It Doesn't Take A Hero

"It Doesn't Take A Hero" is the remarkable autobiography of H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of US and Allied forces during the 1st gulf war .

This is probably one of the longest books I've ever read, almost 600 pages long and in fine print. Not sure why I got hooked. Did it felt like I was reading a novel? I don't know.

I've never been a history buff but this gave me a direct, first hand look at major events: Vietnam War, Invasion of Grenada to free captive American students, Dessert Storm and, to some extent, the Korean War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War, and other smaller conflicts but with major world repercussions; and seeing it through the eyes of someone who was actually in the middle of it.

He truly lived and is still living (I'm sure) an interesting and fulfilling life. His ideals are so defined: taking care of family, honor, duty, honesty, service to country, loyalty and his rules on leadership. I'm starting to wonder, what are my mine? What are some of the unbreakable life principles that should be governing my life? What are the standards by which I should be measuring myself? At the end of my days, will I be wallowing in regret and self-pity? Or will I be triumphant in my victories?

One thing is so crystal-clear: My history will be defined by what I do and fail to do now.

So many thoughts about this book.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - General Norman Schwarzkopf

It Doesn't Take A Hero

"It Doesn't Take A Hero" is the remarkable autobiography of H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of US and Allied forces during the 1st gulf war .

This is probably one of the longest books I've ever read, almost 600 pages long and in fine print. Not sure why I got hooked. Maybe because it felt like I was reading a novel, I don't know.

I've never been a history buff but this gave me a direct, first hand look at major events: Vietnam War, Invasion of Grenada, Dessert Storm and to some extent the Korean War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War, and other smaller conflicts but with major world repercussions, and seeing it from the eyes of someone who was actually in the middle of it.

He truly lived and is still living (I'm sure) an interesting and fulfilling life. His ideals are so defined: family, honor, duty, honesty, service to country, loyalty and leadership. I'm starting to wonder, what are my mine? What are some of the unbreakable life principles that should be governing my life? What are the standards by which I should be measuring myself?

So many thoughts about this book.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - General Norman Schwarzkopf

It Doesn't Take A Hero

It Doesn't Take A Hero" is the remarkable autobiography of H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of US and Allied forces during the 1st gulf war .

This is probably one of the longest books I've ever read, almost 600 pages long and in fine print. I'm not really sure why I got hooked. Maybe because it felt like I was reading a novel, I don't know.

I've never been a history buff but this gave me a direct, first hand look of someone who was actually in the middle of great events: Vietnam War, Invasion of Grenada, Dessert Storm and to some extent the Korean War, Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cold War, and other smaller conflicts but with major world repercussions.

He truly lived and is still living (I'm sure) an interesting and fulfilled life. His ideals are so defined: honor, duty, honesty, service to country, loyalty and leadership. I'm starting to wonder, what are my mine? What are some of the unbreakable life principles that should be governing my life?

So many thoughts on this book.

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - General Norman Schwarzcopf

Make Your Life a Masterpiece

This is the age of achievement. Never have more people accomplished more things in more different fields than they are accomplishing today. More people are becoming successful at a faster rate than at any other time in history. There have never been more opportunities for you to turn your dreams into realities than there are right now.

The Seven Ingredients of Success
Your ideal life is a blending these seven ingredients in exactly the combination that makes you the happiest at any particular moment. By defining your success and happiness in terms of one or more of these seven ingredients, you create a clear target to aim it. You can then measure how well you're doing. You can identify the areas where you need to make changes if you want your life to improve.

Peace of Mind
The first of these seven ingredients of success, and easily the most important, is peace of mind. It is the highest human good. Without it, nothing else has much value. In corporations, peace of mind can be measured in terms of the amount of harmony that exists among coworkers. The wonderful truth about peace of mind is that it is your normal natural condition. It is the basic precondition for enjoying everything else.

Health and Energy
The second ingredient of success is health and energy. Just as peace of mind is your normal and natural mental state, health and energy is your normal and natural physical state. If you achieve all kinds of things in the material world, but lose your health then you will get little or no pleasure from your other accomplishments. So imagine yourself enjoying perfect health, and think of how you would be if you were your ideal image of physical fitness. Then strive for your mental goal of fitness and health.


Loving Relationships
The third ingredient of success is loving relationships. These are relationships with the people you love and care about, and the people who love and care about you. They are the real measure of how well you are doing as a human being. At almost any time, you can measure how well you are doing in your relationship by one simple test: laughter. This is true for companies as well. High-performance, high profit organizations are those in which people laugh and joke together. Examine your relationships, one by one, and develop a plan to make each of them enjoyable and satisfying.

Financial Freedom
The fourth ingredient of success is financial freedom. Achieving your financial freedom is one of the most important goals and responsibilities of your life. A feeling of freedom is essential to the achievement of any other important goal, and you cannot be free until and unless you have enough money so that you are no longer preoccupied with it. When you decide exactly what you want your financial picture to look like, you will be able to use this system to achieve your goals faster than you might have imagined possible.

Worthy Goals and Ideals
The fifth ingredient of success is worthy goals and ideals. To be truly happy, you need a clear sense of direction. You need to feel that your life stands for something, that you are somehow making a valuable contribution to your world.

Self Knowledge and Self-Awareness
The sixth ingredient of success is self-knowledge and self-awareness. To perform at your best you need to know who you are and why you think and feel the way you do. It is only when you understand and accept yourself that you can begin moving forward in other areas of your life.

Personal Fulfillment
The seventh ingredient of success is personal fulfillment. This is the feeling that you are becoming everything that you are capable of becoming. It is the sure knowledge that you are moving toward the realization of your full potential as a human being.

Action Exercise
Take the brush of your imagination and begin painting a masterpiece on the canvas of your life. It is for you to decide clearly what would make you the happiest in everything you are doing.

By Brian Tracy