Enter to Win a Free Signed Copy of Discipline

Goodreads.com is hosting a free giveaway for my recently released book Discipline. To enter to win a copy  you must be a Goodreads memeber (free to join--click here), and have a U.S. mailing address. Ten signed copies of the book are up for grabs. Details below.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Discipline

by Ken Parsell

Giveaway ends July 14, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Hello Again (& Some News)!

As you can see, I've been somewhat out of the loop. Posting less and less, until my disappearing act was near complete. At least until now. Given the lack of activity on this blog during recent months, please allow me to ask, you, gentle reader, to bear with me as I emerge from the depths and shadows, and claw myself back into the habit of regular posting.

Writing, it seems, is largely a game of inertia (as is most any activity, perhaps). It can be difficult to pick up the pen again after one has spent a given amount of time in hibernation, as it were. But the end is nigh, and the ink must flow again.

In recent news, Amazon.com has discounted Discipline, and The Catalyst of Confidence by 10%, lowering prices to $6.24 and $8.54 respectively. Also, Goodreads.com will soon be offering a "giveaway" of my book Discipline. You can throw your name into the ring to potentially receive a free signed copy of the book. I will provide details as they come.

Now Available: Discipline

I am pleased to announce that my latest book Discipline is now available for sale on Amazon.com!

Here are the links to the paperback, and the kindle editions ($6.93 for paperback, $1.99 for kindle—and by the way, you can read kindle books on a variety of different devices, click here for details).

Discipline is a lightning-fast read that will help you develop self-discipline in record time. It's a super focused look at one of the most daunting tasks many people face, conquering the “what,” “why,” and “how” of this often hard to pin down subject.

If you're a member on goodreads.com, you can add/review the book here. 

Get Ready!

I have received confirmation from Amazon.com that Discipline will be available for purchase this coming week in both kindle and paperback formats! An "official release" announcement, complete with links to the book, will be posted the day everything is ready to roll.

I would also like to apologize for previously stating that the book would be released in January. There were a few unanticipated hiccups and quirks that needed to be sorted out during the final phases of publishing which caused a bit of a delay.

Coming Soon...

"Official Announcement" forthcoming.

New Year's Resolutions & Book Announcement

As the year draws to a close many people will begin committing to "new year's resolutions." Resolving to save money, or lose weight, or eat healthier, or pay off debts, or be more friendly, or whatever: they begin the new year with hope and anticipation. But oddly enough (hilariously, in my view), by the second month of the new year, most, indeed the great majority of them, will have failed to follow through on their resolution(s). Statistics vary, but the data generally shows that by February almost 90% of "new year's resolution makers" will have either forgot about their resolution altogether, or given up (for whatever reason) on actually doing it. Why is this? The short answer is because they lack discipline.

Of course I'm not talking about you, dear reader. There isn't a doubt in my mind that you are a member of the elite 10% who actually has the sense to do what  you commit yourself to do. After all, you read this blog. And you don't just read it, you act on it. You don't just understand this stuff intellectually, you take the time and put forth the effort to understand it functionally as well. So naturally it isn't a surprise that you're not a member of that "90% riff raff" that spends their days mindlessly wandering the planet. Indeed, no surprise at all.

I'm sure that you've bumped in to some of those 90%er's, haven't you? Perhaps you wonder if there is anything you can do to help them "break the spell"? To help them exercise a bit of their humanity? To help them out of the darkness and guide them into the light? Or (heaven forbid!) you might happen to be one of those 90%er's! One of the few who may be lurking here trying to find a glimmer of hope! In either case, prepare yourself for my new book: Discipline: What it is; How to develop it; Why you should.

To begin with, Discipline will be released next month--just in time for you "new year's resolution" folks! The book is quite short, and is specifically designed to cover the "what, why and how" of developing self-discipline. Unlike The Catalyst of Confidence, which covered a wide range of topics, Discipline focuses on one, and attempts to cover it in scrupulous detail. The book will retail on Amazon.com for under $7.00 in paperback, and $1.99 on Kindle. What could be a better new years gift to yourself?

