’s Tools of Titans
- Dr. David Perlmutter’s Grain Brain
- Howard Schultz’z Onward
- Nicholas Eberstadt’s Men Without Work
- Jason Fried’s and David Heinemeier Hansson’s Remote
- VALVE Employee Handbook
- Dr. Mark Hyman’s The Ultramind Solution
- Jeff Goin’s Real Artists Don’t Starve
- The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Law
- Dr. David Perlmutter’s Brain Maker
- Jesse Tevelow’s The Connection Algorithm
- Jesse Tevelow’s Hustle
- Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s Extreme Ownership
- Shep Hyken’s Be Amazing or Go Home
Download a free copy of my new Ebook: 12 Steps to Business Transformation. If you would like a business assessment to help kick off your business transformation, contact me at info@thinkingbusinessblog.com or at 587-227-5179.
Be sure to sign up at www.thinkingbusinessblog.com for weekly blog updates delivered to your inbox.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.