Suceeding (2nd Ed.) - How T Choose The Right Goals And Increase Your Chances Of Achieving Them (Book Review)

If you've followed our Book Review Column over the years you'll recognize the name of the author of this book, John T. Reed. He is a prolific author, mainly of books that relate to real estate investing. He also produces the extremely informative Real Estate Investor's Monthly Newsletter, to which I've subscribed for several years. You can get detailed information on all of his products, including this book, by visiting his website at www.johntreed.com.

You'll also get access t a variety of free articles relating mostly to real estate. One of my favorites is his "B.S. Artist Detection Checklist - 55 Ways to Detect a B.S. Artist." That's not to imply that we have any of those artists in the real estate profession, of course. As I was reading this book I kept thinking that an appropriate title might also be "How To Succeed In Life By Really Trying".

Reed covers just about every challenge an individual is likely to face in life, along with down to earth (sometimes earthy) guidance on how to attain success. While it's not specific to challenges we face in the real estate profession, it's clear that if an individual cannot set life enhancing goals and establish effective means of accomplishing them, it really doesn't make that much difference what the person's occupation might be.

It would be useful up front to describe in brief Reed's credentials, since one is not likely to take very seriously an author on this topic who has not faced an array of personal and economic challenges. For example, while I admire many of her traits, I doubt I would recommend a book on this subject written by Paris Hilton. Here is just a portion of the book's "About the Author" summary.

He was a real estate investor for 23 years. He also worked as a bartender, property manager, real estate salesman, banker, football coach, baseball coach, and volleyball
coach. He has been married since 1975 and has three sons. He was an Army officer in the U.S. and in Vietnam and graduated from Army Airborne (paratrooper) and Ranger schools. Mr. Reed holds a Bachelor of Science degree from West Point and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

Country singer legend, the late Hank Williams, is quoted as saying: "You've got to have smelt a lot of horse manure to be able ro sing like a hillbilly." I think you'll agree that Reed meets that qualification for writing a book on this topic. I'II mention just two examples of the type of guidance Reed offers. In his chapter "Saving", the advice is the common sense "live beneath your means." Common sense, yes. Commonly done? No. It requires discipline and long term commitment.

In his chapter "Sobriety", his message is, as you might suspect, "don't drink, smoke, or use drugs". Early in my Air Force career I was the "Adjutant" of a small Air Force unit. One of my jobs was to counsel enlisted troops who were in trouble. The root cause in most of the cases was related to the use of alcohol or drugs. While I highly recommend this book for readers of all ages, if I were leaching a high school freshman class in any subject, I would make it a mandatory text. Their final exam would likely come much later in life.