There are more books coming out every year than I can read in a lifetime. One of the ways I filter for great books is, I ask the most effective people I know, which books had a significant impact on how they think, feel, or act. I like to find the books that really made a difference, not just in theory, but in practice.

Recently, I reached out to several Microsoft leaders, past and present, and up and down the ranks. The beauty of Microsoft is the extremely high concentration of smart people and I like to leverage the collective brain. In this case, I posed a simple question to find out which business books actually made a difference:

I created a simple view of the Getting Results Knowledge Base for my latest book, Getting Results the Agile Way, which is a personal results system for work and life. The Knowledge Base provides simple job aids including Cheat Sheets, Checklists, How Tos, Guidelines, and Templates.

One of the most helpful frames we’ve found at work for focusing meetings or presentations is:

Know – What do you want them to know?
Believe – What do you want them to believe?
Do – What do you want them to do?

Effective is doing the right things for the right results. Efficient is optimizing. It’s the least waste of time and effort.

Before you try to be more efficient, first try to be more effective. There’s no point in optimizing ineffective things. I think of this as first asking, “What do I want to accomplish?”, then asking, “Where can I optimize?”

My manager pointed out to me a while back that today’s problem isn’t information overload, it’s filter failure. Here’s a quote by Clay Shirky, New York University new-media professor, writer, and consultant …

What do we do when we get overwhelmed? We we’re up to our neck in stuff, or worse, in over our head, we shut down, compartmentalize, or we channelize.

The military knows this and they know it well, because lives are at stake. Hospitals know this well because again, lives are at stake. Yet this simple pattern can affect us at home or on the job.

I’ve been asking people inside and outside Microsoft what their definition is of … the good life. I think it’s important, so you know what it is when you’ve got it, or you know what is is that you’re chasing, so you can make smarter choices.

I’ve long been a fan of writing things down to free myself up. A while back, a friend of mine got me in the habit of carrying a little yellow sticky pad everywhere I go. It lets me jot things down, wherever I go, so I never have to keep things buzzing around in my head.

Curiosity killed the cat, but it helps an old dog learn new tricks. John Medina of Brain Rules says curiosity is the most important thing. It’s what brings you joy and it’s how you achieve mastery.

While I’ve always been curious and a natural seeker, I’ve really improved my curiosity over the last few years using 3 ways …

“If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life.” —Siberian Elder

We’re wired for stories. Stories help us make meaning and they help us remember things. They can also help us simplify and avoid getting overwhelmed in our everyday things. The big idea to keep in mind here is that you’re the most important story teller in your life, and you can use little stories for getting results.

“Slow and steady wins the race.” – Aesop

I like to get in touch with my inner-tortoise whenever I need to remind myself to stop and smell the roses. After all, getting results is not about racing through your moments to the finish line. It’s about making the most of your moments and knowing you’re on your path.

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” — Chinese Proverb

I thought it would be good to share the momentum of Getting Results so far. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind and I’m seeing some great trajectory. I didn’t really know what to expect, but folks in the know are telling me the trajectory is strong and contagious.

If you don’t have a system for results, now is a great time to adopt one. I’ll give you a quick start and step you through adopting Agile Results. Even if you already have a system for results, you can adopt pieces of Agile Results to get more out of it.

Having a system on your side gives you a firm foundation. It helps you when you fall down or are overwhelmed. It also helps you move up the stack by not having to worry about the basics. By making results a routine and rhythm, you can direct your attention on to bigger and better things

The Getting Results Facebook Fan Page is now available. It’s for my latest book, Getting Results the Agile Way.

Getting Results is my first non-technical book and it’s all about making you great. You’ll learn the super skills for working on the right things, the right way, at the right time, with the right energy … unleashing your best.

“You don’t overcome challenges by making them smaller but by making yourself bigger.” – John C. Maxwell

When it comes to getting results, it takes motivation and ability. Motivation makes things happen. Where there’s no will, there’s no way.

I dedicated a full chapter on motivation in my Getting Results book, but I want to give you an introduction here. If you can master motivation, you can deal with life’s setbacks, as well as inspire yourself to always find a way forward, and create new experiences for yourself, and follow your growth. In this post, I’ll demystify motivation and give you the tools that really work.

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” — Anotole France

Now’s a great time to pick your dreams up, blow the dust off, and get ready to make them happen. This month is all about getting results. Along the way, I’ll introduce you to methods from my book, Getting Results, that you can use to stack the deck in your favor and increase your chances of success.

“Are you getting results? …”

Over Christmas break, I committed to finishing the writing for a book that I expect to change a lot of people’s lives. It’s my first non-technical book. The working title is, Getting Results the Agile Way. It’s all about getting results in work and life. It’s the playbook I wish somebody had given me long ago for finding work/life balance, managing time, playing to my strengths, and making the most of what I’ve got.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Rita Grohowski. Rita is a writer, mentor, and angel investor. In addition to financial assistance, she also helps people find deeper meaning, and discover the “romance” in their careers, professional life, and businesses. When analyzing businesses, Rita asks people what they want to create, and contribute first, and then asks how they plan to make money because she believes hard work can’t be sustainable unless there’s passion. Here’s Rita on working towards self-acceptance…

“I learn teaching from teachers. I learn golf from golfers. I learn winning from coaches.” — Harvey Penick

What you get from coaching is largely up to you. Whether it’s a teacher, a mentor, a sports coach, or a coach at work, making the most of a coach is a skill that you get better at with practice. If you can master your ability to leverage the coaches in your life, you can accelerate your success, drop bad habits like a hot potato, grow new skills and abilities, and make the most of what you’ve got.

“Kid, you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!” – Dr. Seuss

When I was a kid, Dr. Seuss was a constant source of inspiration for me. His stories filled my head with endless possibilities.