Stay tuned for more updates!

Some End-of-Year Updates

It's been a busy year with lots of projects going on. First and foremost I've been working on a new book, which is now in the final stages of completion (announcement forthcoming!). Also, a second edition of The Catalyst of Confidence will be released next year. No new content, just some simple editorial and structural changes, with a new cover to boot! Lastly, in anticipation of the coming semester, Life n' Leadership is currently on sale ($19.92) on Amazon.com until January 10^th, 2013.

News and Updates

I want to apologize for my recent lapse in activity. My wife and I have been in the process of moving, and are just now beginning to get settled in at our new place. I've only moved three times in my life but I always seem to forget what a pain it is to move. The unforeseen problems, extra expenses, unpacking, not to mention the tasks of packing and actually moving from A to B. Thankfully the hard parts are behind us and I will once again resume posting in the near future. To my surprise, the site actually hasn't suffered a loss in traffic as plenty of older posts are still being read.

Now for some updates.

CurrClick has the digital-only version of Life n' Leadership on sale through August 24^th for only $4.99! The physical program has been discounted as well for $29.95! Free shipping is also available through Amazon.com. More news coming soon!

Life n' Leadership Price Reduction

Beginning today, and for the remainder of the month of June, prices for the Life n' Leadership Self-Study Program will be reduced. On both lifenleadership.com, and amazon.com, prices have been reduced from $79.95 to $49.95. The price on CurrClick, where the program may be downloaded digitally, has also been reduced from $49.95 to $29.95.

Now Available in Europe!

I am pleased to announce that The Catalyst of Confidence is now available in Europe! Amazon is now offering the book through their European sales channels in England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Books purchased in Europe are still published in English. No translated editions are currently available.

Life n' Leadership Website: Now Live!

I am pleased to announce that the Life n' Leadership Self-Study Program now has its own website: www.lifenleadership.com.

Though the program will remain available on Amazon.com, this website will serve as the primary "information source" and "purchase center" for the program.

Featured on the site are testimonies from past students, an extensive FAQ, and a brief history of the development of the program itself.

If you have a specific question about the program, use the contact us form. We will be expanding the FAQ as new questions are brought to our attention.

One Week Give Away!

From today through March 11th the folks over at CurrClick are running a promotion for The Catalyst of Confidence E-Book. They call it their "weekly freebie." The book will be available as a digital download in PDF format for $0.00. No catch. Details here. At this point the promotion has only been live for a few hours and already more than 50 copies have been downloaded!

Also, the recently released digital-only version of the Life n' Leadership program has also been discounted on CurrClick. It's available for $29.98, down from $49.95. Details here. This discount will only be effective for the duration of the "weekly freebie" event for The Catalyst of Confidence E-Book (March 5th through March 11th).

Official Launch: Life n' Leadership

After five years of research and development I am pleased to announce the release of the self-study program: Life n' Leadership: The Fundamentals of Self-Awareness and Human Interaction!

Based on much of the material I have taught in live classes since 2006, Life n' Leadership is a program geared toward high-school- and young-adult-age students. Though I wouldn't necessarily discourage an adult from perusing it, it has nonetheless been created specifically for an audience of a more youthful nature. As a “self-study” program—which could also be described as a “home-study” program—there is no direct interaction between instructor and student. Rather, the program—which consists of four audio CD's and a workbook—is intended to be completed “on its own” without the aid an external educator. As such, the program is “self-paced” though it is advisable to be completed over a single semester, or more specifically, a twelve week period (focusing on one lesson per week). A basic outline of the content of the program is as follows.

Life n' Leadership will help students discover:

• How their beliefs/perceptions are created and changed, as well as how they determine their potential.
• How their associations influence their attitudes and values, and how to benefit from them.
• The incredible power of their choices, actions and habits.
• The impact their goals and dreams have on their life.
• How to conquer their fears and how to learn from their failures.
• How to approach new information and opinions.
• How to add value to other people and develop likeability.
• The importance of trust and how to build and maintain it.
• How to better understand and communicate with other people.

