Cyber Monday is the online industries attempt to slash prices to get consumers to splurge on products. I’m not the type to fall for this type of marketing… but I will take advantage of deals on things I was already planning on buying.

For instance, I generally buy 4 books a month from Amazon.com. Yes, I am an avid reader and devour all forms of books. I feel if I’m not growing and learning I’m shrinking…

Anyway, Amazon is offering free shipping for book orders over $25.00. So I thought I would make a list of five books worth adding to your Amazon shopping cart.

5 Books or DVDs Worth Buying

1. Mad Men Season 1: Believe the hype. This is THE show to watch. I got to the party late, only purchasing series one a couple weeks ago. I just finished it last night, and might just watch the whole series again. Don Draper is quite possibly the coolest character created since James Bond. The man is alpha to the core, a rampant womanizer, and a superstar in his industry… if he doesn’t make you want to get a job on Madison Ave nothing will. The show also offers an incredibly sexualy frustrated January Jones, a sexy redhead, and a fascinating look at corporate life in the early sixties. Buy this. Trust me.

2. Psycho Cybernetics: I’ve mentioned this book is a few posts lately. I was recommended this book by Mr. M of Love Systems. I bought the audio version and have listened to it several times. The book is focused on “self Image” and how it ultimately determines your degree of success in any area. As you’ve might have read in a previous post, the book also gives some amazing insights into more practical ways to practice learning a new skill (such as pickup). The book is a bargain, and filled with genuine insights.

3. The Four Hour Work Week: The author of this book, Tim Ferriss, is officially my hero. The man built an online supplement business from scratch, and then proceeded to eliminate practically all of his responsibilities from it so that he can travel the world and learn tango, compete in kick boxing tournaments, party like a rock star, and ultimately write a book explaining exactly how to do it. The book is not only a powerful “how to” book, it is also an unbelievable motivating and inspiring look at what life is really about. I’ve mentioned this book over and over on this site. There is a reason. My recommendations don’t come lightly.

4. Lonesome Dove: This is quite frankly the best fiction book I’ve ever read. The book is over 700 pages and I read it in a matter of days… and was then depressed that I had to finish it. The story is about a couple of cowboys at the turn of the century. The story covers more aspects of human nature and behavior than any psychology book. it also pits the classic rake ladies man Jake Spoon, against the alpha male Gus McCrae. I have never been a fan of the western genre, but this book got such high reviews that I couldn’t resist buying it. I was not disappointed. Neither will you be.

5. The 48 Laws of Power: This book should be read for two reasons. 1. To understand how to motivate a team of people around you, and create a powerful presence. 2. To fully understand how other people are using these principles to hold power over you. Not everything in this book is morally sound and politically correct. You will probably choose not to implement many of the strategies because they might not align with your personal values… but you must be aware that these strategies exist, and at any given moment someone is using them over you. This book, along with Greene’s The Art of Seduction, are two books that must be read to fully understand the nature of seduction.

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

This post is for anybody who has been entertained, educated, or inspired by something they’ve read or listened to here at TSB Magazine.

Over the weekend I read this post by Seth Godin and thought I would reprint part of it for you guys.  We very rarely ask much of our readers… but I ask you to read this, and if compelled, put it into practice.

IWantSandy is folding, as are a number of web companies. So is that restaurant you loved down the street. Users are outraged. Outraged!

When you find a service or establishment or product that gives you joy, it’s tempting to keep it to yourself. Perhaps it’s uncomfortable to recommend it to a friend (after all, you might seem silly) and even more uncomfortable to recommend it to a stranger (after all, you might seem like a shill).

Plenty of people hesitate before spreading the word about a political candidate or a business or a medical device. We’re worried that we’ll look silly, or that the place will end up being too crowded and now we won’t be able to get in. Or perhaps we’re concerned about losing our uniqueness…

Anyway, the outcry that accompanies the closing of one of these businesses should be enough to remind you that your hesitation has a cost.

It’s simple, I think. In a world where consumers have so much power, we now have two responsibilities:

• If you don’t like what an organization stands for, work actively to spread the word and force them to change

and

• If you will miss a product, a service, a book, a site or a professional when they close up shop, stand up, speak up and bring them masses of new business.

We get what we promote.

