3 Seconds by Les Parrott, PhD

The Power of Thinking Twice

I don’t do self-help books. I rarely pick up anything to read other than my Bible and fictional books that fall into the psychological thriller – murder mystery genre.  Business, corporate talk, money-making books, finance, get-rich-quick guides normally turn me off faster than my mom used to turn off the TV when she caught us watching The Simpsons.

But this book, this book is… powerful. Yes, that is the word that sums it up because it hits on all the important topics about being successful without bogging you down with unnecessary jargon or personal pontification.

One of my favorite “truths” from this book is a quote from Holly Lisle, “If you don’t accept the responsibility for your own actions then you are forever chained to a position of defense.”  Stop and think about that for a moment and see the simple wisdom in that statement.

If I took the time to recount all the great information in this book then there would be no need for you to go out and buy it because I’d have to put the entire thing on this site. Page after page I found myself gripped by the realization that this book was speaking to me. It was telling me to take action on things that I had put off in the past because I was afraid that I would fail. I wrote a book but never tried to get it published because I was afraid of rejection. I never even sent it to one agent! Now, almost 3 years later, it is collecting digital dust on my hard drive. At least if I had sent it out to an agent I would have gotten back some criticism or insight into what I could do different, but I chose the easier path of procrastination.

In this book Dr. Parrott points out again and again how it only takes 3 seconds to make life changing choices. 3 seconds to take responsibility for your actions, 3 seconds to decide to go the extra mile or to take the easier path, 3 seconds to look past the negative and to focus on the positive.

I already consider myself someone that has a “can do, whatever it takes” attitude. However, sometimes my motives have been less than pure. I did because of what I would get in return, not because it was who I was. I’m trying to changet that.

Another point that this book makes crystal clear is this, sometimes sitting back and taking the the easy way seems like more fun, but in reality, isn’t the real fun sitting in the drivers seat? What is the point of being part of a team if all you ever do is sit on the bench?

Take 3 seconds and make the decision to get this book immediately. It is published by Zondervan and is available at Amazon.com.