Though the program lists for $99.95 it is currently available on Amazon.com for $79.95 with FREE shipping (the program website has since been launched at www.lifenleadership.com). The program is also available in a digital-only version for $49.95 and is exclusively distributed by CurrClick.com. In addition, the Life n' Leadership Workbook is available on Amazon.com as a separate product. This will provide homeschooling families an alternative to buying a separate program for each of their children, should they desire. (UPDATE: Prices have since been reduced to $29.95 for the physical program and $19.95 for the digital download.)

As always, questions are welcome and appreciated.

Price Reduction and News

I am pleased to announce that the retail price of the paperback edition of The Catalyst of Confidence on Amazon.com has been reduced from $12.99 to $9.49! Additionally, the book remains qualified for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. The Kindle edition remains at $3.99.

Response from readers has been better than I had initially expected. The book currently has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars on Google Books, with most of the reviews being trafficked from Goodreads.com. At this time, about 80% of the ratings and reviews are from people I have never met. It's one thing for people who know you personally to rate your book well, and that definitely means a lot, but it's very encouraging to see complete strangers do the same thing.

Also, many people have contacted me directly to express their appreciation and personal experiences and a lot of generous feedback has somehow tracked me down by word-of-mouth. Again, it has all wildly exceeded my expectations. Thank you all!

The Coming Changes

The Catalyst of Confidence blog was officially launched in March, along with the release of the book, The Catalyst of Confidence. It's aim being to provide a continuing education to readers by examining the contents of the book in a more scrupulous fashion. Which up to this point (correct me if I'm wrong) I think has been done reasonably well. This post serves to announce that, beginning early next year (2012), this blog will transition from it's current state and content base to one of a broader and more general nature. My reason for this change will be described below.

Before outlining the reason for this change, however, I will briefly describe some of the alterations which are currently expected. To begin with, the content of the articles published on the blog will change. Change how? At this time, only articles which directly concern The Catalyst of Confidence are published. In the future, articles of a much more diverse nature will be published. In other words, the content will no longer be solely “catalyst of confidence” related, but will encompass other topics as well. To clarify, this in no way implies that articles concerning The Catalyst of Confidence will cease being published. It simply means that the scope and scale of the blog itself will broaden and thus, offer readers a more diverse and interesting series of topics to contemplate and ponder. In addition, the look and feel of the blog itself will be changed. i.e., design, layout, colors, etc. The blog URL, it's name, and all associated feeds, however, will remain the same. Also, readers will still have the ability to contact me or ask questions if they desire and all previously published posts will remain available.

My reason for the forthcoming change is as follows: My work does not reside solely within the realm of The Catalyst of Confidence and it's contents. I am interested in many things, which, by my own design, occupy my research and study. Thus, The Catalyst of Confidence and it's related topics comprise one among many such areas of personal interest. This being the case, I find myself unnecessarily restricted when it comes to maintaining this blog. Many things I would otherwise write about and concern myself with have been excluded as things beyond the current scope and scale of this blog. Hence, beginning early next year the “scope and scale” will change and broaden, so as to afford me a certain flexibility in my writing.

Until the prescribed changes occur next year, the blog will continue operating as normal. If you have any questions or concerns, please send me a message. All feedback is welcome and greatly appreciated.

Official Launch!

Officially released March 14^th 2011, The Catalyst of Confidence is currently an Amazon.com exclusive and is now available in both Paperback and Kindle formats! This post marks the official simultaneous launch of both the book and this blog.

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Welcome to all.

As noted in the “About” section, this blog will serve as a continuing education for readers of The Catalyst of Confidence, and will be updated with articles and case studies on a weekly basis. This blog will also serve as the primary news outlet for all things related to the book and the philosophy it propagates.

If you would like to request a specific topic for an article, ask a question, or submit information for a case study, feel free to do so here.

We have done our best to identify typos and grammatical errors prior to launch. Still, please let us know of any mistakes you may find in the book or on this website. To do so simply send me a private message via the “Contact” page.

Though the book has taken a year to write and has resulted from even more years of teaching and study, this is only the beginning.

Let's hope the world is ready.
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