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Principle 32:  Transform Your Inner Critic Into Your Inner Coach

If successfully implemented this next principle can be life changing by itself.  We discussed throughout this series on the impact of positive self talk, affirmation, goal setting, and focus.  We know how much our actions and beliefs are affected by these thoughts, and how these very thoughts ultimately affect whether or not we are successful in life.  We know that negative thoughts are what cause us to go into slumps, freeze up, develop anxiety, feel scared- and to the extreme ruin our lives.

If each one of us had to be 100% honest with ourselves I think we would each find that we possess certain thoughts that are keeping us from getting what we want.  The fact is, we are often our own biggest and harshest critic.  It is our own voice, inside our own head, that often tells us we are a fake, a failure, destined to blow it, or gives us some other negative label that limits what we are capable of.

Talk to Yourself Like a Winner

Canfield asks:

So what if you could learn to always talk to yourself like a winner instead of a loser?  What if you could transform your negative self talk into positive self talk?  What if you could silence your thoughts of lack and limitation and replace them with thoughts of unlimited possibility?  What if you could transform your inner critic, who judges your every move, into a supportive inner coach who would encourage you and give you confidence as you faced new situations and risks?  Well… all of that is possible with a little awareness, focus, and intention.

In my review of the final episode of The Pickup Artist Season 2 I talked about how the show’s winner, Simeon, had developed an extraordinary confidence that carried him to victory.  But Simeon wasn’t always like that.  In fact, I remember feeling sorry for Simeon in one of the early episodes because his self image seemed so low.  What changed in Simeon?

The biggest change Simeon made was that he changed the way he was talking to himself.  By the end of the season he was talking to himself like a winner. He was his own greatest coach.

How do you do this?

The key to dealing with any kind of negative thinking is to realize that you re ultimately in charge of whether to listen to or agree with any thought.  Just because you think it- or hear it-doesn’t mean it’s true.

Canfield says:

You want to constantly ask yourself, is this thought helping me or hurting me?  Is it getting me closer to action, or is it blocking me with fear and self doubt?  You have to learn to challenge and talk back to the thoughts that are not serving you in creating greater success and happiness.

Here are some cold hard facts:

You can attempt to predict a catastrophic event all you want… but you’ll be wrong way more often then you are right.  Statistic show, the worse rarely happens.

You are not a mind reader.  No matter what kind of insight you believe you have into someone else’s mind… you are most likely wrong.  So why waste time trying to figure it out.

You can never guilt yourself into doing anything.  Instead of saying “If I don’t lose weight I’m a failure” say something like “Losing weight will support my goal of looking more attractive and feeling healthier.”

No one is a label.  By putting a label on yourself or someone else you are essentially playing God.  You are not god.

Do not personalize things aren’t personal.  If a girl blows you off in a bar… that was just her reaction to a random guy hitting on her.  If you lose an account at work… that was just a client making a decision to go with someone else.  You never know why other people do what they do.

Instead of wasting time on these pointless thoughts listed above, use your mind to constructively solve problems in your life.  Don’t say “I’m broke.” Instead say “What are some good ways to make some extra money?”  Don’t say “I’m just meant to be fat.” Instead say “What is a good workout routine I can begin to get into peak shape?”

Ask better questions.  You will get better results.

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Wow.

I’ll give it to Matt and Simeon.  In this final episode both of them showed dramatic change, and quite frankly both of them performed better than any of the previous season’s contestants.

I will agree with Mystery’s choice in making Simeon this year’s Pickup Artist.  Simeon has been in the zone the last few episodes and is more and more fun to watch each week.  Simeon is also a testament to the power of confidence and its ability to drastically improve your game.  You could just tell that Simeon had the mindset that he was truly unstoppable.  And when you have that mindset… you are unstoppable.

The other positive aspect I noticed about Simeon’s game was his ability to read the situation.  He seems to have “the Pickup Mindset” a real understanding of what is going on in the field.  His solid of demonstration in the field, and handling obstacles can be traced back to his low pressure practice.  Because he never let himself go into crisis mode… he was consistently able to read the situation and calibrate accordingly.

Matt’s game was also fun to watch.  But with Matt I never got that sensation that he had “it.”  I do think, however, that if Matt continues to study pick up he will be quite good himself.  The move he pulled in the final field test with the hot Asian girl was classic.  “I just have to kiss you.”

Tonight’s episode served to remind me the power of displaying higher value.  Once you’ve adequately established that you are a high value male… it is okay to show vulnerability, compliment a girl, or telegraph interest.  This is something that has personally screwed up many of my pickups, in the fact that I’ve hesitated letting my guard down… and ultimately lost girls who took my “telegraphed indifference” as disinterest.  I wrote a post about the necessity to calibrate your pickups a couple weeks ago.

Ah… its episodes like this that get the juices flowing.. and get me itching to be single again.

Vh1 Pickup Artist Thoughts

The last two episodes were the only episodes I enjoyed watching.  I don’t know if I’m alone, but I feel like this show might have run its course unless that make drastic changes next season.  While it is fun to watch the guys as they get more successful, I think the show loses viewers early on when there isn’t too much action.

I still believe that the show might make a good run if done in a Keys to the VIP type format. I’m just not feeling another season of lovable losers.  While I think the show would be boring if it was 8 weeks of guys with solid game consistently pulling girls, I also feel like another season of Mystery teaching opinion openers, and peacocking the guys out, will also get old.

My gut feeling says the show doesn’t come back for a third season.

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Here is some world news for you… the amount of employees visiting porn sites while at work is rapidly rising.

What’s driving workers to get their kicks on company time? It’s one more thing we can pin on the slow economy. “People are looking for an escape,” says Steve Hirsch, CEO of Vivid Entertainment Group, an adult online-video provider. And rightly or wrongly, they think their bosses are too busy to notice, says Dawn Adams, CEO of Wisconsin consulting firm HResults. “Managers are dealing with so many issues right now,” she says, “that sometimes people are able to hide out and no one knows what they’re doing.” AVN’s McMahon attributes the rise in workplace porn to the proliferation of free Web sites, such as xtube.com, that allow users to quickly log on and off. But a larger factor is the evolving sense—not universally shared—that porn is no big deal. “You’re looking at a younger consumer who has grown up with pornography being out there in the pop culture,” McMahon says.

Needless to say, I must advise you to stay away from the porn sites while at work.  We all visit them (some more than others) but it is not something you want to be known for.  It is too easy to get side tracked and forget to close a window.

There are actually stories of guys being fired for viewing porn at work.  Imagine the walk of shame these guys have to take out of the office.

Some can’t seem to stay away from it. Earlier this year, nine Washington, D.C., city employees—including at least one from Child and Family Services—were fired for viewing porn sites thousands of times while on the job. The worst offender reportedly logged an average of one hit every 2.5 minutes.

If you must occupy your time at work, use it productively by creating a profile, surfing online dating sites, and lining yourself up some hotties.

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Not content with the current level of Guitar Hero milking, what if Activision decided to take it to the next level with yet another game? Here comes Vagina Hero!

We all know what the girls are thinking anyways when they get all googily-faced over guitarists, even fake guitarists. Might as well stop faking the funk and try to teach them boys something useful. So sit back and indulge, as we transport you to an alternate reality where a publisher by the name of “Arctivision” gives birth to “Vagina Hero”.

You can check out the full article over at Ripten.com

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

I knew it was a matter of time before he was parading around some nice arm candy… but I really didn’t expect the Caroline Caz Pal type. I thought Phelps would go for the hot girl next door type, ala Eli Manning. But hey, every guy is a sucker for the dirty looking stripper type. Apparently so is Michael Phelps.

Caroline Caz Pal Photos

Read our Mobile Site and get text message updates by following TSBMAG on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email:

Best Weekend Reading

A great business motivation blogger Quick Sprout listed the 4 ways to become rich.  I’m still working on it

Blender Magazine has been dishing out 1001 songs you must download.  They’ve put together quite a few different playlists.  Here is a play list for a potential friend with benefits.

Kino Wear put out another good article this week.  The article is a simple guide to dress shoes and is worth checking out.

I found this good list of compliments women can not resist.

I spent some time browsing through Hot Chicks With Douchegbags again… Forgot how funny (and sad) that site is! I am also so jealous as my Elizabeth Bank, who I’ve wanted to tear up ever since Zack and Miri, gave DB1 props on the Leno Show.

Cameron Teone wrote and interesting post about social currency.

Are you guys members of an online dating site yet?  If not, get your ass on ASAP.  If you need a jump start check out Dave M’s phenomenal program, Its too easy to pull chicks online to not be doing it… go!